Development Communication as Time are Changing

"Bread for the World" is rooted in the commitment of church parishes as well of individual donors. Communication with donors has therefore always been the basis of action. In the first decade of operation, the Christian motivation of sharing and helping the needy was at the centre. In the 1970ies, critical voices increasingly urged to tackle political injustice as root cause of poverty and oppression. With its slogan "Hunger from Affluence?" in the early 1980ies, "Bread for the World" triggered a controversial debate about the effects of European agricultural policies and Northern consumerism on food security in poor countries. And with the much acclaimed campaign "Action e", the protestant developement organisation promoted an environmentally friendly lifestyle which requests people in the North not to overuse scarce resources like water and energy at the expense of their brothers and sisters overseas.

In educational work, learning opportunities and information materials were increasingly tailor made for specific target groups, e.g. by founding a "School project centre". Young people are not just stimulated to develop new interests but also to become active, e.g. by participating in the "Fair Play for Fair Life" campaign during FIFA World Cup in 2006. A wider public has been addressed with campaigns which pointed at the connections between concerns of partner organisations in the South and consumer decisions in Germany. The establishment of an Advocacy Desk in 1993 and its extension into a whole department marked the beginning of systematic advocacy and lobbying work aiming at justice for the poor, e.g. with the campaign "HumanRightWater".

"Bread for the World" as trigger and amplifier of innovations
As church based development organisation, "Bread for the World" depends on the support of a broad donor basis. This explains a tendency which is reflected in the impact documentation: that it has only rarely spearheaded politically controversial processes in Germany. On the other hand, "Bread for the World" has successfully taken up progressive arguments and mainstreamed them into church and general public. By connecting environmental issues with justice, the protestant development organisation has set an important course in public debate. The close network of partner organisations which in their countries are organs of disadvantaged and marginalised sections of the population is a unique feature of "Bread for the World" among German NGOs. With its public presence and credibility, "Bread for the World" has kept the public conscience for international responsibility awake and has sharpened the understanding of North-South dialogue in church, politics and public. The information provided by "Bread for the World" has motivated many people in parishes and solidarity groups to actively promote justice in the "One World".