Address By Joan Holmes

On the occasion of the 10th annual award ceremony of the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger., New York - Thursday September 26, 1996

Distinguished laureates, your excellencies, honored guests, Hunger Project participants from around the world,

On behalf of The Hunger Project - Welcome to this tenth annual award ceremony of the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger. I am thrilled that you are here this evening.

Tonight we celebrate a decade of empowering committed leadership - women and men with the boldness and courage to create a new future for Africa.

Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

The future of Africa depends on leadership.

The Africa Prize is the world's only initiative designed to call forth and empower leadership - the critical ingredient for Africa's future.

During the past decade, the Africa Prize has made its mark.

It has honored both women and men, grassroots leaders and heads of state, scientists as well as statesmen.

The Prize has provided an international spotlight, letting the world know that Africa does have leaders worthy of greater support.

It has given voice to critical issues facing the continent.

It has encouraged thousands of women and men to assert their leadership for a better future.

The Africa Prize has literally redefined the very meaning of leadership in Africa.

It is now clear that leadership is not just a function of power or high office. Leadership means having the vision to see a better future and the courage and commitment to make that future real. Leadership is as vital in the villages as it is in the state house. It is as critical in farmers associations as it is in the OAU.

President Rawlings captured the essence of the Prize when he recently said in a meeting with Africa Prize laureates: "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."

It is no surprise then - that many now call this the "Nobel Prize for Africa."

As we gather this evening to celebrate a decade of calling forth committed leadership for Africa, let us step back and examine - what is different now in Africa than a decade ago?

Ten years ago, we launched the Prize at the very time that Africa was seriously re-examining its past and taking steps to call forth a better future.

Africa was just emerging from a continent-wide famine. It was struggling to find a new vision, and a new pathway to development.

The situation was so critical that a special session of the United Nations was called. At this Special Session, Africa's leaders made history by asserting their primary responsibility for Africa's future. They discarded failed policies and committed themselves to making tough political choices.

The newly created Africa Prize was poised to reward and encourage Africa's leaders at this critical time. The first individual to receive the Africa Prize was the spokesperson for all of Africa at that historic Special Session - President Abdou Diouf of Senegal.

As Africa set forth on this new beginning, the going was rough. As is often the case when one takes a stand, the initial pathway taken does not always work.

In 1986, Africa and her partners believed that macroeconomic reform, in and of itself, would lead to economic growth and progress.

This proved not to be the case.

Some nations did achieve modest economic growth. Yet at the same time, these reforms also resulted in increased poverty, and setbacks in health, education and food production.

Africa and her partners learned a crucial lesson - macroeconomic reforms alone are not enough. Although good economic policy is essential, development must be human centered.

It is the human aspects of development that The Hunger Project has long stood for.

In some of the human issues, Africa has made solid progress in this decade. In others, although there are only isolated examples of success, these issues moved from being virtually ignored, to becoming top priorities. And that, in itself, is an accomplishment.

In all these human issues of development, the Africa Prize laureates have led the way.

Let us look at three areas where solid progress has been made.

First - Democracy. It is vital to a future free from hunger that Africa's governments are accountable to Africa's people. This decade has seen an explosion of democracy in Africa. During the past 5 years, more than 30 elections have been held on the African continent - the most striking marked the end of apartheid in South Africa, and the election of
the 1994 Laureate, President Nelson Mandela.

The six laureates who are heads of state are all democratically elected leaders. And it is their nations that are making the most rapid progress in ending hunger.

In other nations, the struggle continues. As we speak, General Obasanjo, winner of the 1990 Africa Prize, remains in prison for his courageous stand for democracy in Nigeria. We in The Hunger Project unequivocally condemn his imprisonment. We call for the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners who are still languishing in jails in Nigeria in spite of repeated demands by the international community.

A second area of profound transformation is People's participation in development.

It is now clear in Africa, as well as the rest of the world, that it is dehumanizing and ineffective to treat people as merely the beneficiaries of development. People must be the authors and principle actors in their own development.

Dr. Bernard Ouedraogo was honored in 1989 for building Africa's largest people's movement based on these principles.

1993 laureate President Rawlings of Ghana took a farsighted and courageous stand. He extended democratic decision-making to the countryside, thereby giving local people a real voice in the programs that affect their lives.

These pioneering efforts, once considered radical, are now becoming mainstream in Africa.

