South Asia

The Hunger Project is working to end hunger in India and Bangladesh.

Empowering people to be agents of change

The Hunger Project was established in India in 1984 where we mobilize people for self-reliant action, empowering women to become effective and respected leaders in their communities, and engaging with local government.

In Bangladesh, The Hunger Project is currently the largest volunteer-based organisation where our work includes promoting youth leadership and reducing gender inequality.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries where 32% of the population lives below the national poverty line
FIND OUT MORE

India

India is the world’s largest democracy with nearly 1.3 billion citizens but is home to one third of the world’s poor
FIND OUT MORE

Bonani advocates for Safe Schools for Girls in Bangladesh

In the Bagherhat District of Bangladesh, Bonani is a young girl who attends high school.  In many parts of Bangladesh, girls are denied an education. Continuing beyond primary school to high school is limited to those families who can afford...
Read More

Hansa saves one of India’s last pristine forests

Hansa Devi is just one woman. One very empowered woman. And because of her and the women she mobilised, one of the last pristine forests of India has been saved from over-development. Hansa’s journey began five years ago when she attended The Hunger...
Read More

Anju is leading a savings group in Bangladesh

Anju is 34 years old. She was married at the age of 13 and had her first child just a year later – a daughter who dropped out of school and was married by 16. Anju decided then that she wouldn’t let her grandchildren be part of the same cycle. She...
Read More

Action against harmful advice: A good start for babies in Bangladesh!

Pregnant women in Bangladesh receive all sorts of conflicting - and often incorrect - advice. One such piece of advice is that they shouldn't eat too much so that the baby stays small to allow for an easier birth. The Hunger Project Bangladesh is...
Read More

Razia, protesting child marriage in Bangladesh

  In Bangladesh, boys are typically valued more than girls. Girls are often pulled out of school at a young age to be married off. They aren’t able to earn an income for themselves or have a say in family decisions. They are made to look after...
Read More

Meher Nazmun, Bangladesh

Meher Nazmun, known popularly as Tisha to her friends and family, is 21 years old and lives in Munshipara, Rangpur District in Bangladesh. As she walked to and from her college, Tisha was troubled at seeing children from the nearby slums on the...
Read More

Manowara Afroz Saleha, Bangladesh

From childhood, Saleha dreamt of being a teacher, but her father’s sudden death when she was eight years old, and a time of economic crisis in Bangladesh, meant that alone, like many women and girls, Saleha and her mother encountered serious...
Read More

Tasly, Bangladesh

Tasly was born in 1976 in the Baroidanga village of Satgambug Union in Bangladesh. Despite her limited means, she was very successful in school and received a Higher Secondary Certificate (high school). She dreamed of completing higher education,...
Read More

Jesmeen, Bangladesh

Jesmeen is an empowered, self-reliant woman in the village of Shampurtati. Although she was continually faced with severe poverty, she learned that the power to conquer it was within her grasp. Jesmeen was the second oldest of nine brothers and...
Read More

Rajwanti Singh, India

Rajwanti Singh refused to accept a lesser status in life. Now, this Indian woman is a highly respected leader in her community and has big plans for the future. Watch (and share!) her amazing story. "At the first meetings of the panchayat (village...
Read More

Photography credits: India – Anna Zhu