SEPTEMBER 4, 1996

President's Report to the Global Board of Directors

By Joan Holmes

Introduction — the Phenomenon of The Hunger Project

“It would be a serious mistake” said the chair of our council in Rajasthan to a meeting of the Planning Commission of India “to consider The Hunger Project to be just another NGO. It is a network of hundreds of organizations, a movement, a campaign that is dedicated to creating a new human being.”

This is a powerful summary of our work, and gives great insight into how an organization that is so modest in its financial size and resources can make an impact on an issue as enormous as world hunger. While it is true that our work results in dozens of well-executed, concrete projects — and in improved health, education, incomes and nutrition for hundreds of thousands of people — this alone would not scratch the surface of the issue of hunger.

To paraphrase Nelson Mandela, ending hunger requires nothing less than a total society-wide transformation. It requires that we revolutionize the entire process of human development, unleashing the creativity and productivity of hundreds of millions of people to be successful in their own, self-reliant development.

The Hunger Project is designed to catalyze this phenomenon in the critical areas of the world where it is required:

in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the persistence of hunger is most severe, and where progress has been slowest;

in South Asia, where the largest number of hungry people live;

and in our own donor constituency — a constituency of “global citizens,” committed to a future free from hunger, and willing to invest in making that future real.

Expansion of these three areas is the focus of our work. In this report I am pleased to update you on the progress that our movement for a hunger-free world has made since we last met in April.

Expansion in Africa

Last year at this time, I announced that our highest priority, now and for the future, is to work in partnership with the Africa Prize laureates to expand our strategic work on the ground.

I am pleased to report to you that this new thrust is underway. The Hunger Project — in the depth of its principles and in the effectiveness of its actions — has now, for the first time, taken root in Africa.

It has been a long journey to this point. Since I first traveled to Somalia in 1980 (see appendix), The Hunger Project has carried out hundreds of initiatives in support of Africa, including dynamic and effective projects on the ground. Yet now, for the first time, it is clear that The Hunger Project now lives as a movement and a phenomenon within the African people themselves.

During the month of July, we crossed several critical milestones that I will report on here, and which we will be able to discuss more in depth during our meeting in New York:

announcement of two new winners of the Africa Prize at a ceremony in conjunction with the Summit Conference of the OAU;

the first-ever meeting of West African laureates, and the creation of a strategy for the further expansion of our work in West Africa; and

formal inauguration of The Hunger Project in Ghana, including successful implementation of our first on-the-ground initiatives.

Announcement of the 1996 Africa Prize Laureates

The announcement of 1996 Africa Prize winners was held, for the first time, in conjunction with the Summit Conference of the Organization of African Unity. It was presided over by President Biya in Yaoundé Cameroon on 5 July.

The winners who were announced: Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali and Chief Bisi Ogunleye of Nigeria. Given that the initial expansion of our work is focused in West Africa, this selection by the jury could not be more perfect. Of the 18 laureates, we now have 10 laureates from seven countries in West Africa.

Meeting of the West Africa Laureates

The meeting was held from 10-11 July in our new Hunger Project office in Accra, Ghana. It included Dr. Esther Ocloo of Ghana, Bernard Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso and Father Nzamujo of Benin. In addition to these laureates, it was attended by our new Global Board member, Mrs. Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania; a leader of our work in Senegal, Mrs. Khadi Fall Ndiaye; our new country director of The Hunger Project-Ghana, Prof. Samuel Sefa-Dedeh; our Africa regional director, Amb. Fitigu Tadesse; our director of programs, Dr. John Coonrod and myself.

As you well know, one of the greatest challenges in holding such a meeting is that all of us have immense personal experience of international meetings which don’t make any difference. It becomes almost impossible to imagine the possibility of a meeting which does make a difference — and when it happens it is quite stunning.

This was such a meeting. At the conclusion, Gertrude Mongella commented: “This is a different meeting than I have ever attended — not two sides debating — but minds working together for the same purpose.”

Esther Ocloo said: “I’ve been at this for 40 years, and I’ve felt alone and frustrated. Now, we’ve become a family of a great movement. I feel that at last, the gates have opened to our economic liberation.”

