Feature Stories

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From Trickle to Torrent

Nick Radin, our Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene Advisor, recently returned from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where Action Against Hunger is bringing clean water to communities affected by ongoing conflict in the region. He reports from the village of Hombo, on the border between North and South Kivu, provinces that have borne the brunt of much of the fighting between rebel militias and government soldiers. This violence has terrorized communities and forced thousands of families from their homes.

Staggering Malnutrition Rates Uncovered in Chad

Some 27% of children under five in Bahr el Ghazal are acutely malnourished, according to results of the Action Against Hunger assessment, nearly double the WHO’s emergency rate of 15%. An additional 5% of children in that age range have severe acute malnutrition, indicating that they are at immediate risk of starvation, according to the same survey. Action Against Hunger’s emergency response will be fully operational within the month.The agency is strengthening the capacity of 15 local health centers in Bahr el Ghazal to treat acutely malnourished children and ramping up community-based programs to detect the condition before it reaches a critical stage.

A month after earthquake, ACF

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI— Action Against Hunger | ACF International has provided emergency services in clean water, nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene to more than 100,000 people since the earthquake devastated the Haitian capital last month. The humanitarian organization has also expanded its current operations in Port de Paix and Gonaives, cities that have experienced an influx of hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors fleeing the capital.

ACF Aid Reaches Thousands of Earthquake Survivors in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI—Three weeks after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck parts of western Haiti, Action Against Hunger | ACF-International is providing displaced families with access to food, water, and sanitation in hard-hit neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. In spite of gasoline shortages, airport delays, and other logistical limitations, the international humanitarian organization has assisted thousands of people left homeless and in dire need of life-sustaining supplies.

Voice from Haiti: Resilience in a Battered Nation

I’m witnessing something amazing in the Croix Deprez neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. Despite having lost everything, including loved ones, people here are pulling together for their community and their nation.I met Serge Felix, a young 30-year-old father, today. Luckily, Serge was at the barber shop when the earthquake hit. His house was completely destroyed, and had he been at home, he may not be alive today.

Emergency programs launched in Haiti- ensuring access to drinking water for 35,000 people

An A340 cargo plane carrying 20 metric tons of emergency supplies and technical experts for Action Against Hunger | ACF- International landed in Port-au-Prince Saturday morning, reinforcing ACF’s response to the Haitian population’s urgent need for clean water and sanitation. Another plane is scheduled to arrive with an additional 87 metric tons of emergency relief supplies.The cargo plane, supplied by a partnership with Airbus, landed shortly after 6:30 AM (local time) on Saturday morning with 20 metric tons of water and sanitation equipment—enough to complete the two water treatment stations that were sent to Port-au-Prince from ACF’s base of operations in Gonaives.

Haiti emergency intervention

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI—Less than 48 hours after a massive quake devastated parts of western Haiti, Action Against Hunger’s teams already on the ground have fully mobilized to meet humanitarian needs. External emergency personnel from Action Against Hunger | ACF International have also arrived to reinforce relief efforts already taking place, assess needs, and set up programs to assist disaster victims.

Earthquake in Haïti

A major earthquake has struck Haïti, killing many and leaving thousands of families without food, shelter and water. Action Against Hunger's teams on the ground have set in motion an emergency response to help the survivors of the earthquake.Action Against Hunger, by our sister organization, ACF-France, has been working in Haiti since 1985. We have a staff of about 100 people there, with 30 of them in Port au Prince. An emergency ACF team along with a first shipment of material is leaving Paris today to reinforce the teams present. An additional cargo will be sent in the next few days following an initial assessment of what is necessary.

World Food Summit Neglects Millions of Children

International diplomats assembled at this week’s World Food Summit in Rome failed yet again to take action on acute malnutrition, which kills up to five million children in developing countries every year. Despite initial pledges of $20 billion for agricultural assistance made at the G8 Summit earlier this year, world leaders have not provided any specific funding to address childhood malnutrition.Action Against Hunger| ACF International expressed regret today that the World Food Summit produced no concrete commitments toward reducing the number of child deaths from malnutrition. Although acute malnutrition is preventable and readily curable, currently less than 10 percent of children can access treatment.

Thousands face starvation in southern D.R. Congo

KANANGA & MBUJI-MAYI, D.R CONGO—The global humanitarian group Action Against Hunger | ACF International is calling for urgent action to treat the thousands of children with severe acute malnutrition in the Kasai provinces of southern Democratic Republic of Congo. Recent nutrition surveys uncovered an alarming number of children with the life-threatening condition in an area largely neglected by international donors, who are focused on the country’s war-torn eastern region.Action Against Hunger has fanned out across the area in an effort to contain the crisis.

Action Against Hunger Responding to Crises in Indonesia and Philippines

ACF International has launched an emergency response to assist the victims of two earthquakes that hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra. These natural disasters come in the wake of devastating flooding in the Philippines, where ACF teams are on the ground preparing to receive the first aerial shipment of emergency supplies. Immediately following the first earthquake in Sumatra, Action Against Hunger deployed specialists in water, food distribution, and logistics to Padang. ACF's teams in Indonesia, ready for this type of catastrophe, had already stockpiled emergency supplies, including first aid and hygiene kits, buckets, shovels, blankets, and drinking water containers.

Flooding in Burkina Faso Leaves Tens of Thousands Homeless

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso — International humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger | ACF International has mounted an emergency response after the heaviest rainfall in almost a century destroyed major parts of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The flooding has affected more than 150,000 people, a third of whom have sought refuge in dozens of temporary shelters throughout the city. Earlier this month, more than 10 inches of rainfall fell over a 12-hour period, flooding half the capital and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. The displaced have sought refuge at 88 temporary sites across the city, each housing between 200 and 1500 individuals. Authorities are concerned about outbreaks of disease due to inadequate water and sanitation facilities in the shelters, as the country’s current systems are not equipped to deal with an emergency of this proportion.

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Nutrition Emergency Declared in Central African Republic

A nutritional survey carried out by Action Against Hunger in July 2009 in the city of Berbérati (Mambéré-Kadeï region to the west of the capital Bangui) has revealed that 7% of the children screened were suffering from the most serious form of malnutrition: severe acute malnutrition. World Health Organisation standards define the nutritional emergency threshold at 2% severe acute malnutrition. The situation in Berbérati is therefore critical, with 1,100 children in a life-threatening condition. An emergency team has been dispatched to support the Action Against Hunger teams already present in the area and respond to cases of severe acute malnutrition.

Haiti: What does the future hold for Gonaives?

World's hungry exceed one billion

The number of hungry people in the world has passed the one billion mark for the first time ever, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. This means that one in six people struggles with hunger on a daily basis. The combination of the global financial downturn and high food prices has resulted in a dramatic increase in the total number of people worldwide who currently suffer from acute and chronic malnutrition. The economic crisis has had a particularly devastating effect on the poor. Their declining wages and reduced economic opportunities make purchasing food increasingly difficult, especially in developing countries where the cost of food remains stubbornly high.

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Mental Health: A weapon Against Hunger

Julie de Barbeyrac is a Canadian working for Action contre la Faim in Myanmar. After graduating in occupational therapy, she worked for five years with autistic children in Quebec. Soon after, she studied towards a master’s degree in international public health. At the end of her curriculum, Action contre la Faim Paris contacted her and asked her to join their psychosocial teams. Her first field mission was Burma. Upon her return, she shared with us her experience in this country, and told us about the essential role the psychosocial aspect plays in the healing process of malnutrition.