Young Global Leaders

Young Global Leaders’ “Table for Two” initiative simultaneously targets hunger in the developing world and obesity in developed countries

Dalian, People’s Republic of China, 7 September 2007 – With one billion people suffering from hunger and another billion suffering from obesity, the “Table for Two” initiative of the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum aims to tackle both, at the same time. The initiative, launched today during the Young Global Leader Annual Summit 2007 and the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, People’s Republic of China, offers a unique and simple scheme to address hunger in the developing world and obesity and other life-style related diseases in the developed world.

“Every time someone eats a healthy meal at participating company cafeterias, restaurants and events, 20 cents is donated to fund a healthy school meal in developing countries,” said James Kondo, President and Vice-Chairman, Health Policy Institute in Japan and Young Global Leader. And the aim is to spread the initiative worldwide.

Today, 32 companies have announced their commitment to offer healthy meals to their employees and customers, and in the process, donate 20 cents per healthy meal to school meal programmes in developing countries. These are: AIM Services; All Nippon Airways; British Sky Broadcasting; Mitsui Trust Financial Group, Dial Service; DougFaberFamily; FamilyMart; Four Seeds; Fujitsu; Health Policy Institute Japan; IBM Japan; The Interlink Group; ITOCHU; Japan Airlines; Japan Bank for International Cooperation; Kajima; Kawori; Lehman Brothers; NEC; Nippon Life Insurance, Mori Building; MP Creative; Oisix; Outblaze; Rakuten; Riyada Ventures; Seiyo Food-Compass Group; SHiDAX; Sumitomo Chemical; Teijin; Tully's Coffee Japan; and Yokohama City Government.

"Through its philanthropic activities, Lehman Brothers seeks to support innovative, not-for-profit organizations that work to advance quality healthcare and help meet the needs of underprivileged children and youth around the world," said Zhizhong Yang, Managing Director and Head of China Investment Banking, Lehman Brothers. "To that end, we feel that Table For Two's mission of addressing the dual concerns of hunger among children in developing countries, and obesity in developed countries is a good match with the firm's philanthropic priorities.” More firms from around the world are expected to participate.

To help this global launch, healthy lunches are being offered at the Young Global Leaders Annual Summit and the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions. Twenty cents will be donated for every participant’s lunch, paid by the World Economic Forum and Publicis Events, to fund a school meal in a developing country. It is expected that around 1,500 people will participate in both events and thus support 9,000 school meals, equivalent to meals for around 45 children, a whole school class, throughout the year.

“The World Economic Forum is supporting this Young Global Leaders’ initiative and encouraging businesses to consider the enormous impact that even a small company or organization can make in providing school meals and improving the health of its employees by implementing “Table for Two” in its cafeteria,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. “With this initiative the Young Global Leaders show that they want to engage in innovative approaches to respond to major global challenges.”

To date, pilot programmes have been conducted in Japan at Family Mart; IBM Japan; Itochu; Japan Airlines; NEC; and the Yokohama City Government. The donations to date from these pilots will support around 40,600 school meals, equivalent to meals for around 200 students throughout the school year. “It was an enriching opportunity for JAL employees to understand the reality of global issues such as hunger, and to reflect on their own diets. Cafeterias were also ideal locations for employees to think about the global food crisis,” said Katshuhiko Nawano, Executive Vice-President, Japan Airlines.