Launching the Era for Achieving the Final Milestone: Text Part 1

Joan Holmes, January 20, 2000

Who we are today as THP

Thank you. I'm thrilled to be with you. In this first section of the call, I'd like to identify who we are today as THP. What defines us as The Hunger Project most fundamentally is our unyielding commitment to the end of hunger. We are a mission driven organization, and that commitment shapes us.

Being a mission driven organization is difficult. You can never be content to keep doing the same thing year after year. You must be willing to confront the next challenge, and the next, and the next -- and organize THP to meet those challenges.

The second characteristic that distinguishes THP is that we are committed to transformation - to achieving breakthroughs - and we are organized to produce them.

The third characteristic is that we generate our work from deep human principles. THP could be said to be no more and no less than principles in action.

One of these principles is our interconnectedness. Interconnectedness is more than interdependence. It is more than the recognition that we are all in this together. The spirit of interconnectedness in THP is a profound recognition of the dignity, value and spirit that is every human being. We not only respect each other but we recognize that we are each other.

It is from this spirit of interconnectedness that we experience our co-equal partnership as stakeholders for the end of hunger. Hungry people working to end their own hunger -- investors -- strategists and activists, are all co-equal partners in achieving the end of hunger.

The History of The Hunger Project

Let's then look at the unfolding of THP - how we've evolved since our beginning in 1977.

Our history reflects humanity's engagement with the issue of ending hunger. By design, we have positioned ourselves to play a strategic and catalytic role. We ask - what's missing for humanity to achieve the end of hunger and organize ourselves to ensure that it is provided. When we began in 1977, hunger did not exist as a distinct, widely recognized issue. It lived for people as an inevitable part of the human condition. There were experts who knew it could be ended, but the world lacked the will and the commitment to end it.

Therefore, the first era of THP was dedicated to carrying out the world's largest-ever campaign of information, education, mobilization and commitment on the issue of ending hunger. The growing global commitment and the recognition of the success of this campaign was reflected in milestone events such as "Live Aid" and culminated in 1990 when, at the then-largest-ever gathering of heads of state at the World Summit for Children - the promise that began with a small number of committed individuals became the promise of the world - the end of world hunger.

1990 marked the beginning of the second major era of our work - the era of fulfillment. It’s remarkable what has been achieved in The Hunger Project in the last decade. With the exception of the Africa Prize, every program in existence today has been created since 1990. Our principles, methodology, grassroots mobilization, strategic planning-in-action, hunger-free zones, the African Woman Food Farmer Initiative, the Vision, Commitment and Action Workshops and the Global Investment Group have all been created in the past 10 years.

When we launched the era of fulfillment, we identified that what was missing - was the leadership and the strategic methodology needed to fulfill the promise for the end of hunger. During this decade, The Hunger Project developed and pioneered a flexible, dynamic, decentralized, people centered methodology - Strategic Planning-in-Action. This methodology is now being applied in every region where hunger persists: in more than 2,000 villages across India, Bangladesh, seven countries in Africa and three countries in Latin America.

We have mobilized hundreds of the most dedicated, accomplished and influential individuals to lead this work. What we set out to do in this era - has - in fact been achieved. Your commitment, love, and courageous financial investment have paid off.

Strategic Assets

So - that brings us to the third section of this call - what strategic assets do we bring to the challenge of the next era?

If you and I were in a village, one of the first parts of our strategic planning-and-action process is to build a shared understanding of what's so - and part of that is to take stock of the assets that the village has upon which they can build a new future. This applies equally well to us in the global village of The Hunger Project. So today - on the 20^th of January in the year 2000 - what does THP bring to the work of ending hunger?

As we have said, what distinguishes THP most fundamentally is – first - our unyielding commitment and our principles of human dignity and interconnectedness.

Second is our strategic planning-in-action methodology that we just described.

Third is the global scope of our action. We have initiatives on the ground in every region of the world where hunger persists -- South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Fourth is our grassroots mobilization. We have mobilized hundreds of thousands of grassroots people to be the authors of their own development. While the majority of organizations are now clear that people must be given the opportunity to be the authors of their own future, to date, there are very few who are organized meaningfully to provide that opportunity.

Fifth is our track record of success - in a field often dominated by a sense of failure. In thousands of villages, with very little external input, THP has successfully enabled people to improve their health, education, nutrition and income. This has given us very high credibility. As Dr. Kazibwe, the Vice President of Uganda, said when we first met about working in her country -"We, in Uganda must succeed, because throughout Africa, THP is associated with success."

Sixth is our partnership with government, NGOs and institutions. People are amazed we accomplish so much with such a modest budget. We achieve this high level of accomplishment because we are able to mobilize resources that go far beyond the budget. Through our partnerships, we mobilize experts, and the use of computers, vehicles, building facilities, offices, training centers and media outlets.

The final asset I want to talk about here is the extraordinary multiplicity of leadership and the number of prestigious individuals who make up The Hunger Project's one team on the field for the end of hunger.

Leadership

As we begin the conversation on the multiplicity of leadership - I invite you to create a vision for yourself of the enormity - diversity - expertise and strength of THP around the world.

Let us start by recognizing our Global Board of Directors. When you have a Global Board with individuals like Queen Noor of Jordan, Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, former Secretary General of The United Nations, and Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the man who Time Magazine named as one of the three most influential Indians of the century - you have one of the most powerful boards in the world.

Next, the Laureates of the Africa Prize. The laureates are 22 individuals who are the acknowledged leaders for the end of hunger in Africa. They include men, women, current and former heads of state, scientists and grassroots leaders. They provide the support and leadership for our work in Africa.

We also have National Councils of Leadership in Africa. These councils are made up of distinguished women and men representing all key sectors of society: government, women's organizations, business, NGO's and academia. Their job is to bring their influence to bear in support of THP and its strategies.

There are national councils in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal and Uganda. Each of these councils is represented on today's call.

In India, we have some of the nation’s most prestigious and influential individuals on our state councils: the father of India’s green revolution, the woman who pioneered micro-credit for women, three former heads of the Planning Commission, India’s foremost agriculturist. Women on our councils include senior parliamentarians, the former head of the National Women’s Commission and activists at the forefront of women’s issues in India. The chairs of these councils, in the 11 states that are home to 800 million people, serve on a National Council that charts the future of THP in India.

In Bangladesh, we have trained more than 3,000 volunteer animators who work in every district of the country to mobilize villagers to achieve self-reliance. In Latin America, we are working with the most influential NGOs in both Peru and Bolivia, and in Mexico we have trained more than 300 animators working with both the rural and urban poor.

And - for the first time in the history of THP - there are 1,000 individuals in the Global Investment Group. Individuals from 22 countries, investing the equivalent of $5,000 and more each and every year. 200 Global Investors are also activists in their localities - working to strengthen and expand our global team of investors.

In addition - there are National Boards in 10 HP countries. There are Youth Ending Hunger groups in 8 of our countries. In India and West Africa, there are hundreds of village and district level HP committees as well as hundreds of trained village animators. In our African Woman Food Farmer’s Initiative we have the National Coordinating Committees and the West Africa Regional Council.

All told, there are more than 6,000 individuals actively bringing their leadership to the work of THP. We have only 120 paid staff - this is a ratio of 50 to 1.

In addition, the work of THP has called forth and empowered the leadership of the hungry people themselves - hundreds of thousands of individuals whose spirit has been unleashed - who have formed themselves into women's self-help groups, fishing cooperatives and campaign teams for better health and literacy.

All of these leaders - with their passion, expertise and influence - make up one team on the field for the end of hunger - working with a shared vision, shared principles, and a driving commitment to get the job done.