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The Hunger Project Online Briefing Program  THP in India - Empowering Women Panchayat Leaders

Contents

As investors in The Hunger Project, we are witnessing an extraordinary opportunity for the end of hunger in India - the country with most hunger in the world today. India has undertaken a historic process, which calls forth the full participation of women and men in the decisions that affect their lives.

In Unit 5, we looked at the opportunity for transformation that grassroots women animators are creating in Bangladesh. In Unit 6, we will explore the opportunity for transformation in India through local government (panchayati raj).  In India, the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments have reserved 1/3 of seats in local government for women. For the first time in history, grassroots women are in a position to take the actions that will end hunger in their communities, and their country.

In Unit 1, we looked in depth at India today. In the following section, we will revisit some of the critical breakthroughs made by India since its independence from Great Britain in 1947. Please revisit Unit 1 for more details.

India is a nation of extraordinary diversity and contrasts: wealth and poverty, ancient traditions and cutting-edge technology, fervent nationalism alongside deep and divisive loyalties to caste, religion, ethnic background and language.

It would be impossible to comprehend the "whole" of India. These next few pages will allow you to get some appreciation for the major social and economic forces that shape India today.

• Population: India has the world’s second largest population - with over one billion people – and will most likely surpass China in the next 25 to 50 years.

• Diversity: India has hundreds of languages and distinct local histories and traditions. Different states have different languages, and the level of economic and social development between North and South is dramatic.

• Democracy: India is the world’s largest democracy, and is tremendously proud of having sustained democracy throughout its 52 years of independence.

• Self-sufficiency: In the fields of agriculture and industry, self-sufficiency is more evident in India than in any other South Asian country. India grows its own food and manufactures its own telephones, automobiles, communication satellites, computers, copiers, and other products.

• Economic reform: India was an ardent supporter of the socialist road of economic development until free-market reforms began in 1991. It still has many state-owned industries, and the debate between free-market and government protection of industry continues.

• Human development: Despite public declarations in support of uplifting the poor, India invests far less in its grassroots people than other regions. Investments in education are predominantly for the urban elite rather than for the rural masses. India spends only 40% of its education budget for primary education, in contrast to 70% in East Asia.

In Unit 2, we explored the persistence of hunger in India. The following section looks again at the most critical points. Please revisit Unit 2 for more details.

• A greater percentage of hungry people live in South Asia, than in any other region in the world. Over 400 million people in the region go hungry every day.

• Hunger in South Asia persists not because of famine or natural disaster.

• Chronic hunger persists because people lack opportunity - to earn enough money, to be educated and gain skills, to meet basic health needs and to have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives and their communities.

• India is home to more than 1 billion people.  Its rural villages are where nearly 3/4 of the population, roughly 72 million people, live.

• India has the greatest percentage of hungry people in the world.

• For every 1,000 children that are born, 69 die before they reach age 1.

• For every 100,000 births, 410 women die in childbirth.

• India has the second highest rates of malnutrition in the world, just after Bangladesh.

• 1/3 of all babies born are underweight.  For children under age 5, 53% are underweight and malnourished.

• The persistence of malnutrition and hunger is intricately linked to the poor health and nutrition of women throughout their lives. In Unit 4, we examine this link in depth.

• Social conditions in India mean that women are second class citizens, subjugated from birth to death. Women and girls eat last and least in the family, receive less health care than their brothers, are less educated and are overworked. They have poor nutrition and have little additional care when they are pregnant.

• 60% of women of childbearing age in South Asia are themselves malnourished. Yet, women are the principal providers of nourishment to children, both before birth and after birth.

• Women suffer from mineral deficiencies and deficiencies in iodine, iron, and Vitamin A. When they are pregnant, they gain only half of the weight necessary for a healthy birth.

• The social conditions that keep women subjugated, and suppress their contributions, must be addressed for hunger and poverty to end.

In Unit 2 and Unit 3, we explored some of the large scale interventions that have attempted to end hunger and poverty in India. This section revisits some of the progress and setbacks of these programs.

