[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 16, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1804-E1805]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




JOAN HOLMES, PRESIDENT OF THE HUNGER PROJECT, BRIEFS THE WOMEN'S CAUCUS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2003

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Women's Caucus received an 
outstanding briefing from Joan Holmes, the President of the Hunger 
Project. The focus of her briefing was to help us understand the 
essential and often overlooked role that women play in ending hunger 
around the world.
  As we look towards the real needs that people face, it is vital that 
programs we fund through the instrumentalities of the Departments of 
Agriculture and State, as well as the Agency for International 
Development, I encourage all of our colleagues to take the time to read 
this most helpful presentation. The Hunger Project works to empower 
women in many countries around the world, and in my view is deserving 
of our support and understanding.
  I ask unanimous consent to insert in the Record at this point the 
statement by Joan Holmes, entitled ``Women and Ending Hunger: The 
Inextricable Link''.

             Women and Ending Hunger: The Inextricable Link

                            (By Joan Holmes)


                              Introduction

       Madame Chairperson and Distinguished Members of Congress, 
     it is an honor to testify before the Women's Caucus today. I 
     commend the Caucus for focusing on the inextricable link 
     between women and ending hunger.
       My name is Joan Holmes, and it's been my privilege to be 
     the president of The Hunger Project since its inception in 
     1977.
       In my testimony I will address:
       First, Chronic Hunger and who is most affected;
       Then, the three distinct ways women are essential to ending 
     hunger and achieving sustainable development;
       Next, what happens to a society when women are empowered; 
     and
       Finally, where the world is now--in recognizing the vital 
     role of women.


                   An Understanding of Chronic Hunger

       Chronic hunger continues to be the greatest failure of our 
     age. It takes the lives of 20,000 of us each day. Eight 
     hundred and forty million of us are chronically 
     undernourished. The largest number of hungry people are in 
     South Asia, but the most severe hunger is in sub-Saharan 
     Africa.
       When most of us think of hunger, we think of famine--sudden 
     shortages of food due to war, drought or natural disasters. 
     Less than 8% of hunger deaths are due to famine--the rest are 
     due to chronic hunger.
       The persistence of hunger is not an issue of the quantity 
     of food. The world produces more than enough food for 
     everyone. Hunger persists when people--particularly women--
     are systematically denied the opportunity to produce enough 
     food--to be educated--to learn the skills to meet their basic 
     needs. Hunger persists when the poor--mostly women--have no 
     voice in the decisions that affect their lives.


                     women most affected by hunger

       When we speak of hungry people--we are literally speaking 
     of women and children. The vast majority of the world's poor 
     are women. The gap between women and men caught in the cycle 
     of poverty has continued to widen in the past decade.
       An estimated 80 percent of the world's refugees are women 
     and girls. Two-thirds of the world's illiterates are female. 
     Of the millions of children kept out of school--2/3 are 
     girls.


           women are at the center of the development process

       The fundamental thesis of my testimony is--women are at the 
     center of the development process, and until and unless we 
     make the empowerment of women a central strategy in ending 
     hunger--hunger will persist. Until and unless we empower 
     women, none of the UN Millennium Development Goals will be 
     met.
       My testimony today does not come from the perspective of 
     empowering women to achieve gender equality as a matter of 
     social justice--even though that has my unequivocal support.
       The analysis I am presenting today comes from looking 
     strategically at what needs to happen to end hunger and 
     achieve sustainable development. In this analysis, I am going 
     to use the phrase ``women's empowerment''. It is important 
     that we know what that phrase means.
       Although there is no country where there is gender 
     equality, in the countries that have the persistence of 
     hunger--the subjugation, marginalization and disempowerment 
     of women is particularly severe.
       So, when we say empowering women--what this means is to 
     lift some of the shackles that constrict and suppress their 
     lives.


       three distinct ways women are fundamental to ending hunger

       Let's examine three ways in which women are fundamental to 
     the end of hunger:
       First, the inextricable link between women's well-being and 
     the overall health of a society.
       Second, the enormous, yet largely unrecognized and 
     unsupported role of women as producers.
       Finally, women's leadership--a necessary component of 
     ending hunger.


             women's well-being and the health of a society

                      Girls and women are deprived

       With regard to women's well-being and the link to the 
     health of a society, let's look to South Asia. India and 
     Bangladesh account for more than 1/3 of the remaining hunger, 
     and their malnutrition rates are among the highest in the 
     world. One-third of all babies in Bangladesh and 1/4 of the 
     babies in India are born underweight and malnourished. This 
     compares to 12 percent in Africa.
       The question is--Why are these rates so high in Bangladesh 
     and India, countries which are food self-sufficient? In fact, 
     India has more than 40 million tons of surplus food in 
     storage.
       Why are the rates of malnutrition higher in South Asia than 
     in Africa, which we know is considerably less developed? In 
     1996, UNICEF commissioned a landmark study to answer that 
     question. In a report called, ``The Asian Enigma'', they 
     concluded, ``The exceptionally high rates of malnutrition in 
     South Asia are rooted deep in the soil of inequality between 
     men and women.''
       Women eat last and least. They eat only the food that is 
     left over after the males have eaten. Often men and boys 
     consume twice as many calories--even though women and girls 
     do much of the heavy work. Girls in India are four times more 
     likely to suffer from acute malnutrition than boys.

