Overview of The Hunger Project - 1992

Despite years of international efforts, recent scientific advances and the dedicated work of many men and women of many nations, between 500 million and one billion of the world's poorest people lack the opportunity to meet their most basic needs -- including the need to be adequately nourished on a sustainable basis. As a global human family, we have yet to make the hard decisions, establish the priorities and reallocate the resources that will finally bring the chronic persistence of hunger to an end.

The Hunger Project is a not-for-profit, international, strategic organization, working catalytically to call forth the kinds of policies and actions required at the various levels of society in order for the promise of the end of hunger to be fulfilled. As a strategic organization, The Hunger Project has dedicated itself to not duplicating the work of others. As development expert David Korten has written, "A strategic organization is able to look beyond merely responding to existing or predictable opportunities. A strategic organization creates new opportunities, which otherwise might not occur; that is, it engages in the creation of its own future."

The end of the persistence of hunger by the year 2000 is a goal that is clearly beyond existing or predictable opportunities, and requires the creation of a new future. This goal is the strategic intent of The Hunger Project.

The focus of The Hunger Project remains on the "human component" of ending hunger. More and more, the world community is coming to recognize that human issues are most often the decisive issues. It is becoming clearer that issues of attitude, empowerment, leadership, and accountability, as well as effectiveness and the ability to "make something happen," determine the success or failure of programs around the world to end hunger. Since 1977, The Hunger Project has focused its efforts on generating vision, mobilizing individuals, calling forth leadership, fostering collaboration, facilitating communication and alignment and unleashing the commitment for the end of hunger.

The Hunger Project has given itself the mandate to identify what is missing for the end of hunger, and then to provide it, or see that it is provided. As The Hunger Project's program unfolds and its organization evolves, attention continues to be given to focussing on the "big picture." The Hunger Project continues to stand accountable to work strategically -- to make only those interventions which will have a high-leverage, catalytic impact with the potential of transforming the landscape for effective action to end hunger.

The Hunger Project currently has activities in 13 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, Senegal, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. As of December 31, 1992, more than 6.2 million individuals in 152 countries had declared their commitment to the end of hunger by enrolling themselves in The Hunger Project. In 1992, youth participants from 90 countries around the world participated in The Hunger Project's Youth Ending Hunger program activities.

The Hunger Project is on the roster of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). It is also a member of the American Council for Voluntary International Action (InterAction).

OVERVIEW OF 1992

In 1992, The Hunger Project made significant advances both in programmatic objectives and in achieving a new level of organizational capacity. A number of challenging program milestones set early in 1992 were achieved, as well as further organizational priorities to ensure that The Hunger Project's program is backed up by a strong, reliable and maximally cost-effective fund-raising and administrative team. Strong advances were made on the fulfillment of The Hunger Project's four strategic objectives.

Strategic Planning-in-Action (SPIA) is a leading Hunger Project program activity.

• In India, SPIA is enabling people to address major issues, assess what is missing and carry out initiatives to provide it.
• In Senegal, where there is much less tradition and infrastructure of social service, SPIA is enabling the Planning Council to pioneer integrated approaches at the village level.

The Africa Prize and African Farmer magazine continue to be valuable interventions for addressing the issues of leadership, empowerment and policy formulation.

Youth Ending Hunger is proving to be an exceptional vehicle for mobilizing public commitment and media attention, particularly in the developing world.

And recent collaborations between The Hunger Project and the government of Japan represent a breakthrough on the road to creating a Common Front for the End of Hunger.

Viewed from the big picture, then, The Hunger Project's strategic direction continues to be clear and Hunger Project programs continue to be on target.

CONCLUSION

Organizationally, The Hunger Project continues toward the objectives set out in 1991, to create a lean, integrated organization headquartered in New York City. Hunger Project fund-raising and expenses are both at levels of viability, and steps are continually being taken to increase Hunger Project income and to hold costs to a minimum.

Programmatically, The Hunger Project is gaining momentum, and is reshaping its programs to have greater impact and to take advantage of truly extraordinary opportunities. In many respects, The Hunger Project has never been stronger. Never before has The Hunger Project been so clear on its mission or enjoyed such active partnership with so many leading individuals and organizations. Never before has The Hunger Project had the opportunity to implement program activities and objectives at the same time as the international community is also focused on the very work that The Hunger Project is pioneering, i.e., the "human" issues of leadership, empowerment, innovation and cooperation which are essential to achieving an end to the chronic persistence of hunger.

Links: President's Message, Program, Investing, Board, Audit (pdf)