Action Against Hunger UK

Profile

Experts in the fight against hunger

Action Against Hunger is an international, non-governmental, non-religious, non-profit making organisation with programmes in 43 countries worldwide. Its vocation is to save lives, especially those of malnourished children, and to work with vulnerable populations to preserve and restore their livelihoods with dignity.

For over 25 years, Action Against Hunger has been at the forefront of the fight against hunger and malnutrition worldwide. Our teams do their utmost day after day to ensure that people are given access to the most basic of human rights – the right to food.

Action Against Hunger’s teams provide for people’s immediate needs when food is scarce, and provide families with the tools, seeds and support they need to build a sustainable future.

The organisation was created in 1979 and has since developed within the framework of an international network (ACF International Network) with headquarters in France (ACF-France), Spain (ACF-Espana), Canada (ACF-Canada), the UK (ACF-UK) and the US (ACF-USA). In carrying out our activities, all members adhere to a charter of principles that forms the foundation of our humanitarian commitment: independence, impartiality, non-discrimination, free and direct access, professionalism and transparency.

Action Against Hunger's Scientific Committee pioneered the therapeutic milk formula (F100) that is now widely used by all relief organisations and has significantly decreased the global mortality rate of severely malnourished children under the age of five from 25% to 5%, enabling them to lead healthy lives.

More than 500 international and 5,000 national staff implement our projects, helping over 4.2 million people.

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Mission Statement

The aim of Action Against Hunger is to save lives by combating hunger, diseases, and those crises threatening the lives of helpless men, women and children.

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Our Strengths in Fighting Hunger

A private organisation

Action Against Hunger is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political, non-religious organisation.

An International Network

Action Against Hunger is an interdependent international network with representation in the United Kingdom, France, the United States and Spain.

Expertise

Internationally recognised as the leading organisation in the treatment of severe malnutrition, Action Against Hunger has notably pioneered the therapeutic milk formula currently used worldwide by the international aid community in the treatment of severe malnutrition.

Direct Action

In around 40 countries, our specialist fieldworkers, sharing skills with national staff, are directly helping those affected by hunger, giving them the means to prevent crises and assisting them towards self sufficiency.

Analysis

Our programmes and their pertinence stand on a good understanding of the context in which we intervene and the implementation of well adapted projects. Far from being only technical, our intervention takes into account the social and political environment of those affected by hunger. See our publications for further information...

Research

Experts and international researchers contribute to our efforts and we benefit from the support of an International Advisory Scientific Committee comprised of well-known academics in the fields of health, food security, economics and water and sanitation.

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Activities

Our fight against hunger is carried out through five complementary activities:

Nutrition

Action Against Hunger’s nutritionists play a key role through emergency life-saving interventions and the longer term prevention of malnutrition. They treat severely malnourished children through therapeutic feeding programmes and also operate supplementary feeding centres, distributing nutritionally balanced food supplies to treat acute malnutrition before it becomes life threatening and ensuring that food reaches the most vulnerable families.

Action Against Hunger is also known for its expertise in nutrition surveys: in partnership with UNICEF and Ministries of Health, we establish the prevalence of acute malnutrition and help define appropriate interventions as well as evaluating the impact of current nutritional programmes.

Via its nutrition surveillance, our teams monitor trends of malnutrition in order to have timely interventions before a crisis hits. In addition, our teams make sure that the needs of those infected and affected by HIV are met. Finally, nutrition education is integrated into all our programmes.

Food security/agriculture

To respond to a crisis it is vital to distribute the foods needed for the survival of the population. The choice of foods (which must take into account cultural factors), their quality and the identification of the most needy beneficiaries are key elements for defining the right type of aid that must be put in place.

In post crisis situations and/or in order to prevent a recurrence, it is essential to support the local agriculture through the supply of new resources (seeds, fertilizers, tools…) and also the implementation of new techniques.

Our agronomists implement programmes to assist vulnerable populations to produce their own food and regain their self-sufficiency.

They organise distributions and revitalise small farms and provide economic support to families through market gardening, livestock breeding and food preservation projects.

In the longer term, our agronomists provide local farmers with training in new agricultural techniques.

Water and sanitation

Water is one of the best weapons against hunger. Access to safe drinking water and better sanitation allow improvement in the state of health of communities and prevent the spread of diseases; likewise, irrigation of fields allows food production to be multiplied by up to 3 or 4 times.

Our water engineers provide access to safe drinking water of sufficient quality and quantity to prevent disease and decrease mortality.

They set up emergency water tanks, drill boreholes and build wells to tap safe underground water supplies. They rehabilitate water distribution networks, bringing water from rivers or springs and implement sanitation projects, building latrines and showers. They improve drainage systems and secure safe waste water evacuation and disposal of household waste.

Health

A vicious circle exists between disease and malnutrition. A malnourished child is more vulnerable to diseases than a well fed child. A sick child, weakened by illness, often becomes a victim of malnutrition. It is therefore necessary to fight disease in order to combat hunger.

Our medical teams provide emergency medical attention to malnourished children and implement primary health care programmes for mothers and children. They combat and prevent epidemics and rehabilitate medical structures.

They are involved in public health programmes with mother and child healthcare, vaccination programmes, pre and post-natal care and health education. They train medical staff and community workers at all levels of the medical chain: health centres, hospitals, dispensaries.

Advocacy

Action Against Hunger raises awareness on hunger and seeks to alert the international community when human rights - especially the right to food - are violated. Our advocacy and public awareness efforts aim to effect institutional and cultural change to help create a world without hunger.

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