• Since India's independence, its government and the international community have taken large scale actions to address the issues of hunger and poverty.

• At the national level, government engages in "top down," central planning: the design of programs at the national level, which are then implemented at the local level.

• Central Planning may include activities such as government-sponsored development programs, technical assistance, foreign aid for disaster relief, or provisions of health or education by a non-governmental organization.

• An example of successful Central Planning strategies are India's Water and Literacy missions, government programs which enabled India to dramatically increase access to safe water, and improve literacy rates by more than 3 times since independence.

• Research breakthroughs may also be introduced in a top-down manner, throughout society.  Through the agricultural advances of India's Green Revolution, many parts of India were able to become self-sufficient in food production.  

• Despite successes, central planning has major shortcomings.

• In a country with more than 1 billion people, it is hard for top-down approaches to be sensitive to local realities.

• There is a tendency for large bureaucracies to consume many resources at the center. India's former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi once said that only 15% of government spending actually benefits the poor. Some observers called this figure optimistic.

• In some cases, national accomplishments - such as the progress of the Green Revolution - do not benefit the poorest of the poor, who have little access to resources and infrastructure.  

• Top-down programs also create an opening for corruption, which now reaches throughout all levels of Indian society.

• Most important, service-delivery programs create a mindset of dependency among people, rather than focus on people's own creativity.

• Many local people feel alienated by central planning, which gives them little say in initiatives as they are developed.

In Unit 3 we looked at the breakthroughs of people-centered movements in India's struggle against hunger and poverty.  Our work in The Hunger Project extends from this extraordinary legacy of inquiry and struggle by grassroots people.

• People-centered development represents a profound shift from the service delivery paradigm.

• People-centered development is based in a belief in people's inherent dignity, and their right to self-reliance. It is grounded in the conviction that all people have the potential to be creative, strategic individuals.

• It relies on community resources and the strengths of local people—their creativity and their vision of a new future.

• It is deeply rooted in a century's worth of people’s movements. These stretch back to community development on an international scale.

• People centered-development in India stems from the early 1900s, when campaigns of "village upliftment" first began in rural India.

• Throughout the 20th century, Indians mobilized through Gandhi's message of self-reliance, interconnectedness and empowerment of women; the community development movement of the 1950s; the non-violent Chipko movement; the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA); and the growing cadre of women's self-help groups.

• The Hunger Project's principles and methodology—including self-reliance, interconnectedness, and the empowerment of women—are deeply rooted in the century of hard-won experience of people's movements that has come from India and South Asia.

The obstacles to ending hunger are deeply entrenched in Indian society.  On a daily basis, hungry people face the challenge of providing for their families in the face of traditional prejudices, unjust laws, corruption, failed economic policies, and the severe subjugation of women.  

These are obstacles that cannot be overcome through central planning programs, that are not created and managed by local

people themselves.  Neither can they be addressed by small-scale interventions, that ignore the system of the persistence of chronic hunger. 

Strategies to end hunger — to unleash the creativity and productivity of one billion hungry people — will succeed only when coupled with powerful strategies for social transformation.

There are two overarching issues that must be addressed in the next decade if India - and all of humanity - is to achieve the end of hunger. These are:

1) Local democracy — ensuring that local people have the resources and the authority to manage programs to meet their basic needs

2) A fundamental transformation in gender relations — women need to be able to participate as full and equal partners in the process of development, and gain voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

These two, interlocked issues are critical to the end of hunger in India.

• India is the world’s largest democracy.

• It has held regular and freely contested elections since it gained independence in 1947.

• Given its great variety of religious and ethnic groups, a secular, democratic system is both a natural choice and a substantial challenge.

• Because of the immensity of India's population, the election process is itself a tremendous undertaking. 

• The Indian registered voter base is 620 million, and the voter turnout is approximately 65%. The number of people this represents is equivalent to 1/10 of the world's population.

• India’s success in sustaining democratic governance despite a variety of potential impediments makes it an immense source of pride for India’s people. Democracy is thought by some to be India’s most significant achievement.

• Despite the persistence of corruption at all levels, polls in India show that 2/3 of its people have confidence in the political system, a figure as low as 25% in other parts of South Asia.

