Through The Hunger Project, we’ve learned the power of collective action. Education, improved agriculture, and the empowerment of women are key to breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger. These efforts are transforming lives, one community at a time.
Studies show that when women are supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Their families are healthier, more children go to school, agricultural productivity improves, and incomes increase.
We recognize the multifaceted barriers that impede women’s progress. Across our programs, we address challenges such as low completion rates for girls in education, limited access to economic resources, limited representation in government and high rates of early marriages and violence against women. The data below highlights these systems of inequalities.
- South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are home to 68 percent of adolescent girls and women who are underweight and 60 percent of adolescent girls and women with anemia (Unicef 2023)
- 39,000 girls under the age of 18 get married every day worldwide (THP.org)
- This is especially a challenge in low-income countries like Bangladesh where one in three girls gets married before the age of 18. (THP.org)
In Bangladesh the THP Program „Safe School for Girls“ works with students, teachers, parents and local communities to stop child marriages and to promote opportunities for girls. More than 25,000 people have been trained in Safe School for Girls workshops.
Bangladesh 2019 © THP Bangladesh
Rumi was able to prevent her child marriage with the help of her friends, her school and The Hunger Project intervention.
When we met Rumi, she was a 14-year-old girl living in Bangladesh. Shortly before, her world had collapsed: she had learned that she was to get married. “But I’m still a child,” she said. A child full of dreams, wishes and the ambition to become a doctor one day. When she talked about becoming a doctor, her voice sounded euphoric and colorful. The planned child marriage was like a shadow cast over her voice. She sounded colorless. When Rumi’s friends found out about the planned marriage, they decided to prevent it. Together with the teachers at her school, they spoke to Rumi’s parents. A strong voice against child marriage.Help the Hunger Project to support young girls, women and their communities to break the cycle of inequality, poverty and hunger. You can help by using the JustPlay App or via www.thp.org
