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News & Events Founded in 1946, Freedom from Hunger is a nonprofit, international development organization that brings innovative and sustainable self-help solutions to the fight against chronic hunger and poverty.			Determination alone won't save lives For as little as a $0.30 a day, give impoverished women the tools they need to achieve lasting food security and safeguard their family's health. Become a Lasting Change Partner. Join Now Fact Box Collaboration to Change the World How can a small organization end chronic hunger around the world? Credit with Education Status Report 2009 A quarterly publication providing information, on Credit with Education programs worldwide. (PDF)
Media Info News Archive	Freedom from Hunger Shows How Banking and Healthcare Can Work Together for the World's Poor Freedom from Hunger has successfully completed a $6 million project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The four-year grant enabled Freedom from Hunger and five microfinance banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America to add health protection options to their financial offerings, reaching more than 1.5 million of the world's rural poor in five countries: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, India and the Philippines. "Microfinance is succeeding at putting money into the hands of poor people but too often ill health causes them to slip back down the ladder into poverty again," said Chris Dunford, President of Freedom from Hunger. "Our solution is to bring together the economic development and health sectors to develop practical and coordinated tools that have more power to create lasting change." The health programs included health savings, health loans, health insurance, health education, group discounts with health providers, mobile healthcare in rural villages, distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and more. Freedom from Hunger conducted careful research and evaluation to determine the impacts of these innovative combinations of microfinance services and health programs. In Bolivia, for example, 24 percent of clients said that they had never seen a doctor before participating in the program, and in India, the life-saving use of oral rehydration solution increased by 47 percent to treat children with diarrhea (a leading cause of death in local children). In Benin, families in the program were 23 percent more likely to own an anti-malarial net. "These are incredible outcomes after only a brief intervention period and they show that this work is having impact," said Marcia Metcalfe, Director of Microfinance and Health Protection at Freedom from Hunger and former CEO of a U.S.-based health insurance company. "Microfinance has enormous potential as a financially viable mechanism for reaching poor, rural people with simple but life-saving health protection services." Locally owned microfinance banks see increased returns when their clients are healthier and have more knowledge and options to protect their health. Microfinance banks are typically commercial entities with a social mission, so they must earn enough profit in order to continue serving their clientele. Freedom from Hunger, with the support of grant funds, can help microfinance banks improve efficiency as well as the impact of their products to better achieve their social and financial goals. "Our experience has shown that well-established microfinance banks can offer valuable health-related options to their clients at low or no cost to the bank itself. In fact, our research results indicate that, in some cases, the resulting increase in client attraction and loyalty may lead to a net financial gain for the banks," said Myka Reinsch, Special Advisor at Freedom from Hunger. Daouda Sawadogo, leader of one of the participating microfinance providers, RCPB in Burkina Faso, pointed out, "These services go a long way to addressing the needs of our clients and helping them overcome poverty-and if they can be offered at low or no marginal cost, then that is a double win." Participating microfinance institutions include Bandhan (India), CARD (Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Philippines), CRECER (Crédito con Educación Rural, Bolivia), PADME (Projet d'Appui au Développement des Microentreprises, Bénin), and RCPB (Réseau des Caisses Populaires du Burkina, Burkina Faso). Freedom from Hunger has documented the processes and results of this innovative project in a series of white papers and how-to guides, and will be continuing to share them broadly. Please click here to learn more about microfinance and health protection programs. A 12-minute video is available here on YouTube illustrating the success of this project with captions available in English, Spanish, and French. Read More The Sights and Sounds of the People of Mali Freedom from Hunger staff have just returned from Mali where they gathered testimonies and gave witness to Freedom from Hunger's impact in the region through microfinance. Watch this two-minute video to get an inside look at the beautiful culture of Mali and a glimpse into the vibrant lives of the women involved with Freedom from Hunger's programs! Christian Loupeda Appointed Director of the Imp-Act Consortium Christian Loupeda, Freedom from Hunger's Director of Social Performance Management, is now also Director of the Imp-Act Consortium of ten organizations, including Freedom from Hunger. The Consortium members are developing and promoting Social Performance Management (SPM) to provide microfinance practitioners the systems and tools to manage their services with equal attention to financial and social goals that result in sustainable support for the self-help efforts of the poor. Originally from Benin in West Africa and educated in France as an economist, Christian has worked for Freedom from Hunger for over ten years. He now facilitates collaboration and experience-sharing to enable Consortium members to effectively assist microfinance organizations in adopting the full practice of SPM-setting clear social goals, monitoring progress toward those goals, and using the information to improve organizational performance. "I am excited about this new responsibility and the opportunity of taking Social Performance Management practice to the next level in the microfinance industry," says Christian. "I would like to thank Freedom from Hunger for its support in the process, which is an indication of the organization's strong commitment to the SPM work and to ensuring greater social impacts in microfinance." Read More Facebook with Us Follow our team of delegates as they travel through West Africa to gather testimonies and give witness to Freedom from Hunger's impact in the region. Take a look at some stories, images and video here. Different Levels of “Knowing” the Impact of Microfinance An article in The New York Times (April 14, 2010) has sparked a discussion in the blogosphere about recent research studies that show only modest impacts of microfinance. Freedom from Hunger's Chris Dunford, Megan Gash and Bobbi Gray Kotara weigh in with their expert observations on this controversy. Read their contribution to our Hunger Blog. Four Freedom from Hunger staff to Speak and Teach at the Microcredit Summit for Africa and the Middle East Participants from 61 countries will attend the Africa–Middle East Regional Microcredit Summit, April 7–10 in Nairobi, Kenya, sponsored in part by Freedom from Hunger. Chris Dunford and colleague Christian Loupeda will chair workshops on Microfinance and Health and on Social Performance Management, respectively. Christian, Myka Reinsch Sinclair and Mahamadi Cissé, will teach two day–long courses on the same topics. Listen: Chris Dunford talks about Haiti, the nature of giving and Freedom from Hunger's work. On January 25, Freedom from Hunger's president, Chris Dunford, was interviewed by Bill Buchanan for KDRT, a radio station in Davis CA. In this wide ranging, 30-minute interview, Chris talks about our special fundraising effort on behalf of ACLAM in Haiti as well as the vital service an organization provides when it delivers effective assistance and acts as a reliable conduit for people who want to relieve suffering through giving. Chris also talks about the distinction between relief and development, how Freedom from Hunger is getting at some of poverty's most intractable problems, and how on earth this 63-year-old organization ended up in the little town of Davis CA. Click here to listen
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