• While India has a proud record of functioning democracy, this has not always empowered people at the grassroots level.

• Democracy is much more than regular elections.

• In India, sharp income inequalities between rural and urban areas, and concentration of power and resources at the national level, has meant that hundreds of thousands of Indians are denied full participation in the decisions that affect their lives.

• In India's rural areas, where poverty and hunger are rampant, local people have often remained powerless.

• They are often locked in an oppressive system of economic exploitation, class division, caste prejudice, and pervasive corruption.

• While the economy of modern India grows, they lack access to the education, nutrition and health-care, sanitation, land, and other assets that could enable them to escape the trap of poverty.

• Women are perhaps the most voiceless and powerless members of Indian society.  Thousands of years of subjugation have kept millions of women subjugated, marginalized and disempowered.   

• In Unit 4, we explored in depth the connection between women's subjugation in India and Bangladesh, and the persistence of hunger. 

• Women hold full responsibility for the key actions required to end hunger: family nutrition, health, education, food production and – increasingly – family income.

• Yet at the same time – through laws, custom and tradition – they are denied the resources, the information and freedom of action they need to carry out these responsibilities.

• The full participation of women in society – in the decisions that affect their lives and the well-being of their communities – is the most critical missing link for achieving the end of hunger in India.

The Hunger Project-India is dedicated to providing what's missing in the nation's struggle to end hunger and poverty.  Since 1984, it has constantly evolved its strategies to be most effective in addressing the persistence of hunger.

• The Hunger Project-India mobilizes grassroots people for self-reliant action, and mobilizes the committed leadership at every level and sector of society who can change laws, mobilize resources and remove obstacles for grassroots action to succeed. 

• The Hunger Project is India's most widespread movement working to end hunger and poverty. It works in more than 1,200 villages across the 11 states that include 80 percent of the nation's population. Most of this work is focused in 34 "hunger-free zone" strategies.

 

In November 1990, The Hunger Project pioneered Strategic Planning in Action (SPIA), a dynamic, decentralised, human-centered approach to bring about the end of chronic hunger. SPIA is a practical methodology that enables people to participate in decision-making and planning, and to work together effectively. It is rooted in the belief that plans do not make things happen. People make things happen. SPIA was launched in partnership with the Planning Commission of the Government of India. In each state where SPIA works, committed leadership from all sectors is mobilized, creates a shared understanding of the current situation of hunger and poverty, and launches a systematic strategy to ensure all people in that state gain the chance to live healthy and productive lives.

Hunger-free zone (HFZ) strategy

• Since 1993, the SPIA approach has become more focused into what is called a "hunger-free zone" strategy.

• Hunger-free zones are the large scale application of the principles of SPIA.

• Hunger-free strategies are in place or in formulation in 34 districts of 11 states in India.

• In these areas, The Hunger Project empowers grass-roots people to create their own vision, design their own strategies, and take self-reliant action to improve health, education, nutrition, family income and the status of women.

• While a few of these strategies are new and are just getting underway, most of these strategies have now achieved significant success in empowering large numbers of people, particularly women, to improve health, education, nutrition and family income.

• All of these strategies have begun with local decision-making of the people, and have mobilized partnership with existing NGOs and local government in a concerted effort. In most cases, information empowerment – informing local people about existing government programs – has been a critical and high-leverage component of the strategy.

The Hunger Project takes strategic action in each of the 11 states where it works.  THP-India combines leadership development, grass-roots mobilization and innovative strategies to result in concrete and lasting improvements in people’s lives. You can visit the India pages of The Hunger Project's website for more information on this work. You can visit the India pages of The Hunger Project's website for more information on this work.

Andhra Pradesh: In five districts, The Hunger Project works with thousands of women to improve incomes, with training in mushroom cultivation, leaf-plate making, handicrafts, nutrition gardening and vermi-composting.

Bihar: The law in Bihar prevented women from forming fishing co-operatives. The Hunger Project council got the law changed, and provided training to enable women to form 60 co-operatives.

