| Action Against Hunger | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | ACF |
| Motto | Providing Innovative Solutions to World Hunger |
| Formation | 1979 |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) |
| Purpose/focus | To end child malnutrition while providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger. |
| Headquarters | New York, USA; Montreal, Canada; London, UK; Paris, France; Madrid, Spain |
| Region served | Some 40 countries around the world |
| Budget | $34,380,519 in 2008 [1] |
| Website | US: www.actionagainsthunger.org; UK: www.actionagainsthunger.org.uk |
Action Against Hunger (known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF International) is an international humanitarian organization with a focus on ending world hunger. Action Against Hunger specializes in responding to emergency situations of war, conflict, and natural disaster. Their programs in nutrition, water and sanitation, food security, health care, and advocacy serve more than 5 million people in over 40 countries.
Contents |
Action Against Hunger (ACF) was established in 1979 by a group of French doctors, scientists, and writers. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Alfred Kastler served as the organization’s first chairman.
ACF moved to provide assistance to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, famine-stricken Ugandan communities, and Cambodian refugees in Thailand. ACF expanded to address humanitarian concerns in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Balkans and elsewhere in 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. As a result, the global mortality rate of severely malnourished children under the age of five has been reduced from 25% to 5%.
Action Against Hunger – USA was established in 1985 and became the first member of what is now ACF International. ACF International currently has headquarters in five countries – France, Spain, the United States, Canada and the UK. All members of the ACF International Network agree to a charter of principles: independence, impartiality, nondiscrimination, free and direct access to victims, professionalism, and transparency.
In the short term, Action Against Hunger addresses hunger and malnutrition through feeding centers, food and supply distributions and by providing water and sanitation facilities in emergency situations. In the long term, ACF provides training in nutrition, water and sanitation, food security, and health care.. ACF utilizes international experts and over 6000 local (national) staff to develop programs.
In 2006, Action Against Hunger lost 17 of its workers in a town called Muttur who were working in post 2004 Tsunami reconstruction effort in Sri Lanka due to violence. The independent Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has implicated the government forces but the government currently denies it and is conducting an investigation.
ACF sets up feeding centers to treat malnourished children. They also help control and prevent malnutrition through child-growth monitoring, nutritional surveys, and public education. Therapeutic feeding centers treat children with acute severe malnutrition through rigorous programs of medical treatment.
ACF provides access to safe drinking water by drilling wells, tapping springs, and installing water systems. They train local teams and communities to maintain equipment and work with the population on the importance of clean water and sanitation.
ACF distributes seeds and tools as well as conduct training programs in income-generating activities such as farming, gardening, animal breeding, and food conservation.
ACF sets up mother and child health centers to provide immunization and pre/post-natal care. Their public health programs train medical staff, provide medicine, monitor and control epidemics, and rehabilitate clinics.
Action Against Hunger raises awareness about hunger and seeks to alert the international community when human rights, especially the right to food, are violated.
The Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award recognizes individuals who have made substantive contributions to the humanitarian field through philanthropy, public awareness, or their efforts to directly improve conditions for distressed communities.
In 2009, ACF honored the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its Director-General, Jacques Diouf,[2] for their long-standing commitment to fighting hunger and poverty.
In 2008, Anderson Cooper was the first journalist to receive the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award. He was selected as the recipient for the award in 2008 for his ongoing coverage of key global issues and for bringing some of the most glaring humanitarian tragedies into focus for the American public.
In 2007, film director and Academy Award nominee Terry George was the recipient of the annual award for his long-standing humanitarian commitments, and the impact of his award winning depiction of the Rwandan Genocide in his movie, Hotel Rwanda.
The 2006 Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award recipient was Susan Sarandon. She was honored for her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, an advocate for victims of hunger and HIV/AIDS, and a spokesperson for Heifer International. Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore introduced her and presented her with the award.
In 2005, the recipient of the award was the Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu in recognition of his outstanding work against hunger, malnutrition and poverty worldwide.
Past recipients of the award have included Nobel Laureate and former South African President Nelson Mandela (2004), as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt (2002), and Jeff Bridges, among others.
A growing number of athletes are devoting their efforts to raising awareness and funds for Action Against Hunger.
This informal assemblage of adventurers, which was dubbed "Athletes Against Hunger", have devoted their time, resources, and hard work to bringing an end to malnutrition. They have climbed Everest, inline skated across the country and hiked the Appalachian Trail, to name a few.[3]
The Race Against Hunger is a Service Learning campaign that unites middle and high school students from all over the world in the fight against global hunger and malnutrition. The Race aims to educate American students about the causes of global hunger and inspire them to be a part of the solution.
The educational component of the Race involves an interactive program about global hunger that teachers implement in their classrooms. Recognizing the paradox of hunger in the developing world amidst an obesity epidemic in the United States, the curriculum is followed by an opportunity for students to engage in a fun and healthy activity through a “fun-run” event. Students seek sponsorships for the “fun-run”, and the proceeds raised by students directly support Action Against Hunger’s life-saving programs around the world.[4] [5]
In 2003, Zidane attended the Race Against Hunger organized by Action Against Hunger Spain (also known as Acción Contra el Hambre) held at the French Lyceum of Madrid. This event raised an estimated 25,000 Euros.
Action Against Hunger's annual Restaurants Against Hunger Campaign partners with leaders from the food and beverage industry to bring attention to problem of global hunger. Each year, the campaign raises vital funds and support for Action Against Hunger’s life-saving humanitarian programs.[6][7]
Various singers have performed at the annual Restaurants Against Hunger Spring Gala including Kaïssa and Clara Lofaro.
During the month of March 2010, several chefs, including Atul Kochhar and Rick Stein, cooked meals in a pop-up restaurant in London to help raise funds for the organization's efforts in Haiti.[8]
Action Against Hunger's new appeal, Love Food Give Food, asks all those who love food to get involved and raise funds to save the lives of malnourished children. As the food and drink industry’s chosen charity, the appeal strives to bring attention to the problem of global hunger and raise over £1 million annually for this cause.
During the months of September and October, hundreds of restaurants fundraise for the Love Food Give Food appeal by adding £1 to the bill or adding 50p to a designated dish. Other restaurants, such as Carluccio’s, support the appeal year-round; Carluccio’s generously donate 50p for each Penne Giardiniera sold.
New for 2011, Love Food Give Food are asking everyone to Host a Dinner Party for Action Against Hunger. The idea is that you sign up online, invite friends around for dinner and then ask them to make a donation to Action Against Hunger, if they liked your cooking. Several celebrity chefs are supporting the Love Food Give Food appeal by providing recipes for the website and cooking at Taste of London, including Jun Tanaka, Cyrus Todiwala, Marcus Wareing, Valentine Warner, Theo Randall and Francesco Mazzei.