>>Building National Alliances
>>Guidelines
>>Strategies

The real force for moving the International Alliance toward its goals and its hope for the future can be found within the National Alliances. As of July 2006, 94 countries had expressed interest in forming Alliances. Around fifteen had established their national strategy plans and 35 more were moving forward rapidly.


The impetus for forming a National Alliance can come from a local NGO, from an international partner or from the national government itself. Once formed, there are no set rules or requirements to follow. The national groups organize themselves according to their own situations, set their own targets in the form of an Ending Hunger pledge, establish their own deadlines and reporting systems, and lay out the steps they will need to move forward according to what they feel are the most urgent and solvable needs in their countries.

A successful National Alliance will enlist and join the strengths of many partners committed to ending hunger. This can range from local farmers’ organizations to religious groups and social service organizations, as well as university and research institutions, food producers and agribusinesses, concerned individuals and, of course, government entities. All have parts to play in working together with their political leaders and decision-makers to consolidate efforts. The momentum of the National Alliances will feed back into the International Alliance that will, in turn, give an international face to national Alliances and provide the infrastructure for them to communicate with and support each other.

Although there are no set rules for the establishment of National Alliances, and the impetus for starting an Alliance can come from any sector of a nation, the International Alliance Secretariat had developed some helpful guidelines that offer simple step-by-step information on how to form a National Alliance. They also recognize that all National Alliances will move forward at different paces, will have differing approaches and commitments to a variety of activities. Thus the Guidelines include background on potential compositions of the National Alliances, list the types of activities that would be encouraged and provide sample cases of already existing Alliances.

Each National Alliance develops its own national strategy, adapted to local conditions and supporting the development of national programmes. The strategies would contain all or some of the following elements:

• create a national sense of commitment to eradicate hunger within the country and world-wide, offering a framework within which everyone can make a contribution;
• build partnerships to expand the number of stakeholders in the National Alliance and commit to concrete action to reduce hunger;
• advocate for policy frameworks, action plans, resource commitments to ensure that all people can enjoy their right to food – a process that must involve the full engagement and participation of the sectors most directly affected by food insecurity;
• design communication and public affairs activities aimed at increasing awareness of the need to focus on the poor and hungry and on addressing the issues involved, publicizing the impact of actions taken to reduce hunger and poverty;
• support effective monitoring and tracking of results in reducing hunger through such mechanisms as national MDG reports and country food security monitoring and reporting systems;
• promote, coordinate and support direct assistance programmes, whether ongoing or new, for the benefit of the hungry that combine measures for sustainable livelihood improvements with actions to broaden access to food;
• develop links and reciprocal arrangements with other National Alliances, whether within the same region or between Alliances in developing and developed countries.