MARCH 8, 2002

President's Report to the Annual Meeting

To: Members of the Global Board of Directors

From: Joan Holmes

Executive Summary

The Hunger Project today stands poised to expand our work to empower more people, in more areas, to bring their hunger to an end. This opportunity is due in large measure to the high profile successes we’ve recently achieved in our interventions to transform the deeply entrenched social conditions that give rise to hunger. Our African Woman Food Farmer Initiative, our South Asia Initiative – as well as our mobilization for self-reliance in Latin America – have generated a demand for us to expand.

In order to expand our programs, we must expand the sustainable level of financial investment in The Hunger Project. This challenge will be a major topic of our discussions in April.

Where We Stand

As The Hunger Project began its 25th year, we found that there is a growing recognition in the world community that the kind of work we do is precisely what is needed to meet the challenges of ending hunger and abject poverty.

Recent studies by the World Bank and other agencies have shown the devastating cost to developing countries that fail to invest in the human capacity of their people. This is particularly evident in the systematic failure to provide educational, economic and political opportunities to women. While these studies provide important validation of our work, they also highlight the fact that very few organizations and government agencies have the mandate, resources or expertise to develop the social capital – the human capacity – of these countries.

Therefore – as we begin 2002 – The Hunger Project is in a unique position to play a critical, catalytic role necessary for the end of hunger. We are one of the few organizations that works effectively at both grassroots and the policy level. We have access to government that is unparalleled in the NGO community. We have high credibility and a reputation for success in a field known mostly for failure. We have the freedom and flexibility to take the kind of strategic action necessary because we are funded by highly committed individuals, who stand in authentic partnership with hungry people as they end their own hunger. And we have the unyielding commitment to stay up on line until the job is done.

Our high-profile success in recent years has brought us to a point where these is strong demand that we expand our strategic process to reach more people in more areas of the world. This "opportunity" presents us with the imperative to increase the sustainable level of our income so that we can expand the work of The Hunger Project. The initiative to achieve this is described below.

Women and Local Democracy in South Asia

The two interlocked priorities of all our work in the era of the "final milestone" are to catalyze a profound transformation in gender relations, and to strengthen local democracy as the most effective vehicle for achieving the sustainable end of hunger.

In both India and Bangladesh, we implemented strategies last year to address these interlinked issues. During the past year, both countries have made significant progress in implementing these programs on the ground.

India: A Major Transition

Establishing our new women and local democracy campaign in India was our highest programmatic priority in 2001. In addition to implementing the programs themselves, this past year represented a profound organizational transition. We fully established our new national headquarters in New Delhi under the leadership of Rita Sarin and her new staff. We established new state chairs in 6 of the 11 states, and hired new senior staff to work at the state level. We worked with all of our 11 state councils to understand our focus on women and local democracy, and have them redesign their Strategic Planning-in Action strategies to be consistent with that focus.

The centerpiece of our strategy is the Women’s Leadership Workshop (WLW). This three-day training provides women elected local representatives – many of whom are illiterate and have never before been outside their household – with confidence, understanding, skills and the network of support they will need to achieve progress in their villages. Where we had expected to launch this workshop initially in 4 states, we launched it in 7, training more than 900 women representatives.

This WLW strategy is linked to the creation of local alliances for advocacy and action, made up of organizations that stand in support of these elected women leaders. These local organizations provide the experienced local women trainers who we train to lead the WLW. While we had expected to provide one 5-day training for these women in English, we discovered that this must be done separately in each language. During 2001, we provided these trainings twice in Hindi, and once each in Tamil and Kannada.

In addition to training women who are already elected, we carried out activities to encourage rural women to run for election. In one example, we carried out a campaign in one area of Tamil Nadu that resulted in 180 women being elected on a target of 150.

The third thrust of our strategy is with the media, who play such a critical role in shaping the attitudes of the public towards women in local democracy (panchayati raj). On October 2nd, former Prime Minister Gujral presented the first annual Sarojini Naidu Prize for Best Reporting on Women and Panchayati Raj at a major ceremony in New Delhi. The award is presented in three categories: Hindi, English and other regional languages. During the year, the Prize was promoted through press conferences in each of our 11 states, training workshops for journalists, mailings and posters. The resulting rich field of nominations led the jury to decide to split each of the 3 prizes, and presented the award to 6 journalists from 5 states.

Bangladesh: Strengthening local democracy

In Bangladesh, The Hunger Project created a new 10-point strategy in 2001 to work directly with local governments – and particularly with women in local governments – to demonstrate the effectiveness of strengthening local democracy. Our entire grassroots mobilization effort was focused on working in partnership with 100 "Union Parishads" – elected bodies for "Unions" - clusters of approximately 15 villages each.

