The Hunger Project’s 2019 Annual Report highlights the impact of our work in partnership with 16.5 million people across 13,600 communities.

In nine countries of Africa, through our Epicenter Strategy, communities are leading holistic, women-centered programs, reaching 1.2 million people. The goal is a declaration of their own accomplishments and self-reliance — meaning they are set up to sustain and further the work begun in partnership with The Hunger Project. In 2019 alone, eight epicenters — comprising nearly 77,000 people — celebrated self-reliance. The continuing work of these communities is a demonstration of the sustainability of community-led approaches.

In India, we partnered with over 40 local organizations to empower 8,000 elected women representatives, each of them champions for gender equality, social and economic development, and nutrition. These women represent 1,600 panchayats (local village councils) in six states and have a reach of more than 10 million people. At the regional level, federations of women leaders participated in workshops to strengthen their voice and provide a platform for peer learning and exchange.

In Bangladesh, we mobilized local volunteer “animators,” women and youth leaders, and local government representatives in 180 unions (clusters of rural villages), whose work to carry out holistic, bottom-up strategies to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals reached more than 5 million people in 2019.

In Mexico and Peru, we supported the implementation of community-led development initiatives. In 2019, these initiatives reached nearly 25,000 people in 41 isolated, rural communities. Through their work with our programs, individuals learn how to be active citizens and bring change to their communities.