Welthungerhilfe

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. – or Welthungerhilfe (German for World Hunger Aid) for short – is a German non-denominational and politically independent, non-profit-making and non-governmental aid agency working in the field of development cooperation and emergency relief aid. Since it was founded in 1962, it has used about 2.52 billion euros to carry out more than 7000 aid projects in 70 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.[1] Welthungerhilfe holds the seal of approval of the Deutsches Zentralinstitut für soziale Fragen [German Institute for Social Issues] (DZI). In 2012, Welthungerhilfe celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Goals and Guidelines

Welthungerhilfe has set itself the goal of banishing famine and poverty from the world. Following the basic principle of help towards self-help, it works together with local partner organisations to support the efforts of people in developing countries to free themselves from hunger and poverty [2] and to provide for themselves on a sustainable basis.

History

Welthungerhilfe was founded in 1962, as the German Committee of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, on the initiative of the then Federal President of Germany, Heinrich Lübke. It formed the German section of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, which was brought into being in 1961 by Binay Ranjan Sen, the Director-General of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In 1967 the organisation's name was changed to Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V.

Structure

Since it was founded its patron has been the respective current Federal President of Germany. In 2008 the registered association gave itself a new management structure. Bärbel Dieckmann, who was at that time the mayor of Bonn, became Welthungerhilfe's Chairperson in November 2008; her deputy is the German politician and scientist, Prof. Klaus Töpfer. Her predecessor as chairman of the Board of Directors was Ingeborg Schäuble, who held the position for twelve years. In organisational terms the registered association is managed by an honorary Supervisory Board of seven members which appoints a three-member executive Board of Directors.

Funding

Despite a rapid increase in the amount of private donations from the general public (2012: 36.8 million euros), Welthungerhilfe continues to finance the majority of its work from public grants (2012: 105.6 million euros). The largest public donor organisations are the EU Commission, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP). Apart from those main sources, income is received through "Grants from foundations, private charities and cooperation partners" (2012: 2 million euros), "Foundation Welthungerhilfe" (2012: 0.8 million euros) and "Interest and other income" (2012: 3.3 million euros). Within "Interest and other income" a 10% holding in "Dritte-Welt-Shop Gesellschaft für Entwicklungsförderung GmbH, Königswinter" (DW-Shop) stands out. In 2012, Welthungerhilfe spent 1.9% of its income on administration, a further 6% was spent on advertising and public relations work.[3]

Activities

As well as direct disaster aid,[4] Welthungerhilfe chiefly provides support for people in developing countries in the fields of rural development and food security.[5] In addition, projects are carried out for restoring basic infrastructure (schools, roads, etc.), and for social integration and education, strengthening civil society, and health care.

Millennium Village Project managed by Welthungerhilfe in Jharkhand, India → playlist

In Germany and Europe Welthungerhilfe is working together with other organisations on a critique of current development policies, and by doing so it is bringing influence to bear on government bodies. For example, together with the children's charity, terre des hommes, it regularly publishes a Report on the Reality of Development Aid.[6] Welthungerhilfe is a member of VENRO, the Association of German Development non-governmental Organisations. Together with the Alliance2015 network, an association of seven European aid organisations, it carries out political lobbying work at the European level. It also promotes the up-to-date treatment of development politics topics in teaching in schools by providing a series of its own materials, and it provides a range of participative campaigns. Volunteer helpers assist Welthungerhilfe with fundraising events for the aid projects.

In 2012 Welthungerhilfe published the Global Hunger Index for the seventh time,[7] in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and - since 2007 - in collaboration with the Concern Worldwide organisation.

References

  1. ↑ Facts and figures http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/en/about-us/welthungerhilfe-profil/facts-and-figures.html
  2. ↑ Welthungerhilfe's vision and guidelines http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/en/about-us/welthungerhilfe-profil/vision.html
  3. ↑ 2012 Annual Report http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Mediathek/Mediathek_int/Ueber_Uns/Welthungerhilfe_Annual_Report_2012.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/conflicts-disasters.html
  5. ↑ http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/projects.html
  6. ↑ The Reality of Development Policy http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/en/get-informed/our-challenges/development-policy.html#!/c12909/
  7. ↑ Global Hunger Index 2012: http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Mediathek/Welthunger-Index/WHI_2012/ghi2012.pdf

External links