universities fighting world hunger getting started on your campus

universities fighting world hunger getting started on your campus

table of contents 1 what is ufwh? 2 timeline 3 4 why hunger? the facts: hunger around the world 5 6 the facts: hunger in the u.s. getting started: forming a ufwh chapter 7-8 9 getting started: where does my campus begin? contact information

what is ufwh? In 2004, Auburn University was invited by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world s largest humanitarian agency, to become its lead academic partner in a newly launched War on Hunger student campaign. The partnership has resulted in a best practices educational model that outlines a grassroots student campaign and a multi-disciplinary academic action agenda that is suitable for adaptation or replication by other colleges and universities. The partnership has led to more than 300 higher education institutions mobilizing under the banner of Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH). Vision: In partnership with the UN World Food Programme, UFWH is the catalyst mobilizing universities across the nation and around the globe to make fighting hunger a core value of higher education institutions worldwide. Mission: The mission is to create an academic hunger model that is suitable for replication or adaptation by universities worldwide. Goal: The founding goal is to develop and implement an action agenda for students and faculty that encompasses: hunger awareness and consciousness-raising fundraising advocacy academic initiatives (teaching, research, outreach) leading to a university community that is fully engaged in the effort to eliminate world hunger. 1

ufwh timeline 2004 2006 Partnership established between the UN World Food Programme and Auburn University. 1 st University Hunger Summit held at Auburn University. National launch of UFWH at Georgetown University. 2008 3 rd University Hunger Summit held at George Washington University. WFP senior advisor assigned to Auburn University. 2009 European University Hunger Summit held in Rome, Italy. Hunger studies minor established at Auburn University. 2010 150+ institutions worldwide signed up with UFWH. 2011 6 th University Hunger Summit held at University of Guelph. Co-sponsored the Kansas Hunger Dialogue with Numana. 2012 7 th University Hunger Summit held at Universidad Nacional de Agricultura, Honduras. International Hunger Institute established at Auburn University. 300+ institutions worldwide are signed up with UFWH. 2

why hunger? hunger is a solvable problem. Hunger is something we are all familiar with that nagging feeling that grows in the pit of our stomachs. For most, it is a temporary discomfort that is easily remedied. But, what if hunger was something you had to deal with day in and day out? What if you never knew when you would next eat or where your next meal would come from? For nearly 1 billion people this is their reality. A dramatic rise in food prices, continued population growth, the use of food for fuel, and a world financial crisis have all converged in past years to create a perfect storm for hunger relief. Despite the fact that there is enough food to feed every person, so many are still going without. How is this possible? Barriers such as logistical challenges, lack of access to food, and lack of political commitment to ending hunger hamper efforts to feed the hungry. But, we know hunger is a solvable problem. We know the solutions, and for the first time in history we have the tools to make hunger history. When universities collectively share the load with governments, and philanthropic/faith-based non-government organizations sustainable long-term solutions to this threatening world issue can be derived. UFWH is working to educate students, the world s future leaders, on the issues in an effort to create a more sustainable world. Together we can end hunger! 3

the facts: hunger around the world: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hunger is the world s no. 1 health risk. It kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. 1 in 7 people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight. 1 out of 4 children in developing countries are underweight. There are more hungry people in the world than the populations of the US, Canada, and the European Union combined. 925 million people do not have enough to eat. 88% of them live in developing countries. Women make up a little over half the world s population, but they account for over 60% of the world s hungry. 65% of the world s hungry live in just 7 countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Ethiopia. Undernutrition contributes to 5 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries. Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people. Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20%. 10 Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage, affecting 1.9 billion people worldwide. It can easily be prevented by adding iodine to salt. Source: UN World Food Programme (http://www.wfp.org/ hunger/stats) 4

the facts: hunger in the u.s. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 In 2010, 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.6 million adults and 16.2 million children. The top 5 food insecure states are Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama & Georgia. Food insecurity exists in every county in America. In 2010, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (20.2%), especially households with children headed by single women (35.1%) or single men (25.4%), black non-hispanic households (25.1%) and Hispanic households (26.2%). In 2010, 4.8% of all US households (5.6 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times. In 2010, 59.2% of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major federal food assistance programs Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). In fiscal year 2009, 48.0% of all SNAP participants were children. Research indicates that hungry children do more poorly in school and have lower academic achievement because they are not well prepared for school and cannot concentrate. 14.7% of rural households are food insecure, an estimated 3 million households. 10 In 2010, 9.0% of the elderly lived below the poverty line, 3.5 million older Americans. Source: Feeding America (http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx) 5

