million - Action Against Hunger

21
years of civil war
have ravaged sudan,
where two million
people have been
killed, and four
million have been
displaced.
30
Days is all it takes to save the life of a
starving child. Through a rigorous set of
nutritional and medical protocols, our
pioneering work in the treatment of severe
acute malnutrition can save people who are
hours away from dying. Our Therapeutic
Feeding Centers stabilize a patient’s physical
deterioration, rehabilitate metabolic
functions, and rebalance a patient’s
physiology, preparing the way for recovery
2005
4
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER ANNUAL REPORT
Million people
benefited from
Action Against
Hunger’s life-saving
programs in 2005
The earthquake in
Pakistan claimed
over seventy
thousand lives,
injured more
than a hundred
thousand people,
and caused the
collapse of
between sixty
and one hundred
percent of
the buildings
around the
epicenter. As the
Himalayan winter
approached, the
U.N. estimated
that the number
of people left
homeless was
90
6,000
International and national staff work for ACF
to ensure the success of our global programs
F100
Therapeutic milk formula,
developed and left unpatented
by ACF’s Scientific Committee,
has revolutionized the
treatment of severe acute
malnutrition, slashing
mortality rates and saving lives
Cents of every
donated dollar
directly funds
our programs
680
Children were treated for severe
and moderate malnutrition at ACF’s
Therapeutic and Supplemental Feeding
Centers each month during 2005
800
,000
2.5
MILLION
Children were affected by the crises that hit Mali and Niger during 2005,
suffering drought, reduced access to food, and losses of animals and
livelihoods. In Mali alone, the malnutrition rate reached fifteen percent;
rates of ten percent constitute an emergency. Such cyclical crises will
only reoccur without investments in longer-term measures
21
years of civil war
have ravaged sudan,
where two million
people have been
killed, and four
million have been
displaced.
30
Days is all it takes to save the life of a
starving child. Through a rigorous set of
nutritional and medical protocols, our
pioneering work in the treatment of severe
acute malnutrition can save people who are
hours away from dying. Our Therapeutic
Feeding Centers stabilize a patient’s physical
deterioration, rehabilitate metabolic
functions, and rebalance a patient’s
physiology, preparing the way for recovery
2005
4
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER ANNUAL REPORT
Million people
benefited from
Action Against
Hunger’s life-saving
programs in 2005
The earthquake in
Pakistan claimed
over seventy
thousand lives,
injured more
than a hundred
thousand people,
and caused the
collapse of
between sixty
and one hundred
percent of
the buildings
around the
epicenter. As the
Himalayan winter
approached, the
U.N. estimated
that the number
of people left
homeless was
90
6,000
International and national staff work for ACF
to ensure the success of our global programs
F100
Therapeutic milk formula,
developed and left unpatented
by ACF’s Scientific Committee,
has revolutionized the
treatment of severe acute
malnutrition, slashing
mortality rates and saving lives
Cents of every
donated dollar
directly funds
our programs
680
Children were treated for severe
and moderate malnutrition at ACF’s
Therapeutic and Supplemental Feeding
Centers each month during 2005
800
,000
2.5
MILLION
Children were affected by the crises that hit Mali and Niger during 2005,
suffering drought, reduced access to food, and losses of animals and
livelihoods. In Mali alone, the malnutrition rate reached fifteen percent;
rates of ten percent constitute an emergency. Such cyclical crises will
only reoccur without investments in longer-term measures
1200 2.6
,
People in the Democratic Republic of Congo die every
day, largely from disease and food shortages linked
to six years of war and the subsequent collapse of
the Congo’s health system and economy
43 5 26
Countries
currently host
Action Against
Hunger relief
and development
programs
ACF Headquarters
make up our
International
Network
Years of ACF
Expertise in
Humanitarian
Action
Billion people lack basic sanitation
today—an astounding forty-two
percent of the world’s population.
Unsafe drinking water, inadequate
sanitation, and poor hygiene lead to a
host of infectious diseases and chronic
malnutrition that ultimately kill over
two million children a year
396
852 3.9
Million people in the
world suffer from
malaria, which kills
one million people
each year, most of
whom are children
under the age of five.
Simple, cost-effective
solutions, however,
exist for preventing
the needless toll that
malaria exacts on poor
communities
Million people suffer from hunger around the
world, in both its chronic and acute forms.