Gujarat: A Hunger Project mobile training center is bringing health and income-earning skills training door-to-door to 9,000 below-poverty-line families in 100 villages.

Karnataka: By mobilizing logistical support from Escorts Ltd., The Hunger Project enabled people in the drought-prone Kolar and Tumkur Districts to desilt and repair water reservoirs (tanks) so that people could re-establish irrigated agriculture. The Hunger Project brought officials to see the success, which sparked a government commitment to desilt 20,000 tanks across the state.

Madhya Pradesh: The Hunger Project works with five block-level panchayats to devise and launch new strategies for increased income through formation of self-help groups and promotion of fisheries, goat husbandry and reduction of soil erosion.

Maharashtra: Holistic, women-centered strategies — including formation of women’s self-help groups, health camps, organic farming, watershed development and vocational training — are under way in three districts.

Orissa: The Hunger Project mobilizes agricultural experts to assist people in the poorest districts in identifying, obtaining and planting improved rice seeds. Credit is provided to enable people to diversify their production, to include potatoes and onions.

Tamil Nadu: The Hunger Project has pioneered a diverse set of new, environmentally sustainable income schemes for poor women in a program that has now been adopted and expanded by the UN Development Program.

Uttar Pradesh: In 121 villages of the Brahmpur Block, Gorakhpur District, local people were mobilized to build and operate 40 primary health centers, providing primary health services to all 150,000 people of the block. The program has been so successful that it is being re-created by two other blocks in the state.

Rajasthan: A law prevented farmers resettled near a canal from gaining bank loans to enable them to level their land and utilize the water. The Hunger Project got the law changed and trained the villagers in growing high-value seed crops.

West Bengal: The Hunger Project, working with Unicef and the state government, created a training program for newly elected panchayat members on how to provide good village governance, health and education services. The state has delivered this training to more than 100,000 local leaders.

In August 1997, The Hunger Project had a breakthrough in its commitment to empowering women as the key to ending hunger in India.  The highest priority for all our work is to transform the subjugation, marginalization and disempowerment of women. 

Hunger is not just malnutrition  Hunger is rape, molestation, alcoholism, dowry, female infanticide and feticide.

-Mohini Giri, former head of the National Commission for Women, current member of THP's Global Board of Directors.

• The Hunger Project has recognized that ending hunger is much more than improving health, education, nutrition, and income. It requires a fundamental transformation of social conditions that discriminate against women, and give rise to hunger and poverty.  

• In November 1998, The Hunger Project's National Council met with leading women activists in Rajasthan, which led to bold new commitments to women.  

• At the meeting with women activists, all of the speakers emphasized that the subjugation of women in India is not a matter of men versus women, but is embedded in the patriarchal structure of society.

• It is this structure that must be transformed - a structure that gets expressed through a wide-range of behaviors, such as dowry and a preference for sons over daughters, which the activists referred to as "son stroke."

• The late Geeta Mukherjee, a Minister of Parliament from West Bengal, pointed out that the greatest vehicle for women's emancipation has been the new law requiring that 1/3 of all seats in panchayati raj be reserved for women. 

• An international delegation of investors attended these meetings, bringing the commitment of the International community to this bold work.

As investors in The Hunger Project, we are witnessing an extraordinary opportunity for the end of hunger in India. India has undertaken a historic process, which calls forth the full participation of women and men in the decisions that affect their lives.

The highest national priority must be the unleashing of woman power in governance. That is the single most important source of societal energy that we have kept corked for half a century.

--Mani Shankar Aiyar, journalist, India Today

• In 1992, the Indian parliament passed the 73^rd Constitutional Amendment, a revolutionary step in creating true governance at the local level.

• This amendment mandates the transfer of decision-making power and resources in the rural areas to local democratic councils known as panchayats. 

• The panchayats echo Gandhi’s vision of village self-government as "a complete republic independent of its neighbors for its own vital wants… Here there is perfect democracy based upon individual freedom."

• Most revolutionary of all – the 73rd amendment requires that at least one-third of all panchayat seats be reserved for women.

