Oxfam America’s 2011 International Woman’s Day Initiative

March 8, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.  To celebrate and honor women, Oxfam America will be organizing events nation-wide that highlight the critical role that women everywhere play in feeding the world.

We hope you can join this effort and be a National sponsor of Oxfam America’s 2011 International Women’s Day Initiative.

The cornerstone of this initiative is the Oxfam America Hunger Banquet©, an interactive event that allows participants to experience firsthand the realities of global hunger and poverty.  Even though our rich and bountiful planet produces enough food to feed every woman, man, and child on earth, 925 million people go hungry every day. Why? Because hunger is really about power. Oxfam’s Hunger Banquet demonstrates that hunger’s roots lie in inequalities in access to education and resources, and increasingly, in climate change, which disrupts the growing season. It shows that women—who produce most of the world’s food—face the greatest inequalities of all.  Lastly, the Hunger Banquet highlights that investing in women farmers is key to solving the food crisis.

When participants come to the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, they draw their “lot in life”—15 % will dine on a nutritious meal, 35% will receive rice and beans, and the majority will sit on the floor and share rice and water.  This event powerfully demonstrates how some are born into relative prosperity and security, while millions, through no choice of their own, are born into poverty.  The Hunger Banquet also demonstrates how progress can be made when we face this challenge with commitment and creativity and focus on the vital role that women play as agents of change.

Oxfam America will be organizing National Hunger Banquets in key cities across the nation. Right now, Oxfam is engaging partners to sponsor these national events and involve their members in organizing their own local Oxfam America Hunger Banquets. These events will engage state policy makers and the community in exploring lasting solutions to poverty and hunger. Your members can also spread the word by holding a Hunger Banquet in their own community.  Oxfam will support them with free toolkits, materials and advice—and together, we can build a movement to end hunger worldwide.  

We hope you can join Oxfam America’s 2011 International Woman’s Day Initiative. We believe that focusing on women farmers—their knowledge, their energy, and their entrepreneurial drive—is a key to creating lasting change in poor communities worldwide.  For more information on Oxfam programs click here.