Action Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger (or Action Contre La Faim (ACF) in French) is a global humanitarian organization which originated in France and is committed to ending world hunger. The organization helps malnourished children and provides communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger.
 | |
| Formation | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit |
| Purpose | To end child malnutrition whilst providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger. |
| Headquarters | New York, USA; Toronto, Canada; London, UK; Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; Milan, Italy |
Region served | Over 50 countries around the world |
Staff | Over 7000 |
| Website | www.actioncontrelafaim.org (FR) www.actionagainsthunger.org (US) www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk (UK) www.actioncontrelafaim.ca (CA) www.accioncontraelhambre.org (ES) www.azionecontrolafame.it (IT) |
In 2019, Action Against Hunger worked in 51 different countries around the world with more than 6,000 employees and volunteers helping 13.6 million people in need.[1]
Established in 1979 by a group of French doctors, scientists, and writers. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Alfred Kastler served as the organization's first chairman.
The group initially provided assistance to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, famine-stricken Ugandan communities, and Cambodian refugees in Thailand. It expanded to address additional humanitarian concerns in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Balkans and elsewhere during the 1980s and 1990s. Action Against Hunger's Scientific Committee pioneered the therapeutic milk formula (F100), now used by all major humanitarian aid organizations to treat acute malnutrition. Early results showed that treatment with F100 has the capacity to reduce the mortality rate of severely malnourished children to below 5%, with a median hospital fatality rate quoted of 23.5%[2] A few years later, therapeutic milk was repackaged as ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs), a peanut-based paste packaged like a power bar. These bars allow for the treatment of malnutrition at home and do not require any preparation or refrigeration.
The international network currently has headquarters in six countries – France, Spain, the United States, Canada, Italy, the UK. Its four main areas of work include nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, and advocacy.[3]
Integrated approaches with various sectors of intervention:
- Nutrition and Health
- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
- Food Security & Livelihoods
- Emergency Response
Restaurants Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger partners with leaders from the food and beverage industry to bring attention to global hunger. Each year, several campaigns are run by the network to raise funds and support the organisation's programs : Restaurants Against Hunger and Love Food Give Food.[4][5]
Countries of intervention
In 2019, Action Against Hunger International Network is present in 51 countries:[6]
Africa
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Soudan, Tanzania, Chad, Zimbabwe
Asia
Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Caucasus
Caribbean
Middle East
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestinian Occupied Territories, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq
Action Against Hunger International Network
Since 1995 Action Against Hunger developed an international network to have a bigger global impact.
The Network has 6 headquarters in the world: France, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Italy.
Action Against Hunger has also a West Africa Regional Office (WARO) located in Dakar, a Training center in Nairobi and 5 logistic platforms (Lyon, Paris, Barcelona, Dubai, Panama).
This network increases the human and financial capacities and enables a specialization per headquarter.
- Action Against Hunger in France, Spain and the USA are the operational headquarters: they manage the interventions directly on the field. In order to maximize efficiency and coherence, these three operational headquarters work under the principle of one headquarter per country of intervention.
- Action Against Hunger-UK focuses on research, monitoring and evaluation, notably with Hunger Watch. This UK headquarters also plays an intermediary role with DFID.
- Action Against Hunger Canada raises public and private funds in North America and plays an increasing role on the national level.
- Action Against Hunger / Azione contro la Fame Italia raises private funds and promotes important campaigns in order to sensitize the Italian public opinion on hunger and malnutrition.
References
- "About Action Against Hunger Canada | Action Against Hunger". actioncontrelafaim.ca. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
- Desjeux, JF; Briend, A; Prudhon, C; Greletty, Y; Golden, MH. "Definition and evaluation of therapeutic food for severely malnourished children in situations of humanitarian emergencies". Bull Acad Natl Med. 182: 1679–90, discussion 1691–5. PMID 10188315.
- "Nos missions humanitaires dans le monde". Action contre la Faim (in French). Retrieved 2019-04-02.
- "Restaurant fundraising | Action Against Hunger UK". www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
- "Restaurants Against Hunger". Action Against Hunger. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
- "Countries | Action Against Hunger". www.actionagainsthunger.org. Retrieved 2017-07-27.