As we all struggle to adjust to the daily challenges of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, we at The Hunger Project are committed to slowing the spread and mitigating its impact.
The core tenets of The Hunger Project’s work are as relevant as ever. We continue to support the leadership and resilience of our community partners in the face of challenges and empower them to access reliable information and needed services.
THP is committed to being proactive and nimble in a rapidly changing situation. We established a COVID-19 Task Force in late February and have since put a series of protective measures in place to support the health and safety of our program partners and staff around the world.
- We have stopped all international and domestic travel within our programs and US operations, including trips of national office staff to rural communities.
- We have stopped all gatherings of more than 10 people (whether in our offices or in communities) and instituted social distancing measures.
- We are taking action to support work from home, with many offices already fully doing so.
Our teams across the 13 Program Countries where we work are exploring opportunities to empower our partners in new ways, leveraging technology and creativity to support THP’s ongoing transformative programs. This includes providing community support through phone, WhatsApp, and virtual meetings and presentations.
Update: Read about specific Hunger Project community COVID response activities.
We are confident that our community partners — the trained elected women and men leaders and all of our volunteer animators and catalysts worldwide — will lead their communities through this challenging time. We’ve seen it time after time: our communities are resilient and mobilize to lead in times of crisis.
In the coming days and weeks, we will work closely with our investors and funders to navigate the impacts of this pandemic. We thank you for your continued support as we together face this unprecedented challenge that calls on all of us to step forward in our shared humanity. Our leadership is needed more than ever.
Thank you for your partnership.
To learn more about the novel coronavirus COVID-19, we direct you to the World Health Organization website. We particularly recommend reading the myth busters page to counter the spread of misinformation.
Many of The Hunger Project’s partners at InterAction, who work directly in emergency health, are responding directly to this crisis. You can view a list of their efforts on InterAction’s website.
