Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. – or Welthungerhilfe (literally: World Hunger Help) for short – is a German non-denominational and politically independent non-profit and
non-governmental aid agency working in the fields of
development cooperation
Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...
and
humanitarian assistance
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and v ...
. Since its founding in 1962, it has used 4.2 billion euros to carry out more than 10.369 projects in 70 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
/sup>">/sup> Welthungerhilfe holds the Seal of Approval awarded by Deutsches Zentralinstitut für Soziale Fragen (DZI). In 2014, Welthungerhilfe and the aid organization
World Vision International
World Vision International is an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organization. It prefers to present itself as interdenominational and also employs staff from non-evangelical Christian denominations. It was ...
were announced the most transparent German organizations.
Welthungerhilfe is part of the Partner Circle of the
Foundations Platform F20, a global network of foundations and philanthropic organizations.
Goals and Guidelines
Welthungerhilfe's goal is to end hunger and poverty. Following the basic principle of help towards self-help, it works with local partner organisations to support the efforts of people in
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
to free themselves from hunger and poverty and to provide for themselves on a
sustainable basis.
History
Welthungerhilfe was founded in 1962 on the initiative of the then Federal President of Germany,
Heinrich Lübke
Karl Heinrich Lübke (; 14 October 1894 – 6 April 1972) was a German politician, who served as president of West Germany from 1959 to 1969.
He suffered from deteriorating health towards the end of his career and is known for a series of emba ...
. It formed the German section of the Freedom from Hunger Campaign, which was launched 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. The organisation's chairpersons have been:
* 1962–1965: Fritz Dietz
* 1965–1968:
Hans-Joachim von Merkatz
* 1968–1973: Heinrich Kraut
* 1973–1984:
Claus W. Broicher
* 1984–1995:
Helga Henselder-Barzel
Helga Henselder-Barzel (1940 – 15 December 1995) was a German political scientist. She was the president of the German non-governmental organization Welthungerhilfe from 1984 until her death in 1995. In that capacity she critiqued contemporary ...
* 1996–2008:
Ingeborg Schäuble
* 2008–2018:
Bärbel Dieckmann
Bärbel Dieckmann ( Pritz, born 26 March 1949) is a German politician who was elected mayor of Bonn in 1994 and was in office until 2009. She is the first woman and Social Democrat to become mayor of Bonn.
Early life and education
The daughter ...
(new title after changing the management structure: President)
* 2018–present:
Marlehn Thieme
Structure
Since its founding, the respective
Federal President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
has been patron of the organization. In 2008, a new management structure was established.
Bärbel Dieckmann
Bärbel Dieckmann ( Pritz, born 26 March 1949) is a German politician who was elected mayor of Bonn in 1994 and was in office until 2009. She is the first woman and Social Democrat to become mayor of Bonn.
Early life and education
The daughter ...
, who was at that time the mayor of
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
, became Welthungerhilfe's President in November 2008; her deputy is
Joachim von Braun, Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
. 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. In September 2018, Mathias Mogge has been selected as secretary general.
Funding
Despite a rapid increase in the amount of private donations from the general public (2016: 44.7 million euros), Welthungerhilfe continues to finance the majority of its work from institutional grants (2016: 213.4 million euros). The largest institutional donor organisations are the United Nations'
World Food Programme
The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен ...
(WFP), the German
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (german: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, ), abbreviated BMZ, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is ...
(BMZ), the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the
EU Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
and the
German Federal Foreign Office (AA). In addition to those principal sources, income is received through 'Foundation Welthungerhilfe' (2016: 0.8 million euros) and "Interest and other income" (2016: 2.2 million euros). In 2016, Welthungerhilfe spent 4.9% of its income on administration, a further 9.7% was spent on advertising and public relations.
Activities
As well as direct disaster aid, Welthungerhilfe mainly provides support for people in developing countries in the fields of
rural development
Rural development is the process of improving the quality life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas.
Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of ...
and
food security
Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World ...
. Projects to restore basic infrastructure (schools, roads, etc.) to improve social integration and education and to strengthen
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.[terre des hommes
Terre des hommes, also Terre des Hommes (''Land of People'' or ''Land of Men''), is an international children's rights charitable humanitarian umbrella organization under the aegis of the International Federation of Terre des Hommes (TDHIF), wit ...]
, Welthungerhilfe regularly publishes the Report on the Reality of Development Aid.
/sup>">/sup> Welthungerhilfe is a member of
VENRO, the Association of German Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs. Together with the Alliance2015 network, an association of seven European aid organisations, it carries out political lobbying work at European level. It also promotes the appropriate debate of development politics topics in school lessons by providing teaching material, and offers a range of participative campaigns. Volunteer supporters assist Welthungerhilfe with fundraising events.
Since 2006, Welthungerhilfe, the
International Food Policy Research Institute
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is an international agricultural research center founded in the early 1970s to improve the understanding of national agricultural and food policies to promote the adoption of innovations ...
(IFPRI), and – since 2007 –
Concern Worldwide have been publishing the annual
Global Hunger Index
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool that attempts to measure and track hunger globally as well as by region and by country, prepared by European NGOs of Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. The GHI is calculated annually, and its results a ...
every October.
">
Transparency
In 2014, the analysis institute
Phineo conducted a study on transparency and examined 50 aid agencies in different categories. The research revealed the level of transparency of the information provided by the organizations about their strategies, activities and impact. Welthungerhilfe documents its work transparently on its website and was named as the most transparent organization in Germany in December 2014, alongside World Vision.
See also
*
Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
WelthungerhilfeWelthungerhilfe South AsiaCivil Society AcademyAlliance2015Millennium Village Projectmanaged by Welthungerhilfe in the
Development Cooperation Handbook.
playlist
{{Authority control
Organizations established in 1962
Hunger relief organizations
Organisations based in Bonn
Development charities based in Germany
Articles containing video clips
Non-profit organisations based in North Rhine-Westphalia