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Our Top Ten Recommendations post 2015 For the past 25 years, The Hunger Project (THP) has pioneered bottom-up, gender-focused methodologies for empowering rural communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America to end hunger and extreme poverty on a sustainable basis. We have strongly supported the MDGs, and intend to contribute what we’ve learned to an even stronger framework for the Post-2015 era (“the Framework”). 1) The Framework should be visionary. It should not merely list challenges to overcome, but rather articulate a future that can be achieved and is worth achieving – a future that enhances the quality of life for all people while restoring and preserving the natural environment. The vision must be sufficiently specific to guide economic, social and political planning. Although there has been much talk of urbanization, we strongly recommend a vision that transcends the urban/rural divide by pointing to a pathway to rural communities that can enjoy the same education, cultural and economic opportunities as cities. (See our thought-piece, “Green Communities.”) 2) The Framework should be rights-based and universal. All citizens should be empowered to improve their own lives. Individuals have a right to information, including clear knowledge of the basic package of human services to which they are entitled, how they can access them, and how they can hold their government to account. In many countries, the mandatory public posting of these rights and access methods is known as a “Citizen Charter” and a Framework Target should be that these are public posted where every citizen can see them. 3) The Framework must treat gender equality and female empowerment as a top priority, both through targeted action and mainstreaming in all other targets. Framework Targets must be comprehensive. We recommend adoption of a multi-dimensional gender index based on the full range of internationally agreed gender goals, including the halting of gender-based violence. 4) The Framework must be community-based. A shortcoming of the MDGs was that it was never localized. The Post-2015 targets must be measurable by communities, and governments must commit at least 20% of public resources to local governance. National campaigns for the Post-2015 goals must include effective education campaigns to all local governments, with an alignment of all stakeholders to empower communities with what they need to succeed. 5) The Framework must be holistic. The MDGs were intended to convey the inextricably interconnected nature of its range of issue, yet in practice these were addressed in siloes. Communities need to be empowered with a governance system that enables it to lead and manage a comprehensive set
Transcript of thpmx.files. Web viewFramework Targets must be comprehensive. ... but on food systems that...
Our Top Ten Recommendations post 2015
For the past 25 years, The Hunger Project (THP) has pioneered bottom-up, gender-focused methodologies for empowering rural communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America to end hunger and extreme poverty on a sustainable basis. We have strongly supported the MDGs, and intend to contribute what we’ve learned to an even stronger framework for the Post-2015 era (“the Framework”).
1) The Framework should be visionary. It should not merely list challenges to overcome, but rather articulate a future that can be achieved and is worth achieving – a future that enhances the quality of life for all people while restoring and preserving the natural environment. The vision must be sufficiently specific to guide economic, social and political planning. Although there has been much talk of urbanization, we strongly recommend a vision that transcends the urban/rural divide by pointing to a pathway to rural communities that can enjoy the same education, cultural and economic opportunities as cities. (See our thought-piece, “Green Communities.”)
2) The Framework should be rights-based and universal. All citizens should be empowered to improve their own lives. Individuals have a right to information, including clear knowledge of the basic package of human services to which they are entitled, how they can access them, and how they can hold their government to account. In many countries, the mandatory public posting of these rights and access methods is known as a “Citizen Charter” and a Framework Target should be that these are public posted where every citizen can see them.
3) The Framework must treat gender equality and female empowerment as a top priority, both through targeted action and mainstreaming in all other targets. Framework Targets must be comprehensive. We recommend adoption of a multi-dimensional gender index based on the full range of internationally agreed gender goals, including the halting of gender-based violence.
4) The Framework must be community-based. A shortcoming of the MDGs was that it was never localized. The Post-2015 targets must be measurable by communities, and governments must commit at least 20% of public resources to local governance. National campaigns for the Post-2015 goals must include effective education campaigns to all local governments, with an alignment of all stakeholders to empower communities with what they need to succeed.
5) The Framework must be holistic. The MDGs were intended to convey the inextricably interconnected nature of its range of issue, yet in practice these were addressed in siloes. Communities need to be empowered with a governance system that enables it to lead and manage a comprehensive set of basic services in a systematic way. In general, this will require greater devolution of authority to local government.
6) The Framework must explicitly include nutrition, particularly in the “1,000 Day” window from the onset of a woman’s pregnancy to her child’s second birthday – the window when poor nutrition causes irreparable harm. The key target should be to achieve zero stunting under the age of two. Stunting under two is the best indicator, as
it focuses on maternal nutrition, a vital issue not addressed by the MDGs. Nutrition is an unusually difficult challenge for both the rich and poor, and can only be effectively addressed through explicit inclusion in multiple sectors (health, education, food production).
7) The Framework should include household food security, focusing not on grain yields, but on food systems that simultaneously improve nutrition and the income of small-scale producers. The vast majority of the poor and hungry are food farmers.
8) The Framework should include Agroecology, empowering farmers to integrate environmental services with food production, targeting a zero or better carbon footprint for agriculture, and mechanisms that offer significant incomes to small-scale farmers for environmental services.
9) The Framework should ensure all people gain affordable access to higher education. There has been a breakthrough in distance education via the internet, and so a Framework Target of universal broadband internet is a necessary prerequisite for fulling the vision of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that all people can develop their full potential.
10) The Framework should incorporate the Secretary-General’s call for sustainable energy for all, with a priority milestone being sustainable energy for all basic human services: health clinics, schools and water supplies.
