Stop Hunger makes women its priority and empowers them to act locally and sustainably

  • International

We have invested over the last four years US $ 5 million in programs to empower women who take action against hunger in their local communities, helping those most in need. Today, 32 effective and measurable initiatives are supported in 21 countries, in collaboration with Stop Hunger volunteers from the local teams of Sodexo, our founding partner.

Why empowering women is an opportunity to end hunger?

 

Among these 32 initiatives:

São Paulo, Brazil: Stop Hunger and Sodexo signed a 3-year contract with AFESU to promote social inclusion through gastronomy. Twenty young women are benefiting from the program.

In addition to learning the cooking techniques, they benefit from courses on personal development, entrepreneurship and empowerment as well as in better understanding the job market. AFESU, Associacao Feminia de Estudos Sociais e Universitarios (Women's Association for Social and University Studies), was created in 1963.

I am currently in the 2nd year of journalism. My apprenticeship made a real difference: much more than cooking, I learned teamwork, which is useful in any business!” Denise Alves de Paula, former student, AFESU Moinho.

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Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo: Our support will allow more than 250 young women and their children to be supported and fed, enabling them to start an apprenticeship with A.S.I./Actions de Solidarité Internationale (International Solidarity Actions) to acquire new skills and start afresh.

As part of Stop Hunger’s skills-based volunteering program, Sodexo employees will be delivering workshops in different areas of expertise such as cooking, baking, electrical maintenance, etc., to allow these women regain a decent life and better living conditions for themselves and their children.

Founded in 1983 in Burkina Faso, for almost 15 years, A.S.I. has been supporting teenage girls who are among the most vulnerable and homeless in the Republic of Congo.

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Palghar district, Maharashtra, western India: Stop Hunger and Sodexo provide support to enable the Under the Mango Tree Society to distribute seeds, saplings and biofertilizer, thus diversifying the gardens and improving harvests of fruits, vegetables and honey.

The project aims to train 550 smallholder women farmers (impacting 8,250 people within 30 villages) in beekeeping, sustainable farming practices and efficient water usage. Surpluses are sold in local markets, feeding 500 people and providing them with better living conditions.

Founded in 2009, UTMT Society is a non-profit organization that promotes beekeeping with indigenous bees and eco-friendly gardening to increase populations of bees, crops and family incomes.

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Dublin, Ireland: With 400 homeless families in the country, this project aims to give vital support in the Focus Ireland Family Centre to help them tend to their immediate needs as well as help 20+ women and their kids exit homelessness for good.

Lone-single parent families (95% female led) benefit from a safe space and special support. In addition to hot meals, laundry facilities and kindergarten, parents are welcomed and assisted by family workers.

The aim is for Stop Hunger volunteers from Sodexo Ireland will help give beneficiaries a clear vision of jobs available in the catering industry and can help them find work.

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Pandeli, Nepal: North-west of Kathmandu, at the foot of the Himalayan mountains, after supporting the creation of a childcare center with Les Enfants de Kavresthali (Kavresthali’s Children), Stop Hunger is now providing support for the building of a safe space for a fair-trade agricultural cooperative.

This building will help the local farmers, a majority of whom are women, centralize their vegetable and coffee production, share costs and improve their visibility.

A total of 100 smallholder farmers are benefiting from advice and support to improve the quality of their organic crops and their production is being sold at a fair price directly to private buyers in the nearby city. Finally, international Himalayan hikers will soon be able to visit the cooperative and buy local products.  

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Lurin, a suburb of Lima, Peru: in this poverty-stricken neighborhood 30 km south of the capital, mothers play a key role in this creative and eco-friendly nutrition program, created by Sodexo and Ccori Cocina Óptima, Chef Palmiro Ocampo’s NGO.

Since 2018, the traditional collective kitchens (Comedores Populares, a social movement of the 1970s, created and led by women) welcome innovative culinary and nutrition workshops: Ccori Cocinas Bondadosas (Ccori Kind Kitchens).

There, mothers learn to prepare tasty meals on a small budget, using local produce and leftovers, therefore eliminating waste. With Stop Hunger’s support, 51 new workshops over the next two years will enable mothers to benefit from the knowledge, recipes, advice and nutritional support of Sodexo experts.

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Stop Hunger makes women its priority and empowers them to act locally and sustainably