| MARCH 29, 2004 - NEW YORK |
Joan
Holmes, president of The Hunger Project, was appointed today to the UN
Millennium Project Hunger Task Force. In his invitation letter to Joan, Task
Force co-chair Prof. Pedro Sanchez wrote, “Based on your outstanding expertise
and contribution to the field, we are convinced that you would be invaluable in
helping us achieve our ambitious goal.”
Background: In September 2000, United Nations members adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), committing to significantly reduce the world’s most serious development problems by 2015 and eliminate them in the long term.
The MDGs address poverty, hunger, education, health, gender, environment, water, urban development, international trade, and science and technology policy, and establish a global partnership for development to help achieve these goals. One goal commits UN members to halve the proportion of people suffering from hunger worldwide by 2015.
The Millennium Project, directed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University, is charged with advising United Nations member governments on strategies to achieve the MDGs. The Project has formed ten Task Forces that are working intensively between now and mid-2005 to develop analysis and recommendations on how to achieve their respective goals.
The Hunger Task Force is co-chaired by Dr. Pedro Sanchez together with Professor M.S. Swaminathan, Cousteau Chair of Ecotechnology for UNESCO and chairman emeritus of The Hunger Project’s Global Board of Directors. The Task Force includes 30 leading experts from around the world representing a wide range of disciplines (including science, economics, nutrition, business, and development policy), sectors (including international agencies, national governments, business, NGOs, and academia) and regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas).
The Task Force will present its findings to the UN Secretary General in June 2005.
This invitation represents an important new opportunity for The Hunger Project to play a greater leadership role in the international development community beyond the scope of The Hunger Project’s direct programs. The Task Force visited one of our epicenters in Malawi last year, and has included Hunger Project field program leaders from India, Bangladesh and Uganda in their regional consultations.