           When women and girls are deprived, society suffers

       Next, let's examine the effects this deprivation has on 
     society.
       We've always been clear that the health of the mother is 
     the single most important factor in determining the health of 
     her child. New scientific data makes it clear that it is not 
     just her health when she is pregnant, or even throughout her 
     entire life, but going back to when she herself was in the 
     womb. And so, let me describe for you the insidious ``cycle 
     of malnutrition'' that persists in South Asia.
       A baby girl in India and Bangladesh is born underweight and 
     malnourished. She is nursed less and fed less nutritious food 
     than her brother. She is often denied health care and 
     education. She is forced to work even as a child. Her work 
     burden increases significantly as she gets older--even when 
     she is pregnant. She is married and pregnant when she is 
     young, often just a teenager. She is underweight and 
     malnourished when she gives birth to her children who are 
     born underweight and malnourished. And the cycle continues.
       Even in the Punjab, the region of India where the green 
     revolution was most successful, this cycle and these high 
     rates of malnutrition still persist.

                              New Research

       It has been clear for some time that maternal deprivation 
     and subsequent fetal deprivation cause children to be highly 
     susceptible to infectious diseases like tuberculosis and 
     malaria.
       New research shows that maternal deprivation also makes the 
     body susceptible to diseases we associate with affluence--
     hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, among 
     others. In the next 20 years, India will have the largest 
     number of diabetic patients, and coronary heart disease will 
     become the leading cause of mortality.
       This new research underscores that what begins as the 
     neglect and discrimination of women ends in causing adversity 
     for the health and survival of all.


                           Women as Producers

       Now as to the role of women as producers: just as we must 
     learn to think ``women'' when we think ``hungry people''--we 
     must think ``women'' when we think food producers in the 
     developing world. And, I regret to say, we do not. Women have 
     been largely bypassed by development assistance and programs 
     focused on agriculture.
       Rural women are responsible for half of the world's food 
     production and produce 60 to 80 percent of the food in most 
     developing countries.
       In sub-Saharan Africa, women food farmers produce 80 
     percent of Africa's food, do the vast majority of the work to 
     process, transport, store and market Africa's food, and they 
     also provide 90 percent of the water, wood and fuel. Food 
     processing alone creates a heavy work load for women. In 
     parts of Africa, women spend four hours a day grinding grain.
       They do all this, despite the fact that they own 1 percent 
     of the land, receive less than 7 percent of farm extension 
     services, and receive less than 10 percent of the credit 
     given to small-scale farmers.

                     Effects of HIV/AIDS in Africa

       If this reality weren't challenging enough, we must also 
     recognize that the impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural 
     production and food security has been devastating. Families 
     affected by HIV/AIDS see their food production cut by 40%.
       This epidemic in Africa is spiraling out of control because 
     men have multiple partners and unsafe sex, and women because 
     of their

[[Page E1805]]

     low status are kept uninformed about prevention and powerless 
     to protect themselves. Twice as many young women as men are 
     infected.
       Bottom line--there is a direct correlation between women's 
     low status, the violation of their human rights, and HIV 
     transmission. In epidemiological terms, persuading 10 men 
     with several partners to engage in safe sex has far greater 
     impact than enabling one thousand women to protect themselves 
     from their only partner. The 10 men are at the beginning of 
     the chain of infection; the 1,000 women are its last link.

               Violence against women impedes development

       The other health hazard is violence against women. Violence 
     against women continues to devastate millions of women 
     worldwide, destroying families and impeding development.
       In this new century--in the year 2003--it is sobering to 
     acknowledge that many societies still find it acceptable and 
     justifiable to beat--rape--stone--burn--disfigure and murder 
     women. When one group of people in society is treated as 
     inferior to another--the only way to keep that lie in place 
     is by violence and the threat of violence.

             Women's invisible work in the informal sector

       The majority of women in the developing world work in 
     agriculture. But a significant portion also work in the 
     informal sector. Their work remains largely invisible in 
     official statistics, because it takes place outside the 
     formal economic structure.
       Women work as--vendors, weavers, potters, handicraft 
     workers, laundry workers, and manual laborers. Women may be 
     poor, illiterate and undernourished, but they are 
     economically active. They contribute significantly to the 
     economy and society with their labor.
       Let me give you a specific example of the importance of 
     women's work--regardless of how invisible it is:
       In India, young girls and women include in their daily work 
     collecting and drying of cow dung which is used primarily as 
     fuel in most of rural India where 75 percent of the 
     population lives. Their work saves India at least $10.5 
     billion a year that would otherwise need to be spent on 
     petroleum. It is estimated that, if the Indian women went on 
     strike and no longer collected cow dung, India would be in an 
     economic crisis in three weeks.