The centerpiece of our grassroots mobilization in Bangladesh is our 4-day animator training. These were held at the Union level, training more than 4,000 local leaders and volunteers, including 1,732 women. This trained, cadre of leadership in each Union then mobilizes the people to meet local objectives in health, education, nutrition, sanitation and income.

Another priority in our strategy to strengthen local democracy is to advocate for strengthening the law itself. The current local government law in Bangladesh is considered weak. The Hunger Project has worked at the forefront of a coalition of organizations working to strengthen this law both before and after the October 2001 general elections. In January 2002, our country director Badiul Majumdar organized a round-table meeting of prominent Bangladeshi experts and government officials on this subject that received major national attention.

The Hunger Project formed and leads a coalition of 50 organizations that worked throughout the year and held the second annual National Girl Child Day on October 22nd to transform the status of the girl child in Bangladeshi society. The day of events included mass rallies across the country, press conferences and essay contests. It generated coverage in 21 national newspapers, 60 local newspapers and all three television networks.

A new "urban" thrust emerged in Bangladesh this year. Dhaka has now been deemed the most polluted city in the world. Air and water pollution are killing thousands of already-malnourished children each year. Hunger Project animators in Dhaka have taken the leadership in the environmental movement of the city – organizing local neighborhood committees and organizing rallies as large as 20,000 people. Most recently, at the urging of The Hunger Project, the government has declared a ban on "two-stroke engines" within six months – eliminating the worst source of air pollution.

The African Woman Food Farmer Initiative

Our African Woman Food Farmer Initiative has been launched in 8 African countries and has already provided more than 28,000 women with the training and credit they need to improve their farms and incomes. Nearly $1 million in loans have already been made.

Through the end of 2001, the advocacy thrust of our initiative continued to mobilize tens of thousands of people in support of African women food farmers through massive public events as the Africa Prize statue – like the Olympic Torch – moves from country to country and village to village. The last of the 8 series of Torch events was in Mozambique – the eighth country to receive the torch. Once again, the events were attended by an international delegation of Hunger Project investors, and generated extensive media coverage.

Epicenters in Africa: Mobilizing for Self-reliance

One of the most important milestones in our campaigns to mobilize people for self-reliance in Africa is the creation of "epicenters." As you’ll see in a detailed accompanying report, people in one centrally located village are mobilized to construct an epicenter building which houses a primary school, an adult training center, community demonstration farms, food processing facilities, a health clinic and rural bank. Committees of villagers – in equal numbers of women and men – take responsibility for managing every aspect of their centers.

As our Africa Regional Director, Dr. Fitigu Tadesse has pointed out, the building of an epicenter interrupts a prevailing social condition in many parts of rural Africa whereby each family works only for itself. The epicenter fosters united community efforts – often for the first time.

These epicenters then become the launching pad for mobilization in surrounding villages – holding "Vision, Commitment and Action" workshops and animator trainings.

As I write this, I am in Uganda where our 37th epicenter has just been inaugurated.

AIDS and Gender Inequality in Africa

AIDS is a critical test for leadership in Africa. Therefore it was fitting that the 2001 Africa Prize for Leadership honored individuals working on the frontlines of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. We presented the Prize to four outstanding leaders in this field at the gala award ceremony on October 13th.

In addition to presenting the award, The Hunger Project used the occasion as an opportunity to clarify the strategic action that must be done to stop the scourge of AIDS. We published a document that presented an 8-point strategy, which we have subsequently distributed internationally in both French and English.

Also on that night, we announced our intention to incorporate this new strategy in our own programs across Africa. For some time, we have included AIDS awareness/prevention education in the health component of our programs. Following October 13th, our country programs have created innovative actions, including bringing government spokespeople to our epicenters, organizing AIDS prevention song contests, and participating in World AIDS Day. Our country director in Burkina Faso, Dr. Idrissa Dicko, spoke at the 12th International Conference on AIDS and STDs held in Ouagadougou.

This month, I am meetings with the leaders of all our programs in Africa, along with other experts, to launch the next step in our strategy – the creation of a new "AIDS and Gender Inequality Workshop." This workshop, which will be delivered from our epicenters and elsewhere, is designed to empower grassroots people to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, based on the recognition of the truth that it is gender inequality that is driving the spread of this disease. The workshop will, first, present basic information on HIV/AIDS and, second, empower both women and men to examine the traditional attitudes and behaviors that lead to risky sexual behavior. We will put in place structures that enable women to gain the power to negotiate safe sex, and at the same time enable men to take greater responsibility for their own role in spreading the disease.

