Celebrating 70 years of a global commitment to human rights.
Each year on December 10, we celebrate Human Rights Day to bring global attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as the common standard of achievement for all people and nations. Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, the Declaration was designed to prevent the repetition of the horrific human rights violations that had been committed during World War II.
Learn more about the history of the Declaration and the Movement for Community-led Development.
This year on the 70th Anniversary of the declaration, we celebrate this milestone document seeking to protect human rights. It is a chance for the world to celebrate the Universal Declaration and to help reaffirm the enduring human rights principles and standards it has helped establish.
At The Hunger Project, human rights is at the cornerstone of our vision to create a world where every woman, man and child leads a healthy, fulfilling life of self-reliance and dignity.
In fact, human dignity is recognized as the first principle in our work at The Hunger Project, recognizing that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, including the right to food, health, work and education. The inherent nature of every person is creative, resourceful, self-reliant, responsible and productive. We must not treat people living in conditions of hunger as beneficiaries, which can crush dignity, but rather as the key resource for ending hunger.
We need your help to empower a new generation of people to defend human rights, engage decision-makers on human rights, and advocate, engage, and reflect on the UDHR.
Join us in creating a future where all people are empowered to stand up for their human rights.
What We Do
Global programs to strengthen women’s leadership: In India, the Hunger Project empowers women elected to local government in nearly 2,000 panchayats (clusters of rural villages) to meet the development needs of their communities. Across six states of India, these women lead more than 9 million people in a mission to achieve universal human rights. At the regional level, we facilitate federations of women leaders to strengthen their voice and provide a platform for learning and exchange.
Advocate for the end of child marriage locally: In Bangladesh, as part of the National Girl Child Advocacy Forum, The Hunger Project has joined with various government officials and NGOs to advocate for a comprehensive sexual harassment prevention law at the Advocacy Forum for Child Rights in Parliament on November 20, 2018.
Empowerment through microfinance programs: The Hunger Project’s Microfinance Program addresses a critical missing link for the end of hunger in Africa: the economic empowerment of the most important but least supported food producers on the continent – Africa’s women. The majority of the Microfinance Committee seats are for women and 75% of the Board of Directors of the Rural Bank are women, giving women a powerful voice in the community — often for the first time. In Uganda, 9 of 11 epicenters have recognized Rural Banks. All of the epicenters have partners involved in agriculture, in handicrafts, in livestock, in petty trade, in services and in sewing and dressmaking.
Supporting community development: In Mexico and Peru, we support community development initiatives, focusing on the people who are the most marginalized, particularly indigenous women, reaching over 21,000 people. Our work includes a special focus on improving childhood and maternal malnutrition and igniting local entrepreneurship.
Mobilizing rural communities in Africa: In eight countries in Africa, The Hunger Project’s Epicenter Strategy mobilizes clusters of rural villages into “epicenters,” which band together 5,000-15,000 people to carry out community-led integrated strategies to meet basic needs. Community members at epicenters create and run their own development programs, reaching more than 1.6 million people throughout Africa in effort to inspire self-reliance.
Commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s): In Bangladesh for example, The Hunger Project mobilizes local “animators,” (trained volunteers), youth, women leaders, and local government representatives. In 185 Sustainable Development Goals Unions, or “SDG Union’s,” our partners carry out holistic, bottom-up strategies to achieve the SDGs in their communities. Their work reaches nearly 5 million people.
Learn More
Read more about the 70th Anniversary of UNDHR
The Movement for Community-led Development has published a 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. Read the full series now!
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