The Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED) is a non governmental organization. Privately owned, non political and non profit, ACTED was set up in 1993. The organization employs approximately 150 international staff and more than 2000 national staff. The headquarters are based in Paris, France.
The first projects were initiated in Kabul in 1993 to bring relief to populations affected by more than 15 years of conflict.
ACTED activities then rapidly expanded to the entire country and subsequently to neighboring countries in 1996 (namely Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan), with the aim of developing a regional strategy throughout Central Asia.
The organization continued its expansion, opening offices in Central Africa in 1997, in order to help populations affected by the Congo-Brazzaville conflict, in Central America in 1998 following the “Hurricane Mitch” disaster, in the Balkans after the conflict in Kosovo, and in the Middle-East, in 2003, to support Iraqi population. In 2004, ACTED continued its involvement in Central Africa by opening missions in Chad and Sudan to respond to the Darfur crisis.
In 2005, the organization has started emergency reconstruction activities in South Asia after the tsunami disaster, and is now working in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
ACTED intervenes in 20 countries spanning 5 zones (Asia, Africa, America, Europe, Middle-East). The organization tries whenever possible to develop a regional approach to crisis situations in countries where cross-border population movements are important facts.
This regional approach is backed-up by an integrated approach enabling ACTED to work in such varied activity fields as micro-economics, public health or even cultural promotion.
Specifically, ACTED has a presence in the following countries :
Afghanistan Chad Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Haiti India Indonesia Iraq Kyrgyzstan Libya Lebanon Macedonia Nicaragua Pakistan Palestine Serbia Sri Lanka Sudan Tajikistan Uganda Uzbekistan