Latin America: Breaking the marginalization of rural and indigenous peoples

While Latin America is, in general, a wealthier region than either South Asia or Africa, hunger persists for the millions of rural and indigenous people, excluded and denied opportunity by centuries of discrimination against culture, race and language.

Financial Results of 2001

As I have mentioned, the successes of our programs have generated pressure from many quarters for us to expand. Similarly, given our mission and the long-time frame required to transform the social-conditions that give rise to hunger, it would be very strategic to launch our program in more areas of the world.

For the first time in many years, the primary constraint to taking this next step is the sustainable funding. We have the strategies, the clear and committed leadership, the access to government and the high-profile visibility. What’s missing is the money.

As you will see in the reports of Peg Thatcher and George Woodring, we ended the year in solid financial shape, but we did not come close to raising the expanded level of income that we had planned for.

Looking at the raw numbers – which show an increase in revenue and a steady level of cash receipts for 2001 over 2000 – does not tell the whole story. Throughout the year, we were consistently unable to meet our targets. While one could easily make the case that this was due to overall setbacks in the world economy – setbacks which hit many of our investors very hard – relying on this interpretation does not give us any power to deal with the situation.

We have therefore taken the organizational step of declaring a "breakdown" in our fundraising as direct expression of our commitment to cause a breakthrough. Only by declaring a breakdown can we get our hands on the "levers and dials" of being more effective.

This breakdown is not a result of any lack of intention or hard work. Our fundraising staff and activists are among the most dedicated and highly intentional in the world.

Fundamentally, we have designed a strategy to break outside the current structures which seem to be consistent with our being a $6-7 million per year organization, and put in place the structures and practices that will have us be a $10-12 million per year organization on a sustainable basis.

The Financial Investment Expansion Initiative

As in recent years, we launched the year 2002 on a global call with the staff, volunteers and investors from 23 countries of The Hunger Project. On this call, we launched a "Financial Investment Expansion Initiative" as a top organizational priority for the year.

This strategy has two tracks:

  1. Holding down spending: In consultation with the Finance and Audit Committee, we have begun this year operating under a "contingency budget" – eliminating or delaying any expenses we can. Our guiding principle in this is to minimize cuts to our programs in the field and maximize our ability to re-invigorate fundraising. We have also created a three-tiered budget that establishes not only our baseline budget for 2002, but also points to the levels of income we would need to achieve to expand our programs and proportional increase our operating reserve.
  2. Transforming our fundraising.

We’ve identified six areas where our structures and practices must be transformed – our:

  1. strategies
  2. structures of thinking
  3. communications
  4. management systems
  5. administrative procedures, and
  6. the allocation of fundraisers’ time and energy.

This work has begun both in the US and in our affiliates.

  1. US fundraising: Given that the US provides more than 70% of our funds, we are focusing particular attention on causing a breakthrough in fundraising in the US. In addition to the leadership of Joanna Ryder and Laura Burt, I have asked Peg Thatcher and John Coonrod to reallocate their time so that they can also be accountable for the increase in fund-raising in the US. Our volunteer fundraising leadership in the US met in New York in early February, and have launched new strategies to greatly expand the number of investors in the US and do a far better job of sustaining them over time. One catalyst of this strategy is a Road Show – a series of Hunger Project investment events across the country in at least 25 major markets in the US to greatly expand our outreach. Another element of the US strategy is the creation of a Sustainability Team of activists who systematically ensures that every investor has the maximum opportunity of sustain and increase their investment over time.
  2. Affiliate fundraising: The affiliate leaders also met in February, to launch the expression of this initiative in their own country. A key to the affiliate strategy is that each country will idiosyncratically find the best ways to expand investment, rather than doing all our fundraising within global campaigns. We’ve reallocated personnel in the Global Office to support this work, with Marty Corley and Laurel Dutcher individually assigned to the different countries as their principle liaison, standing with them for a major expansion in fundraising this year.

Plans for our 25th Anniversary – Empowering Our Future

A centerpiece for our strategy in every country is to strategically utilize the opportunity of our 25th anniversary to galvanize and expand all of our work.

This year, instead of bringing people together in New York, we will link every Hunger Project country together via satellite and fiber optics. More than 20,000 of us will come together at more than 50 venues on Saturday, October 26th – 25 years and 1 day after our formal incorporation.

We are designing these events so that – wherever you are – you will experience being at the center of The Hunger Project. Participants will be able to see each other live, and will also see every aspect of our work on the ground through short films that will be included in the global broadcast.

Within our overall strategy, each country and region is developing its own strategies to take advantage of this occasion. For example:

As always, we intend that all the global directors will be with us in New York, for a Board meeting that will be held on Sunday, October 27th.