• This means that 1 million grassroots women leaders have the chance to play a key role in determining the future of their communities.

• As Joan Holmes has said, the transfer of power to one million women elected local representatives - many of whom are malnourished and illiterate - is the greatest social experiment of our time.  

• These women are struggling against enormous odds to improve the lives of their families, their villages and their nation.

• Yet they will be the key change agents for a new future for India.

Panchayati raj builds on a tradition of local governance, and has evolved since independence.  The following are some basic facts about India's system of local governance.

• Tradition: Panchayats are an ancient form of local government based on the idea that when five (panch) elders come together, God will be present.

• Gram swaraj (village self-government) was a goal of India’s Freedom Movement, although it was not originally enshrined in India's 1951 constitution.

• Until the 1960’s, panchayati raj served as the foundation for rural development in India. As bureaucratic power increased, panchayati raj was allowed to die in most states.

• The passage of the 73rd amendment in 1992 by the Indian parliament became part of the constitution in April 1993 after many years of national discussion and debate.

• State action: The amendment required every state to pass or amend its own panchayat act by April 1994, and to hold elections by April 1995.

• A three-tier system: The amendment created a system of local democracy at three levels of society: the village level, the block level, and the district level.

• Gram sabha: To ensure that the panchayats themselves stay accountable to all the people of their constituency, they are required to hold "village assemblies" (gram sabha) with a quorum of citizens several times each year.

• Reserved seats: The 73rd amendment reserves seats for the most powerless members of society. One-third of all seats - including 1/3 of all panchayat presidencies - are reserved for women.

• Devolution of powers: The "eleventh schedule" of the 73rd amendment specifies 29 areas of responsibility, covering all key aspects of village life, which states may transfer to the panchayats.

• Opposition persists: Social and political elites in many areas are seeking to undermine and nullify panchayati raj and women's participation, since they perceive it as a threat to their monopoly on power. Panchayats still do not have access to the finances that they need to carry out their responsibilities.

Women are making a difference. Against all odds, women in panchayati raj are already making headway in areas of immediate concern to their families and their villages. These issues, often ignored by men, are critical for progress in India's rural areas.

Women are indeed great, as I learn that they are better fighters against poverty than their men, have more calculative, stable, forward looking strategies to deal with their own environment. Everywhere in the country, we found that women were the most committed proponents of our future. A concern for the future is strong with them. So the future of the nation lies in the hands of these women.

--Ela Bhatt, founder of Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)

• Health: Women – who are most often affected by poor health throughout their lives – take a stand for better nutrition, sanitation facilities, safe drinking water, and access to reproductive health care essential for healthy families and communities.

• Education: Women organize literacy courses for other women in the community. They ensure that schools are built, that teachers are held accountable, and that both girls and boys attend.

• Income generation: Women form self-help groups and credit organizations among themselves to increase family income. Women leaders organize skills training for the women of the community.

• Addressing social evils: Women take action to address crucial social issues such as dowry, domestic violence, child marriage, and child labor. They ensure that women know their rights and have access to information. They commit themselves to include traditionally excluded groups: the landless, scheduled castes and tribes.

• Redefining leadership: Women are changing the nature of leadership, incorporating values such as honesty, openness, patience, collective support, inclusion and accountability.

• Changing village dynamics: In even the most conservative villages, women's leadership unleashes a process of change for the whole community. Women leaders empower other women to step out of the home, become literate and contribute to the community. They help to dissolve old prejudices, creating new partnerships with men.

Across India, the stories of women Panchayat members are being told. In more than 500,000 Indian villages, home to more than 600 million people, women are stepping forth to bring progress to their communities. The following are some of their stories.

"Learning politics’ is the latest fad for young village girls, who dream of joining the growing band of women Panchayat representatives.

--Deepak Tiwari, Journalist for This Week

• In the state of Andhra Pradesh, Mallela was once relegated to the sidelines to watch her father-in-law act as panchayat president. After panchayat leadership in the district was reserved for women, she contested the election, and won.  As a representative, she had eight roads laid, constructed school buildings and provided textbooks for students, created self-employment opportunities for 305 people, and arranged loans for 207 individuals of the scheduled castes.

