NAMIBIAN, UGANDAN WIN LEADERSHIP PRIZE

The Hunger Project today named President Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Joyce Mungherera of Uganda as the winners of the ninth annual Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger.

The two winners were named during a global teleconference broadcast to simultaneous events across Africa, Europe and the U.S. Featured speakers included President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, a 1993 laureate of the Prize; Mr. Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, chair of the Africa Prize international jury; and Ms. Joan Holmes, president of The Hunger Project.

President Nujoma led his nation to independence over a thirty year period. Now, as its democratically-elected President, he is leading it to reconciliation and rapid progress in the rural areas. Since independence in 1990, his government has placed the highest importance on agriculture and rural development, as well as on the well-being of its citizens. President Nujoma has crisscrossed the countryside to encourage farmers to plant, use improved seeds, apply fertilizers and bring more land into cultivation. Within two years, Namibia increased maize production by 50 per cent and millet production by 75 per cent.

Namibia has raised expenditures in the health and education sectors to 30 per cent of its budget, one of the highest levels in Africa. Namibia has dramatically improved school attendance and child health care, particularly among the black population. On the contentious issue of land reform to address the inequities between black and white farmers, President Nujoma has pursued a policy of consensus building. This year he has succeeded in passing a land reform law that draws on that consensus and seeks to redress the glaring inequities while maintaining harmony among Namibia's people.

Like President Nujoma, Joyce Mungherera has provided national leadership for 30 years against daunting odds. Ms. Mungherera is Executive Director of the YWCA in Uganda, and has recently been elected Vice President of the YWCA worldwide.

Under Ms. Mungherera's dynamic leadership, the YWCA in Uganda has grown into a respected and powerful force for literacy, family planning and for improved incomes of rural women. It has 1.5 million paid members and 1,000 staff, making it one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in Africa and the largest YWCA affiliate in the world.

Ms. Mungherera was instrumental in keeping the YWCA alive during the 1970s, when the Idi Amin dictatorship dismantled Uganda's nongovernmental organizations. After Amin directly threatened her with execution if she did not close down, she went into hiding and tirelessly continued her work underground.

Today, Joyce Mungherera and the YWCA are trusted and respected grassroots advocates. The government of Uganda entrusted it to administer Uganda's first revolving credit scheme for rural women. The experiment was so successful that Mungherera is now working to establish a rural women's bank in Uganda.

Nicknamed "General Joyce", Mungherera played the leading role in building one of the world's strongest networks for women's literacy. From mobilizing village women, to representing rural Ugandans at international forums such as the Cairo population conference, Joyce Mungherera is an inspiring example of a strong, incorruptible grassroots leader who is creating a new future for the women of her country.

The two 1995 laureates will share a $100,000 cash award. The Africa Prize will be presented on 24 October 1995 at a ceremony held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

President Nujoma and Ms. Mungherera join 14 other distinguished laureates, including heads of state, grassroots leaders, researchers and environmentalists. Last year, President Nelson Mandela received the award at a ceremony in Washington attended by President Clinton.

The Hunger Project is a global, not-for-profit organization committed to the end of world hunger. Founded in 1977, it is a strategic organization that seeks to identify "what's missing" in the fight to end hunger, and then launch strategic initiatives to provide it. With headquarters in New York, The Hunger Project has offices in 12 countries and volunteer activities in 20 additional countries.

For more information, contact Dr. John Coonrod.