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| Type | 501(c)(3) non-profit |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1977 |
| Headquarters | Manhattan, NY, U.S. |
| Key people | Jill Lester, President and CEO Fitigu Tadesse, Vice President Africa John Coonrod, Vice President Robert W. Fuller, Founder John Denver, Founder Werner Erhard, Founder Joan Holmes, Former President Badiul Alam Majumdar, Vice President Bangladesh Peter Bourne, Chair BOD Charles Deull, Secretary, Director Joaquim Chissano, Director V. Mohini Giri, Director Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, Director Cecilia Loría Saviñón, Director George Mathew, Director Queen Noor of Jordan, Director Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Director Amartya Sen, Director Steven J. Sherwood, Director George Weiss, Director |
| Industry | charitable organization |
| Revenue | ▲0.27% to $8,727,193 million USD (2004) |
| Operating income | ▼30.4% to $919,249 USD (2004) |
| Employees | 118 employees |
| Website | Corporate Homepage |
The Hunger Project (THP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.[1] The Hunger Project describes itself as an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. the organization works in thirteen countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, where it implements programs aimed at mobilizing rural grassroots communities to achieve sustainable progress in health, education, nutrition and family income [1].
Contents |
Official Mission Statement
The Hunger Project is a global, non-profit, strategic organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger.
In Africa, Asia and Latin America, The Hunger Project seeks to end hunger and poverty by empowering people to lead lives of self-reliance, meet their own basic needs and build better futures for their children.
The Hunger Project carries out its mission through three essential activities: mobilizing village clusters at the grassroots level to build self-reliance, empowering women as key change agents, and forging effective partnerships with local government.
Countries of Operation
In 2009 The Hunger Project was active in:
Primary activities
In Africa, THP implements - the Epicenter strategy - it organizes clusters of 10 to 15 villages to construct community centers, partner with local government agencies and community based organizations and establish and manage their own programs for microfinance, improved agriculture, food-processing, income-generation, adult literacy, food-security, and primary health-care (including the prevention of HIV/AIDS).
In India, THP facilitates the mobilization and training of elected women panchayat leaders.
In Bangladesh, THP conducts trainings focused on gender issues and leadership to local leaders in each area in which we work. These leaders then proceed to organize local meetings, lead workshops and initiate campaigns against early marriage and dowry, malnutrition, maternal and child mortality, gender discrimination, and inequality, illiteracy and corruption.
In Latin America, The Hunger Project works with communities to overcome their economic marginalization - particularly that of the indigenous women.
Impact Assessment
Currently, Innovations for Poverty Action, a nonprofit evaluation organization [4], is partnering with THP to evaluate the long term-impact of this epicenter strategy on health, nutrition, income, the role of women, social cohesion and education in Ghana. [5].
Financial and accountability reports
The Hunger Project raises funds, via contributions, in the following countries Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. According to its online report retrieved February 2007, Charity Navigator reports that The Hunger Project's program costs in FY2005 were 80.2% of expenses, and administrative and fundraising costs were 19.8%.[2] Give.org/BBB reports that as of December 2006, the Project's program expenses were 77% of total, and administrative and fundraising costs 23% and meets all of its standards.[1] Charity Navigator gives The Hunger Project four out of four stars, and the American Institute of Philanthropy gives it an A- rating.[3]
The Hunger Project met the standards to be listed on the 2004 Combined Federal Campaign National List[4] and the Commonwealth of Virginia 2005 Charity Application.[5]
History
Recent Publications & Accomplishments
List of recent articles that featured The Hunger Project's work.
September 15, 2009 - President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has highly commended The Hunger Project Uganda, for supplementing the government's efforts in transforming societies in the country through income generating activities as well as food security. THP "has spent $3m into the project since 1999 and the Government has injected over $110m on similar efforts in the same period, but what has been done is not commensurate to the funds used", the President said. [6]
August 17, 2009 - The Hunger Project cited by Nicholas Kristof in Half the Sky. "Women and girls aren't the problem; they're the solution." In this article, Kristof and WuDunn give an overview of the many challenges women in the developing world face and highlight the opportunity of focusing on women and girls. THP is cited as an organization that promotes women as the key to ending hunger[7]; [8]
August 3, 2009 - Jill Lester, a former Australian diplomat and senior executive at the Commonwealth Bank, became the Hunger Project's CEO in 2008. She spoke with Devex about her priorities and goals for the organization as it moves forward during tough economic times. [9]
April 7, 2009 - William Easterly, NYU Professor visits THP Epicenter and writes about his experiences in his "Aid Watch" Blog: [10]
December 20, 2008 - The Hunger Project new CEO, Jill Lester featured in Sydney Morning Herald. [11]
November 22, 2008 - The Hunger Project and 2008 Africa Prize Laureate, Janet Nkubana, Featured on ABC News. Janet Nkubana is Founder and President of Gahaya Links, a cooperative of nearly 4,000 weavers in Rwanda and the recipient of The Hunger Project's 2008 Africa Prize. [12]
July 7, 2008 - CNN Report on family from Atlanta, GA who downsizes home to help donate funds to THP programs in Ghana. [13]
Public criticism
In its early years, The Hunger Project was object of criticism, which was mainly focused on:
- the organization's original ties (severed in 1991) to Werner Erhard, Erhard Seminars Training, and their philosophies;
- the failure of the Hunger Project to reach its goal of "ending world hunger by 1997..."; [6]
- the focus of the Project (1977-1990) on public education and advocacy, rather than providing food and other direct action (on May 30, 1981 the board of directors of Oxfam Canada passed a resolution which stated they would not endorse any activities or programs sponsored by The Hunger Project, nor would they accept funds from the project. [7])
- recent activity of The Hunger Project to remove critical articles from the Internet.[8]
Project reaction against criticism
Mother Jones, the The Christian Century, the fifth estate, Carol Giambalvo, Rick Ross, and Jim Provenzano have all received complaints from The Hunger Project for publishing articles that The Hunger Project considered to be false and defamatory.