• In Karnataka, Lakshmi Bai was encouraged by the women in her village to run for elections. Since her election, she has been an accountable leader to her constituency. She calls the women together and informs them about the programs and facilities available to the community via the panchayat.  

She conducts monthly meetings for women in which instruction in small business activity is conducted, and women can obtain loans for income generating activities.   In the meetings, they discuss dowry, harassment of girls and family planning. Women from all religions participate, in the stated hope that caste and creed differences may be abolished.

• In one area of the state of Gujarat, at least 61 villages are now ruled by young and middle aged women, who have risen to positions of empowerment and authority as panchayat leaders. Their experiences differ, but each is taking remarkable steps to revolutionize the power structure in the region.  The women attest that "tomorrow is ours, if not today, thanks to this panchayat act which empowers women as never before."

• In the village of Dayapar, Gujarat, Godavariben Patel comments, "it is not easy to solve our development problems when the local opposition is strong but I try to carry on without any fear."

• Nathiben of Jinjay village, Gujarat remarks: "No one before me had this capacity to provide even drinking water to the residents of my village. Now I have accomplished this difficult job."

The history of The Hunger Project in India makes it uniquely poised to empower women representatives in Panchayati Raj. 

The Hunger Project has years of experience mobilizing grass-roots people for action.  Strategic Planning in Action and Hunger-Free Zones have drawn upon the resources and creativity of local people to bring concrete results.  Partnership with government and key activists has been critical for generating widespread societal support, and cutting through red tape.

These are the activities and experience that are necessary to create an enabling environment, so that panchayati raj and women representatives can succeed.  The Hunger Project is committed to take the high-leverage actions that are necessary to overcome the obstacles and resistance to this environment.  Our highest priority will be to empower women representatives as the change agents for a new future free from hunger.

On September 23rd in New York, we will officially launch and unveil The Hunger Project's new strategies.  The coming pages will  explore some of the key interventions that are being created. 

The Women's Leadership Workshop for panchayat representatives is a powerful step in empowering women at the grassroots.  It provides what's missing for women representatives who are taking the actions that will end hunger in their villages.

I came to this workshop with so much fear — now I leave so filled with courage! When I return to my village, they will be astonished. They will say, ‘Where has she gotten all this?’

I will stand, and people will stand with me. We will not be stopped!

–Participant at women's leadership workshop

• On 26–27 May, 2000, The Hunger Project took a critical step in the development of our new strategy to empower women panchayat representatives. 

• In the state of Karantaka, 29 newly elected women leaders participated in our first-ever Women’s Leadership Workshop, designed to strengthen the leadership skills of elected representatives.

• The idea grew out of meetings held by Joan Holmes with panchayat leaders last March. 

• The women had grown significantly as leaders during the five years they had served in their local panchayats. 

• The Hunger Project realized that it could make a critical difference by accelerating this process, and unlocking and developing women’s leadership through training workshops.

• The new workshop builds on six years of experience with the Vision, Commitment and Action Workshop and our animator trainings in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 

• Between now and the official launching of our new South Asia Initiative on 23 September in New York, the workshop will be delivered in Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada and Telegu throughout the four states where we are pioneering this program.

• The workshop is a profound experience for women participants, that unleashes their confidence and their leadership for the end of hunger.

• Women come with a wide range of skills — from natural leaders to those who were pushed into the position by their families.

• Together, they speak about their experiences as women, and the subjugation they face in their lives.

• The women commit themselves to not letting this condition persist: they are determined that their daughters will not inherit the same lives that women have lived for thousands of years.

• The women develop strategic plans of action, translating seemingly impossible goals into finite, doable steps based on their own powers as leaders. Within her broad vision, each woman focuses on one specific priority: clean water, village sanitation, creation of a health center or a girls’ high school, housing for the homeless.

• The experience of these women representatives revealed the power of the human spirit.

• By being together, and seeing other village women who express natural leadership, all the women experience a new space of possibility.

• By the end of the workshop in Karnataka, the energy of being together as a team had transformed even the most shy women.