getting started: forming a ufwh chapter UFWH student chapters evolve in many different ways. The idea to form a chapter may come from a group of friends, an existing committee or student professional group, a class, or university official. Whatever its origin, think about the best means for tapping into your campus s interest in the fight against hunger. What are the expectations of UFWH membership? To create a consistent identity among UFWH chapters, we ask that each chapter fulfill four minimum requirements. 1. Register with Universities Fighting World Hunger Visit http://www.universitiesfightingworldhunger.org to register a new chapter of UFWH or an existing organization on your campus that is committed to raising awareness about hunger. 2. Hold an event on your campus for World Food Day October 16 is World Food Day. It is a great chance for UFWH chapters to raise awareness about the fight against hunger. See the resources section of the UFWH website for more information. 3. Organize an activity for the Spring semester To keep the momentum going, we request that each chapter organize a hunger-related activity or event during the Spring term. See the resources section of the UFWH website for more information. 4. Complete the activity form for the UFWH Annual Report To help us keep track of all our chapters and to inform other chapters of what s going on we ask that you complete the activity form at the end of each calendar year that will be sent to you by the UFWH Coordinator. University Hunger Summit Each year we hold a University Hunger Summit hosted by one of our member institutions. The summit, usually held during the Spring semester, is not a mandatory event, but your attendance is highly recommended. This is a time for UFWH members from all over the world to come together and dive deeper into the root causes of hunger, network with other students, and hear from high-level speakers in the humanitarian world. Visit our website for more information about upcoming summits. 6

getting started: where does my campus begin? Now that you have learned more about the complex issue of hunger, the mission of UFWH, and how some chapters have organized, we encourage you to get started! Contact UFWH As a first step you are encouraged to contact the UFWH Coordinator (contact information in the back of this manual). The coordinator is available to answer any questions and help guide you through the process of getting started. Don t forget to register your chapter at http://www.universitiesfightingworldhunger.org. In addition to registering, the website will become one of your most valuable tools and resources. It provides assistance to help you get organized, communicate with and learn from other chapters around the world, and download useful materials. Define leadership structure and set goals In forming any organized group, it is important to decide on your leadership structure as well as central goals and objectives. As you will recall, the major goal of UFWH is to develop an action agenda that includes hunger awareness and consciousness-raising, fundraising, advocacy, and academic initiatives. In light of this over-arching goal, we encourage university chapters to consider its four parts in developing your own plan of work. We suggest you start small, set a few goals, achieve success, and grow from there. Recruit faculty and/or staff advisors Consider which professors, administrators, and/or staff are interested either professionally or personally in the issue of hunger, the Millennium Development Goals, and/or international development. Their support will be tremendously beneficial to your chapter in both the short and long-term. The significant advantages to having faculty and staff thoroughly integrated into your UFWH chapter include: additional credibility and campus recognition access to community resources and contacts assistance in networking guidance and information provision of experienced guidance and information chapter continuity as students graduate Register with your university Most schools require student groups to formally register with their university in order to reap the benefits of being an officially recognized organization on campus. In fact, some schools may provide a budget to fund student groups registered on campus. If you need additional funds to operate, you may do so through a fundraising activity that should be clearly designated as supporting your UFWH chapter and not WFP or another targeted hunger charity. It is important to understand your school s policies and procedures in order to be in compliance with university regulations. 7

Developing and implementing activities and events When you are planning activities and events, don t forget to include dates significant to your school, such as homecoming or spring break. These dates will be factors in your chapter s planning and may provide perfect opportunities for you to coordinate hunger-related activities with other campus events. In addition, be sure to check the upcoming events in the resources section of the UFWH website. Hunger awareness (knowing about it) and consciousness-raising (caring about it) This should be the first step in establishing an effective campaign against hunger. In order to distribute information effectively and get campus and community buy-in, it is important to have an aggressive marketing strategy using both traditional and new media. Visit the resources section of the UFWH website for more information. Fundraising Along with hunger awareness activities, you may want to include a fundraising component. Because it costs WFP only $0.25 to feed a child for one day, it takes very little to make a tremendous impact on the lives of the hungry. When your chapter sponsors a fundraiser, be sure that you keep track of the cost associated with organizing the event. Deduct those expenses from the final amount raised prior to determining the amount of your donation. It is recommended that students work closely with a faculty advisor to ensure that your funds go into a specific account that will accommodate a subsequent charitable donation. Funds raised for WFP can be donated through WFPUSA (http://www.wfpusa.org), if your school is located within the US, or through WFP (http://www.wfp.org), if your school is located outside the US. Advocacy This consists of strategies and actions taken to influence decision making at all levels of government and is another part of the UFWH agenda. As members of your student chapter come to know about and care about hunger, it is important for them to learn to effectively communicate that knowing and caring to others if we are to build the political will to end hunger. For more ways to become an advocate visit the resources section of the UFWH site. Sharing your stories If you host an event on your campus, we want to know about it. Submit a write up of the event along with photos and we ll post your school s story on our website and share with all the other chapters. 8

contact information Address: 210 Spidle Hall Auburn, AL 36849 Phone: +1.334.844.3790 Fax: +1.334.844.3749 Email: 0hunger@auburn.edu 9