                           Women's Leadership

       The third critical link--between women and ending hunger is 
     women's leadership. In countries with the persistence of 
     hunger, women bear full responsibility for the key issues in 
     ending hunger: family health, nutrition, sanitation, 
     education and increasingly--family income. Yet women are 
     systematically denied the information, education and freedom 
     of action they need to fulfill these responsibilities.
       When women have more voice in decision making in the home, 
     their families are healthier, better nourished and better 
     educated. In Brazil, as well as other countries, research 
     shows that income in the hands of mothers has four times the 
     impact on child nutrition as the same income in the hands of 
     fathers.
       When women gain voice in decision making in their villages, 
     they have the opportunity to alter the development agenda to 
     address issues critical to meeting basic needs. They take 
     action against dowry, domestic violence, child marriage and 
     child labor. Women in positions of leadership begin to 
     transform gender relations and to call into question the 
     deeply entrenched patriarchal system. They help other women 
     to know their rights.
       In India and Bangladesh, there is now an extraordinary 
     opportunity. New laws guarantee that \1/3\ of all seats in 
     elected local government are reserved for women. As a result, 
     in the region of the world where women have been the most 
     subjugated--more than 5 million women have engaged in the 
     political process by standing for elections and 1 million 
     women have become elected local leaders--more elected women 
     than in all the other countries of the world combined.
       I consider this transfer of power to these one million 
     elected women--who themselves are often illiterate and 
     malnourished--to be a potent and direct intervention in the 
     persistence of hunger.


               When women are empowered--society benefits

       Now let's examine what happens to a society when women are 
     empowered. The evidence is overwhelming--women's empowerment 
     has the most far-reaching effects on the lives of all--men, 
     women and children. Let's examine some of this evidence:
       A recent analysis of development by the World Bank 
     indicates that countries with smaller gaps between women and 
     men in areas such as education, employment and property 
     rights have lower child malnutrition and mortality, they also 
     have less corruption in governance and faster economic 
     growth.
       Cross-country studies report that if the Middle East, South 
     Asia and Africa had been as successful as East Asia in 
     narrowing the gender gap only in education, the Gross 
     National Product (GNP) per capita in these regions would have 
     grown by an additional 16 to 30 percent from 1960 to 1990.
       In sub-Saharan Africa, if women farmers were given the same 
     support as that given to men their yields could increase by 
     more than 20 percent. And, it is now clear that women's 
     empowerment is more influential than economic growth in 
     moderating fertility rates, thereby slowing population 
     growth.
       Bottom line: women are at the center of the development 
     process. When they are empowered these are the results: 
     faster economic growth, less corruption in governance, lower 
     childhood malnutrition, lower child mortality, increased 
     agricultural production, more children in school, including 
     girls, health hazards are reduced, and the overall health and 
     wellbeing of a society is greatly improved.


    The gap between recognition of women's vital role and policies, 
                          programs and action

       Even though the evidence is overwhelming and there is 
     increasing recognition that women are the key to sustainable 
     development--the gap between this recognition, and policies, 
     programs, and action is enormous.
       Now let's look at 3 examples:
       First, the International Conference on Financing for 
     Development--known as the Monterrey Summit. The Monterrey 
     Summit did address issues like good governance, people-
     centered development, and global responsibility--but the 
     vital role of women in achieving sustainable development was 
     not recognized. The words ``gender sensitive'' made it into 
     the final Monterrey Consensus document, but the four people 
     who control the world's purse-strings--President Bush, the 
     heads of the World Bank, IMF and the European Commission 
     never once mentioned the vital role of women. In fact, the 
     word ``woman'' was used only once among these four keynote 
     speakers and that was in reference to micro credit.
       Regarding the 2001 New Partnership for Africa's Development 
     (NEPAD)--we need to know that this charter does not come 
     close to recognizing that women are key to development. In 
     fact, women are not adequately included in any section of its 
     analytical framework or its plan of action.
       Now let's look at the constitutional amendment which 
     guarantees women \1/3\ of the seats in local village councils 
     in India. It was passed by one vote. The amendment continues 
     to be under attack, and is in danger of being repealed.


                            Recommendations

       Given that women are at the center of the development 
     process:
       1. I recommend that women be placed in high level decision-
     making positions in all international organizations.
       2. All legislation--budget allocations--and programs 
     related to development must specifically empower women as the 
     key change agents to achieve sustainable development.

                          ____________________