...the Hunger Project has reacted strongly against other reporters who have attempted to cover the group's activities. Pat Lynch, then an NBC News reporter, stated that the Hunger Project carried out a four-month campaign to discredit her while she was preparing what eventually became an NBC Evening News segment in 1980. And when Dan Noyes was asked by a radio station in 1983 to participate in a program with a Hunger Project spokesperson, the organization refused to appear. Instead they requested a tape of the program with Noyes alone for review by the group's lawyer.[9]
Governance and administration
Executive staff
- Jill Lester, President and Chief Executive Officer
- Fitigu Tadesse, Vice President for Africa
Board membership
- Peter Bourne, Chair
- Joan Holmes, Former President, The Hunger Project
- Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique
- V. Mohini Giri, former Chair of the National Commission for Women in India
- Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, former Vice-President and Minister of Agriculture in Uganda
- Cecilia Loría Saviñón, Former Director of Indesol in Mexico
- George Mathew
- Queen Noor of Jordan (honorary)
- Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian diplomat, fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations (honorary)
- Amartya Sen, economist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics (honorary)
- Steven J. Sherwood
- George Weiss
- M. S. Swaminathan, Chair Emeritus (heads the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation)
- Charles Deull, Secretary[10]
Organizations and concepts
- Food and Agriculture Organization
- Sustainable agriculture
- Women's empowerment
- Humanitarian aid
- World Food Day
- World Food Conference
- Make Poverty History
References
- ^ a b "Global Hunger Project". Give.org/BBB. February 2006. Retrieved September 17, 2006.
- ^ "The Hunger Project". Charity Navigator.
- ^ "Top Rated Charities". American Institute of Philanthropy. Retrieved September 17, 2006.
- ^ "2004 Combined Federal Campaign National List" (Word document, see "Global Hunger Project", item #1436). U. S. Office of Personnel Management. Retrieved September 16, 2006.
- ^ "CVC 2005 Charity Application Global Hunger Project". Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign. Retrieved September 17, 2006
- ^ Gordon, Suzanne (December 1978). "Let them eat est". Mother Jones. Vol. 3, No. 10, pp. 40-44, 49-50, 52-54
- ^ Bell, Daniel and Weston, Brendan (February 13, 1985. "Hunger Project feeds itself". McGill Daily
- ^ Ross, Rick (April 9, 2004). "The Hunger Project attempts to purge criticism and history from the Internet". Rick Ross Institute. Retrieved September 2, 2006.
- ^ Weir, David; Noyes, Dan; and Center for Investigative Reporting (1983). Raising Hell: How the Center for Investigative Reporting Gets the Story., pp.156., Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. ISBN 0-201-10858-5.
- ^ "Global Board of Directors", The Hunger Project website, updated February 2006, accessed September 11, 2006
External links
Corporate websites
- The Hunger Project official website
Financial information
- Combined Federal Campaign, Office of Personnel Management, (Word document, see "Global Hunger Project", item #1436)
- CVC Charity Application from Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign
- The Hunger Project Financial Statistics from Charity Navigator, FY2005
- Global Hunger Project report from Give.org/BBB, December 2006
- Better Business Bureau NY, Charity Report, 2003
Other
- Million Dollar Initiative to Help African Women Farmers By Thalif Deen, September 13, 1999
- Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: What Really Works on the Ground OneWorld South Asia, posted, November 8, 2005.
- PanAfrica: Better Leadership Determines Our Future Concord Times, Freetown, May 19, 2006.
- Message from President Joan Holmes to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan griefandrenewal.com, Freetown, posted May 15, 2006.
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