Annual Report of The Hunger Project - 1997
Twenty years of breakthroughs for the end of world hunger

A Message from Joan Holmes, President of The Hunger Project

This past year marked the 20th anniversary of The Hunger Project. Throughout 1997, thousands of individuals around the world took this opportunity to review where we stand in the global effort of ending hunger, to acknowledge the progress that has been made, and to rededicate ourselves to stay up on-line until the job is done.

When The Hunger Project was founded in 1977, there was virtually no public awareness or understanding of the issue of hunger. The idea of ending hunger was considered audacious at best and na‹ve and misguided at worst. The prevailing mind-set was that hunger was inevitable, and the best one could do was to alleviate some of the suffering.

The Hunger Project took a stand to transform that mind-set, and make the end of hunger "an idea whose time has come." Millions of individual women and men made ending hunger their personal priority. Through campaign after campaign, The Hunger Project mobilized a worldwide constituency of individuals who knew that hunger persists, that it can end, and that each of us can make the difference. We carried out the largest public education campaigns ever organized on the issue of hunger and launched initiatives to bring together often competing relief and development organizations into coalitions for coordinated action.

By 1990, it was clear the world had reached a turning point. At the largest gathering of leaders ever before assembled, the World Summit for Children, the commitment to the end of hunger became an international priority.

Creating the worldwide commitment to the end of hunger was only half the job. The world's commitment next needed to be fulfilled. It was clear that the conventional, top-down, charitable or bureaucratic paradigm of development could not carry the day. Ending hunger requires a methodology that will break up old patterns of action, foster new ways of thinking, and empower people to achieve concrete breakthroughs in health, education, nutrition and family income.

In 1990, The Hunger Project completely reinvented itself to meet this challenge. We pioneered a dynamic, decentralized, people-centered approach to ending hunger known as Strategic Planning- in-Action (SPIA). Through SPIA, The Hunger Project calls forth the committed leadership, pioneers the strategies, and catalyzes the campaigns of grassroots, self-reliant action to bring hunger to an end.

During 1997, there were major strides in advancing the campaign to end hunger. We launched new programs in Benin, Burkina Faso, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru. Our campaigns of action in Ghana, Senegal, India and Bangladesh crossed major milestones. And the worldwide movement of committed individuals who invest to make our work possible expanded significantly.

If you are already an investor in The Hunger Project - congratulations. This annual report is a tribute to what you've accomplished. If you are considering becoming an investor - welcome. I trust that, in The Hunger Project, you will find a high-leverage, effective and deeply human expression of your commitment to a new future for humanity.

Links: Overview, Programs, Fundraising, Board, Audit report. Audit notes.