This week, I have continued creating a comprehensive orientation platform for future interns and employees at The Hunger Project. Since my Senior Project is focused on examining the various strategies and approaches to ending global hunger, one of the topics I wanted to examine this week was how women’s empowerment and gender equality are essential to ending hunger and poverty. When I first learned that The Hunger Project works to empower women and girls as key change agents, I was confused by how this initiative connected with the organization’s ultimate goal of ending hunger sustainably. After reading several articles, watching THP videos and talking with THP staff, I learned that women across the globe are almost entirely responsible for feeding their families, yet are systematically denied the resources, information, and freedom they need to meet their basic needs. In addition, I learned that the vast majority of the world’s poor are women, two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population are female, and of the millions of school-age children not in school, the majority are girls. Furthermore, while millions of people eat two or three times a day, a significant percentage of women only eat one meal a day. This is because many women refuse to eat to ensure that their children have enough food. When I learned this, it immediately became clear to me that in order to end global hunger and poverty sustainably, women must be supported, empowered, and must have a voice and representation in their communities. When women are educated and supported and empowered, all of society benefits. Their families become healthier, more educated, more food is produced, and incomes increases. Overall, the causes of chronic hunger worldwide are much more complex than simply lacking food. Ending hunger sustainably requires a holistic approach that includes educating women and empowering them to become leaders. Once women have an equal say and opportunity as their male counterparts, productivity increases and more people are fed.