•  Their faces were literally altered, as they overcame feelings that "it can’t be done," and discovered that the power to achieve their vision is now within their grasp.

• They encouraged each other, saying, "You can do it! We have elected you! If you lead, we will follow you, and together we will not fail!"

For women and panchayati raj to have the greatest impact in India, there must be support at all levels of society, which breaks through the obstacles to its success.

It is said that if the woman is on the move, the nation is on the move.

-Male BDO (Block Development Officer)

• All throughout India, there are tremendous forces of opposition to women's leadership and the success of panchayati raj.   

• At the local level, the entrenched subjugation of women makes it challenging for women to participate. Women representatives  must take action despite significant constraints on their time, opposition from husbands and family, and social customs that confine them to the home.

• Women representatives risk harassment, violence, and even death, all for their willingness to serve their community. 

• At the state and national level, there is resistance to the idea of decentralized democracy, since it requires that power and resources shift hands from national leaders and bureaucrats, to local people.

• Throughout society, there is insufficient recognition of the extraordinary social experiment that panchayati raj represents.

 

The Hunger Project's commitment

The Hunger Project's work with women and panchayati raj will be made possible through investment.  As investors in The Hunger Project, in India and around the world, we are truly funding a new future for humanity.  

• The Hunger Project is more than an organization — it’s a worldwide movement of women and men who provide partnership, strength, commitment, love, leadership and the financial resources to have The Hunger Project succeed.

• People are amazed The Hunger Project accomplishes so much with such a modest budget ($7 million for the year 2000).

• We achieve this high level of accomplishment because we are able to mobilize resources that go far beyond our budget.  We can do this because more than 90% of our funding comes from our team of highly committed private individuals, many of whom invest $5,000 and more each year.

• Those who give their money to The Hunger Project do not see themselves as donors. Rather they see themselves as investors, as stakeholders, standing in full and coequal partnership with hungry people in achieving a future free from hunger.

• As new investors, or long-time supporters of The Hunger Project, this year's new initiatives in South Asia present a new opportunity: to fund initiatives that are at the cutting edge of social transformation.

• Please visit The Hunger Project's website for more information on what it means to invest in The Hunger Project.

• In India, there is a growing investor body committed to a new future.

• The Global Investment Group in India - individuals investing at the moral equivalent of US $5000 is strong and growing.

• In 1999, The Hunger Project-India launched a massive expansion campaign for its GIG.

• As a result of the campaign, India’s GIG more than doubled to 120 individuals by the end of December 1999.

• The GIG enrollment campaign has been led powerfully by Lalita Banavali, Managing Director of The Hunger Project-India, who will be retiring after 17 years of extraordinary leadership.  Says Lalita, On the eve of my leaving The Hunger Project, I want to truly appreciate and acknowledge all my GIGs in India who have, and are giving of their money so lovingly and with such unwavering trust. The inspiration for the GIG campaign in India comes from the selfless giving of global investors around the world, and their commitment to the end of hunger.  I hope The Hunger Project always has their love and support.

Congratulations on completing unit 6.  This unit has looked at The Hunger Project in India, and the opportunity of local democracy and women's empowerment as key to ending hunger.

• Major challenges: large population, substantial rural poverty

• Real breakthroughs: largest democracy, food self-sufficiency, cutting-edge technology

• Persistent hunger: greatest percentage of hungry people in the world

• Central planning: large scale development cannot address grassroots realities

• People-centered development: based in people's creativity and right to self-reliance   

• Critical issues: local democracy and women's empowerment are key to ending hunger

• The Hunger Project-India: mobilizes people for action in 11 states including 80% of population

• Local democracy (panchayati raj) and 73rd Amendment: revolutionary step in giving power to local people, with 1/3 reservation of seats for women

• Women as change agents: women address the critical issues that end hunger in their communities

• New strategies: THP-India is poised and committed to empowering women and local democracy, at the grassroots and national level

• Investment: Indians as well as people around the world are financially investing in a new future

• September 23rd: opportunity to stand in solidarity with grassroots women representatives