GHLS Blog Series: The Hunger Project

The Global Health Landscape Symposium is just a few weeks away! This year’s convening will focus on generating progress and seizing on the potential of global health that has been so clearly illustrated throughout the COVID-19 crisis. We wanted to get a jump start on the conversation by talking to the organizations that will be joining us on December 7 and 8. Today, we are speaking with John Coonrod, Executive Vice President at The Hunger Project.

The last in-person Global Landscape Symposium took place in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. What are the biggest challenges you and your organization have encountered in the three years since then?

The thing that has been the biggest challenge for us is meeting the demands of more than 1,500 community-based organizations (CBOs), providing them with accurate information about COVID-19, and facilitating their collective voice and action with their own governments.

What are the most positive, encouraging developments that have emerged from this time period?

The movement for community-led development has expanded dramatically at the request of CBOs. The commitment by Samantha Power to shift half of USAID funding to community-led development could be a game changer. But they will need to figure out how to really do it first.

The title of this year’s Symposium is “Meeting the Moment.” How do you think the global health community can best meet this unique moment in time?

The community needs to ensure that every step it takes is building a health ecosystem that is accessible, accountable, and affordable to every low-income community.

This year is Global Health Council’s 50th anniversary. In your view, what has been the organization’s impact over the years? What would you like to see it do/achieve in the coming years?

GHC’s biggest impact has been in mobilizing a collective voice in the U.S. for global health across sectors. In the coming years, it can play a very big role in brokering more coherent and well-resourced collective action for Universal Health Coverage.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

Join us to learn more at our Global Health Landscape Symposium panel, “#ShiftThePower for Health Equity,” on Thursday, December 8th.