The meeting culminated in a meeting with President Rawlings. We were expecting a short courtesy call, and instead it became a one-hour discussion of critical issues facing Ghana and Africa. During the meeting the President said “the Africa Prize is not just an award — it’s a great responsibility. This faith has been placed in us. We must work tirelessly, individually and together, for the end of hunger in Africa.”

Substance of the laureates’ meeting

The purpose of the meeting was to further empower the laureates of the Africa Prize in their ongoing work for the sustainable end of hunger. During the meeting, the participants grappled with their own experience in dealing with the major issues impeding progress in Africa, as well as with the strategic approach that The Hunger Project has developed over the past 5 years in India, Bangladesh and Senegal.

The central outcome of the meeting was that the laureates forged themselves as a body of leadership, working with a shared vision, a shared strategy and a shared methodology.

The laureates committed to create a West African space that concretely demonstrates that ending hunger is possible. They declared:

“We commit ourselves to reinforce our own effectiveness on the ground — building credibility and our constituency — not as isolated projects, but as part of a regional/continental/global movement for the end of hunger.

“We commit ourselves to harness what exists in Africa into a coherent program and process that demonstrates on-the-ground that ending hunger can be achieved. This initiative will be part of a regional/continental/global movement. This process includes the right mix of sensitization, mobilization, socio-economic activities and policy influence.

“We commit ourselves to create a dynamic and efficient process, building on successes of the past, and at the same time create a new image of Africa — replacing the faces of malnourished children and women who are disempowered with the faces of people who are empowered.”

Two-prong strategy — an upward spiral of empowerment:

The laureates were exceedingly clear that distinct, concrete projects are essential, but are insufficient — that to be truly effective, they must work in ways which result in policy changes that improve opportunities for people throughout society. This requires working in a two-prong, mutually-reinforcing strategy to call forth the coherent program and process they envisioned:

Mobilizing grassroots, empowering people to be the creators of their own solutions. We start with the people, get their priorities, find out what’s missing, and enable them to provide it.

Influencing policy: creating an enabling environment in which obstacles are removed, grassroots action can succeed. In working with the people, when they come up against obstacles or barriers beyond what they can do, then we identify a team of people at the policy level who can remove the obstacle.

Launching of The Hunger Project—Ghana

As Hunger Project activities were beginning earlier this year, we decided we would only formally “launch” the work once there were concrete results on the ground. The formal launching events were thus held on 12-13 July — at the International Conference Center in Ghana’s capital of Accra, and in the village of Taido-Anomabu in Ghana’s Central Region — the first village mobilized for self-reliant action by The Hunger Project.

The formal launching was filled with 200 distinguished leaders from all sectors of society — diplomats, government officials, members of parliament, UN and NGO leaders, the media and the Funding Committee of the Board. It was chaired by the highest-ranking woman in the government, Dr. Mary Grant, and was addressed by Mr. P.V. Obeng on behalf of President Rawlings.

Both Dr. Grant and Mr. Obeng utilized the opportunity to articulate the profound commitment of the President, the government and the people of Ghana to the end of hunger. Also, on behalf of the President, Mr. Obeng expressed his deep and unequivocal partnership with The Hunger Project.

Later that day, the National Council of The Hunger Project-Ghana met and elected as their chair Mr. Ishmael Yamson, the chair of Unilever-Ghana. Other members of the council are: Mr. R. B. Perbi of KPMG; Dr. Ernest Aryeetey, a leading economist; Dr. K. E. Erbynn, head of the National Development Planning Commission; Mrs. Christine Dadson, executive director of Citi Savings Bank; Mrs. Florence Dovlo, a nutritionist; and Dr. P. A. Kuranchie, managing director of the Agricultural Development Bank.

Launching in Taido-Anomabu

The final event of our formal launching in Ghana was in the village of Taido-Anomabu, a 2-hour drive outside Accra. This village was chosen because as the starting point for our grassroots actions because, while extremely resource-poor, the people were known to be committed and ready to be mobilized for action. It is also distinguished by the enthusiasm of the local district chief executive Mrs. Suzanne DeBordes — one of only four women in this post out of 110 districts nationwide.