The third area of progress is the remarkable emergence of a rich and vibrant civil society.

In recent years, there has been the creation of thousands of organizations - independent of the state: village self-help groups, farmer's cooperatives, women's groups, student groups, trade and professional associations and opposition political parties.

This unleashing of creative human energy is the most optimistic sign out of Africa in many years.

There is no better example than the work of 1995 laureate Joyce Mungherera. Joyce organized the women of Uganda into a powerful movement for literacy, health and better incomes. And she did this under the death threat of Idi Amin.

These three areas - Democracy, People's Participation and Civil Society - are building blocks for Africa's future. The success that Africa has achieved in these areas makes Africa an entirely different continent than a decade ago.

Let us now look at the 5 issues that have moved from being virtually ignored, to becoming top priorities: Human resource development, agriculture, population, environment and the empowerment of women.

Human resource development: Africa, more than any other area of the world, needs to invest in its people. Africa desperately needs more health workers, agricultural experts, teachers and entrepreneurs.

The 1992 laureate Dr. Samba trained and managed a team of more than 900 African technicians to successfully conquer river blindness, West Africa's most debilitating disease.

Father Nzamujo, the 1993 laureate from Benin, is training Africa's youth in innovative and environmentally sound farming. Father Nzamujo is with us tonight - would you please stand up, Father, and be recognized?

Agriculture. Agriculture is the basis of livelihood for more than 80% of Africa's people. If this sector is ignored, Africa has no future.

The 1988 laureate President Mugabe made Zimbabwe the agricultural success story of the continent.

1995 laureate President Sam Nujoma, recognizing the vital importance of farming, trained agricultural experts even as he conducted a guerrilla war for Namibia's freedom.

Population and environment: In these two areas there has been a dramatic shift in this decade. Ten years ago, these issues were seen as almost irrelevant - today they are recognized as crucial to Africa's future.

Ten years ago, only 3 African nations had a population policy - now 32 of them do. 21 African nations have completed a National Environmental Action Plan. And 80% of African nations are now engaged in this process.

From the start, the Africa Prize stressed the importance of these issues. In 1991, the Prize honored Wangari Maathai of Kenya as a pioneer of environmental activism in Africa.

Empowerment of women: In Africa, women hold up more than half the sky. Yet, despite some hard-won gains, women continue to be marginalized in Africa's development programs.

In every area we have mentioned, reducing gender inequality must be a top priority.

Empowering women's leadership is a top priority for the Africa Prize.

By consistently honoring women, the Prize asserts the truth -women's leadership is absolutely vital for Africa's future.

As Africa sets forth on the next decade, it stands on a new and firm foundation:

African leaders have taken responsibility for Africa's future;

There is an unleashing of the human spirit;

Africa and her partners are committed to empowering people as the key to successful development.

As for The Hunger Project, the course for the next decade is clear.

At the 1995 Award Ceremony, I announced that The Hunger Project's 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 thrilled to report to you tonight that this initiative is underway. The Hunger Project - in the depth of its principles and in the effectiveness of its actions - has taken root in Africa. It is on course. It is working.

We have adopted a regional strategy, starting with West Africa.

Your financial contributions make this work possible.

I want to welcome and acknowledge those individuals with us tonight who are investing for the first time.

I want to acknowledge the many corporations and institutions for their support of the Africa Prize - in particular Xerox, Coca-Cola and the World Bank for their sustained investment, year after year.

I especially want to acknowledge the investors of The Hunger Project: Women and men who have taken a stand for the end of hunger and invest their financial resources to make this vision a reality. Tonight we have with us investors from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The men and women of this global family - this global movement that we call The Hunger Project - are privileged to stand with Africa, and will do so until a future free from hunger is achieved.

Since 1980, I've traveled to 17 African countries. In the last year alone, I've had the opportunity to make 5 trips to Africa.

I know that there are some who look at Africa and lose hope.

Yet the more I know Africa, the more possibility I see, and the more deeply committed I am.

Where others may see only breakdowns, we in The Hunger Project see a strong foundation for progress.

At a time when others advise caution and retreat from Africa, The Hunger Project will engage more, invest more, and call upon others to do the same.

We do so - not from a charitable impulse, but from the power of the truth - from the confidence that comes from knowing the strength and creativity of the people of Africa.

We will stand with Africa until the job is done. We know that Africa's future is everyone's future. To invest in the people of Africa, is to invest in all humankind.

Thank you.