Here are background points to the initiative, taken from points made by Hunger Project President Joan Holmes on July 8, 2000.
Hungry people lack the opportunity to end their own hunger.
Throughout the 1990s, The Hunger Project addressed this by pioneering a people-centered approach to enable people to gain that opportunity. What we in The Hunger Project and in the world need to confront, is that hungry people not only lack opportunity to end their own hunger they are systematically denied that opportunity by their social environment. Hungry people and particularly women live in an environment of traditional prejudices, unjust laws, corruption, broken promises, failed economic policies, and the severe subjugation of women. The inescapable conclusion is that people-centered approaches to ending hunger will only ultimately succeed when they are coupled with powerful strategies for social transformation . On the other hand through laws, custom and tradition women are systematically denied the resources, the information and freedom of action they need to carry out these responsibilities.