All the people of the village assembled around a huge parade ground — the men’s group, the women’s group, the elders, the children, the drummers, the dancers, the chiefs and the government officials. The ceremonies began with planting trees and laying bricks in a new school the community has been mobilized to build. There were speeches, in the local language and in English by traditional chiefs, religious leaders, government leaders and The Hunger Project.

The event was blessed with a deluge of rain — a much need downpour that we were told hit only this one village in the whole area. Not for one second did it delay the celebration.

Working with The Hunger Project, the village is creating a new school, training programs in health, agriculture and food preservation, a pineapple farm and a new water supply. Even though this work was only 6 weeks old at the time of the launching, it is already so successful that it has inspired the 17 surrounding villages to request to work with The Hunger Project.

The word most frequently used by everyone describing the partnership was “family.” This was perhaps most dramatically expressed the next day, when President Rawlings invited several of us to spend Sunday with him, on his private boat, on the lake under the Volta River Dam. Some of us even flew up with the President on the plane he flies himself. We had the opportunity to spend the day discussing with the President the future of Ghana and Africa.

As his chief of protocol said: the President feels The Hunger Project to be unique. While he appreciates all the work NGOs do in Ghana, never before has he so personally embraced and endorsed the work of any organization.

Next steps in our strategy

Senegal: We began work there at the invitation of President Diouf in 1991, and have a very successful program in five villages in the arid north. During the coming months, we will transform that initial program into a powerful and successful movement, growing first into 45 villages that surround the ones where we began and then into all regions of the country over the next four years.

Ghana: Under the leadership of our council and country director, the work at both the grassroots and policy circles should expand rapidly. One next step is to involve all sectors of society in reviewing the current conditions of poverty and hunger in Ghana and the spectrum of existing programs and policies.

Benin and Burkina Faso: In the autumn, there will be a preliminary trip to these two countries to work with Father Nzamujo and Bernard Ouédraogo to lay groundwork for activities there. Father Nzamujo feels that work in Benin could easily and naturally expand into Togo as well.

Mali and Nigeria: After the award ceremony, we will include our two new West Africa laureates in the discussion of our West Africa strategy.

Hunger-Free Zone Strategy in India and Bangladesh

The Strategic Planning-in-Action (SPIA) methodology that we are applying in West Africa was pioneered in India beginning in 1990, and introduced to Bangladesh in 1993. By the end of 1994, it had evolved into a specific, two-prong strategy:

work at the grassroots level to empower people in specific areas to completely eradicate hunger from the area through initiatives based on self-reliance, thus creating a “hunger-free zone”; and

work with policy makers to clear away obstacles encountered by grassroots people, and to extend the process of empowerment throughout the nation.

India — Progress in the Hunger-Free Zone Strategy

Work is currently underway in 24 distinct Hunger-Free Zone strategies across the 10 states where we are active. In addition, after much delay due to the election process in India, we are launching our work in the 11^{th state, Orissa. Some of the highlights from this period include:}

launching a major health initiative in the Gorachpur district of Uttar Pradesh with $150,000 of funding from SISPIS, a state-wide program supported by USAID.

launching a campaign in two drought-prone districts of Karnataka to desilt and revitalize a system of irrigation ponds. Equipment and personnel for the desilting is being contributed by Escorts Industries, an Indian farm machinery corporation.

the creation of a “mobile Hunger Project” in Gujarat. A van has been purchased and is being outfitted as a mobile vocational training center to cover all 500 villages in the Ahmedabad district. Villagers will not only gain new sustainable livelihood opportunities, but also become eligible for small business loans from the Small Industries Development Bank of India, which has become a valuable partner with The Hunger Project in the aftermath of a conference held by our council in Uttar Pradesh, bring together banks and NGOs.

expansion of the hunger-free zone strategy in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu, utilizing $150,000 in funding from the state government for a coordinated effort by government agencies and local voluntary organizations.

the first commitment of state government funds to a hunger-free strategy in one village in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. This empowerment of grassroots NGO activity with Maharashtra government funds fulfills a lifelong dream of our late director Ramkrishna Bajaj.

The launching of The Hunger Project-Orissa is scheduled for 7 September. Orissa is the state in India with the highest infant mortality rate (IMR).

