Cecilia Loría Saviñon, former member of The Hunger Project's Global Board of Directors, passed away on December 8th after a long struggle with cancer. Cecilia was a respected advocate of Mexico's feminist movement for over 20 years and a committed government official.
Update to the Global Board (October 2008). Working with the indigenous peoples in Chiapas and Oaxaca, The Hunger Project has gained significant momentum in local mobilization.
Lorena Vázquez joined The Hunger Project in 2000 and has been Country Director of The Hunger Project-Mexico since 2004. Prior to that, she served as General Manager.
Though the 12th largest economy in the world, Mexico faces high levels of poverty in rural areas and states with large indigenous populations. Within the estimated 25.2 million people in rural Mexico, 57 percent live in poverty and 28 percent live in extreme poverty. The Hunger Project has been active in Mexico since 1983. We carry out a gender-focused capacity building strategy in rural municipios in four states.
The expansion programmed in the three states where we are working, Durango, Zacatecas and Chiapas, has created an intense phase of mobilization in those regions.
Mexico's poverty is concentrated in its rural villages where the only hope to get ahead is to migrate to the US and send money home. The Hunger Project envisons the creation of another future: economically vibrant rural communities that express Mexico's rich cultural heritage.
On August 15, the Zacatecas house of government witnessed the signing of an important agreement between the Zacatecas government, the State System of Development and Family (SEDIF) and the civil society represented by the Hunger Project Mexico.
