WFP has been the humanitarian partner of the International Rugby Board since 2003 and the Tackle Hunger programme has played a significant role in assisting WFP to communicate its important work to the global community. The partnership has the triple objectives of raising awareness of the UNWFP, drawing attention to the plight of the world's hungry and connecting the global Rugby community with the programme. Donate here!

Tackle Hunger was launched at the Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia. The partnership was the first humanitarian aid affiliation in the history of the tournament and Australia saw an extensive campaign of awareness-raising activities to capture the attention of the 2 million travelling supporters and the wider global television audience.

 

Building on the success of the Tackle Hunger partnership in Australia in 2003, the Rugby World Cup in 2007 in France provided a fresh platform to raise awareness of the work of WFP. A combination of in-stadium visibility through advertising hoardings, programme editorials, adverts and videos were used to help raise awareness of WFP’s work and the daily struggle the world’s hungry face. In addition to the 2.3 million paying spectators, the Tackle Hunger message was conveyed to a global cumulative TV audience of over 4 billion people across 202 countries.

 

The IRB itself staged a fundraising match at Twickenham in 2005 between teams of international players from the northern and southern hemispheres. It raised more than US$3 million, vital funds that were donated to WFP's relief and reconstruction work in areas hit by the Asian tsunami of December 2004.

 

High-profile tournaments including the popular record-breaking former IRB Sevens World Series, RWC Sevens, the IRB Junior World Championship, IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy and Women's Rugby World Cup have been used as platforms to continue to spread the Tackle Hunger message across the world.The IRB has extended its relationship with WFP, using the Tackle Hunger programme across the IRB's family of international tournaments at all levels of the Game. 

Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand offers the latest opportunity for the IRB and WFP to spread the word about hunger. The RWC is now the world’s 3rd largest sporting event after the Olympics and the Football World Cup.  To date more than 1 million tickets have been sold for matches in New Zealand, and the global TV audience during the course of the tournament is expected to top 4 billion.