At our September meeting, our managing director Lalita Banavali will be with us, as well as our directors Dr. M. S. Swaminathan and Madhur Bajaj to share first-hand the phenomenon underway across India.

Bangladesh — Empowering 20,000 voluntary organizations

The peaceful transition of power in Bangladesh following the recent elections has provided an improved climate for the rapid expansion of our program.

Last year, the central focus of our work was a massive education/mobilization campaign. Within that, the hunger-free zone strategy was a pioneering effort within a small number of districts. This year, creating hunger-free zones is the “name of the game” for our entire program. It is energized by the vision of a network of hunger-free zones across the entire nation, catalyzing a nationwide movement for self-reliance.

Recent achievements in Bangladesh are speeding the realization of this vision:

The third intensive training for new animators was held in May, and it focused on the strategy of creating hunger-free zones based on self-reliance and local mass mobilization. At the end of this 4-day training, teams of volunteers from 37 distinct areas declared their responsibility for launching hunger-free zones.

The Social Welfare Ministry in Bangladesh has asked The Hunger Project to launch a campaign to train and galvanize the leadership of more than 20,000 registered voluntary associations in the nation. The first workshops have been held, and the new minister of Social Welfare has publicly declared that “this shall happen.”

More and more The Hunger Project is being called upon to work in partnership with government in designing and mounting mass mobilization campaigns involving the full resources and personnel of government as well as villagers. A campaign is being launched in the Gaibandha district to mobilize 15,000 volunteers to educate all the families in 1,500 villages about the need to iodize salt. A campaign in Gazipur is being launched to eradicate illiteracy over the next year.

Prof. Badiul Majumdar and one of chief advisors, Abdur Rab Chaudhury, will be with us at the September meeting to update us on the work.

Expansion of our donor constituency

The Hunger Project is blessed with a deeply loyal and committed donor constituency. Our contributors are truly “investors” — individuals who invest in a new future for all humanity.

Our investors do not consider that they are “funding something over there” — they consider themselves as full partners in the work, full co-equal members of a global movement.

Building on our success in strengthening our long-term constituency over the past three years, we launched in April a series of initiatives to significantly expand our donor constituency, working through our existing constituency into a new and larger constituency.

The heart of this new campaign is a powerful, new articulation of our underlying principles and methodology. This was presented to representatives of the Funding Committee of the Board and the Global Investment Group in a two-day workshop in April. The workshop was designed to empower investors to effectively communicate our work to their friends and colleagues, and distinguish it from conventional charitable approaches.

Following the April workshop, investors in communities across the U.S. and in other nations have held local gatherings to introduce The Hunger Project to people for the first time. Hundreds of individual meetings have been held. People who heretofore have felt unable to communicate The Hunger Project to their friends have now gained confidence in doing so.

As you will see in the accompanying fundraising reports, the success of this strategy — coupled with careful management of our expenses — has put us in a very different position this year than in any previous year. We have already assured 1996 income sufficient to meet our baseline expenses — an achievement which has always before depended on the success of our fourth-quarter year-end campaign. This year, we can truly devote our fourth-quarter campaign to expansion — to reaching a new and higher level of sustainable income floor for 1996, upon which we can build our 1997 program plans.

As we begin our 20th year

A year ago, Madhur Bajaj recommended that we begin making our plans for the 20th anniversary of The Hunger Project, which is 1997. The Hunger Project was conceived in February 1977, I began work organizing it in March, we held launching events beginning in August, we incorporated in October and we held our first nationwide “fast and donation day” on 14 November.

We now envision that our 20th anniversary will be a powerful theme for community efforts worldwide, culminating in a multiplicity of community events in November of 1997. A task force has been created to begin mobilizing this campaign, and it will be launched at a gathering of investors immediately following this board meeting. A special video and other materials will be created so that this campaign celebrates our past 20 years in a way that calls forth greater commitment to our future, and the next burst of growth in investment and in the movement and phenomenon of The Hunger Project.

As we expand our constituencies and our programs, it is clear that we are in the process of evolving our organizational structures. We will need to create a new fundraising organization appropriate to our new and expanded constituency. We will need to continue to expand our high-level program staff in the countries where we work. And we will need to continue both to strengthen and streamline our administration.

I look forward to our work together in September as we begin our 20th year.