Message from Joan Holmes, President of The Hunger Project

On September 11, 2001, the world was forever changed by the brutal terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. In the face of this, Hunger Project staff, activists and investors renewed their stand for our global human family, and found the courage to reaffirm their commitment and work for the sustainable end of world hunger.

The Hunger Project dedicated 2001 to implementing on the ground the initiatives designed to make a catalytic impact where most of the world’s remaining hunger persists. These strategic initiatives included:

• South Asia Initiative — which empowers grassroots women leaders as key change agents within local democratic structures. During 2001, more than 2,600 grassroots women leaders were trained and empowered by The Hunger Project. In 2001, we honored the first recipients of our new Sarojini Naidu Prize for Best Reporting on Women in Panchayati Raj in India and celebrated the second annual National Girl Child Day in Bangladesh.
• African Woman Food Farmer Initiative — which empowers the most important and least supported producers of Africa’s food, the 100 million women food farmers. After successfully launching it in West Africa, we expanded this microcredit and training program to Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique — reaching more than 28,000 women and providing nearly US$1 million in loans. Investments and other official recognition from African governments further validated the initiative’s impact.
• Strategic Planning-in-Action (SPIA) Initiative — which mobilizes people for self-reliant action in 11 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. In 2001, SPIA continued to expand, and was reshaped to be more synergistic with our new initiatives.

• 2001 Africa Prize for Leadership — which paid tribute to leaders on the African continent who are on the front lines of stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. With the awarding of the prize, we committed to integrate into our programs in Africa actions to address gender inequality, which gives rise to the spread of AIDS and the persistence of hunger.
• Financially, despite setbacks for many of our investors in the faltering economy, The Hunger Project continued to achieve solid financial results. We carefully controlled expenses within our expanded programs and were able to maintain our financial strength.

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