Hunger and malnutrition kill over five million
children every year, induce tremendous suffering,
and cost poor countries billions of dollars in
national income and lost productivity
1.1
BILLION
People lack
access to safe
water around
the world,
leaving them
vulnerable
to daily
indignities and
frightening
rates of
death and
debilitation
Million
Congolese have
died as a result
of conflict since
1998, mostly
from hunger and
disease
51,550
People were treated in ACF’s Therapeutic and Supplemental Feeding Centers in 2005, most of whom
were on the brink of death when they arrived. ACF’s humanitarian interventions restore life,
dignity, and self-sufficiency, uniquely bridging urgent relief with longer-term development
25
for more than
years
Action Against Hunger has pursued its vision of a world
without hunger, saving the lives of malnourished children
and families while seeking long-term, sustainable solutions
to hunger. Recognized as a world leader in the fight
against hunger and malnutrition, Action Against Hunger
specializes in responding to emergency situations of war,
conflict, and natural disaster. Our innovative programs in
nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, health care,
and advocacy reach more than 4 million people in more
than 40 countries, helping vulnerable populations regain
their dignity, self-sufficiency, and independence. n
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Photographs (from left): Blazej Mikula; Richard Moss; Blazej Miluka; Blazej Miluka; Jean Lapegue, Agence Vu; James Pomerantz
CONTENTS
04
05
Letter from the
Exeuctive Director
USA Headquarters Staff
08
Highlights
16
Food Security:
Farming In Bags
22
In-Kind Contributions
Letter from the President
06
Our Programs
07
Where We Work
Board of Directors/
Advisory Council
10
12
17
18
23
24
Emergency Response
Health: We Advocate
Breastfeeding
Financials
Nutrition
Advocacy:
Working In Politically
Charged Zimbabwe
ACF International
Network
Photographs (from left): ACF-Sudan; Burger/Phanie; Claudine Doury, Agence Vu; ACF-Pakistan; Stephanie Bouaziz; ACF-Pakistan; Burger/Phanie
14
Water and Sanitation
in Haiti and Guatemala
20
Contributors
25
ACF’s International
Charter of Principles
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
letter from the executive director
A
major event in 2005 for Action Against Hunger
was the launching of programs in Pakistan in
response to the 7.6-magnitude earthquake that
struck in October. A primary reason that we
were able to accomplish this so quickly and so
well is due to our experienced and motivated staff. Action
Against Hunger transferred international staff to Pakistan
from throughout its international network, especially those
who had worked in previous disasters including the recent
tsunami in Asia. In addition, we found a large pool of skilled
Pakistanis ready and willing to join us. With our team in
place, we were able to inaugurate programs quickly that
provided food, shelter, and water to tens of thousands of
earthquake victims and to continue providing that assistance
throughout the harsh winter even while our staff lived in
tents pitched in six feet of snow and two feet of mud.
Our staff comes in many shapes and forms: headquarters,
international, national, and volunteer; administrative,
technical, supervisory, finance, and general; fulltime and
part-time. Our staff comes from all over the world: USA,
France, Italy, Congo, Kenya, Cambodia, and more. Our staff
includes water engineers, nurses, MBAs, agriculturalists, and
logisticians. Our staff hones its skills in the field, sometimes
rising through our ranks to become program directors or
to work as part of our international staff. Our staff also
includes volunteers who provide necessary pro bono work
at our headquarters.
What ties them all together is their belief in the need
to end hunger in the world, their dedication, and their
professionalism. Put this together with our 26 years of
experience fighting hunger in the field and you get well-run
programs that are adapted to the specific needs of beneficiaries
living in a variety of environments and under many different
conditions. Everyone’s exemplary and frequently selfless
performance explains how our modest resources assist more
than 4 million beneficiaries every year.
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
USA Headquarters staff
Board of Directors
Advisory Council
Cathy Skoula
Executive Director
Burton K. Haimes, Chair
Partner, Orrick, Herrington
& Sutcliffe LLP
Christian Blanckaert
Président Directeur Général,
Hermès
Raymond Debbane, Vice Chair
President, The Invus Group, LLC
Harold A. Bornstein
Vice President,
Charles H. Greenthal & Co.
Operations
Human Resources
David Blanc
Program Director
Philippe Rosen
Human Resources Director
Roger Persichino
Desk Officer
Kiera Downes-Vogel
Human Resources Coordinator
Marie-Sophie Simon
Nutrition Coordinator
Sarah Favorite
Human Resources Administrator
Devrig Velly
Food Security Coordinator
Brendan Tronconi
Office Manager/
Human Resources Assistant
Jeanette Bailey
Office Assistant/
Operations Assistant
Finance
Patrick Mouton
Finance Director
Nelger Rios
Accountant
Hamouta Yattara
Field Comptroller
Development and Communications
Randall Chamberlain
Development and
Communications Director
John Sauer
Communications Manager
James Phelan
Website and Database Manager
Erica Sackin
Development and
Communications Coordinator
Joseph G. Audi, Treasurer
President and CEO,
InterAudi Bank
Alexis Azria
Writer
Henri Barguirdjian
President, Graff USA
Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo
President, Enriquez-Bocobo
Constructs
Yves-André Istel
Senior Advisor, Rothschild, Inc.
Ketty Maisonrouge
President, Ketty Maisonrouge
& Company, Inc.
Daniel Py
President,
Medical-Instill Technologies
Patrick Siegler-Lathrop
PSL Conseil
Cathy Skoula, Secretary
(ex-oficio)
Executive Director,
Action Against Hunger USA
Prof. Michael Golden
Professor Emeritus, Aberdeen
University
Iman
Impala Inc.–Iman Cosmetics
Frank McCourt
Author
Achim Moeller
Achim Moeller Fine Art
Robert W. Rudzki
President, KIBAN Corporation
Edward M. Sermier
Vice President, CAO and
Corporate Secretary, Carnegie
Corporation of New York
Rick Smilow
President, The Institute
of Culinary Education (ICE)
Dr. Ronald Waldman
Professor, School of Public Health,
Columbia University
Wendy C. Weiler
Partner, Argosy Partners
Action Against
Hunger’s programs
ensure effective
assistance by targeting
the most vulnerable
and working directly
with communities to
develop strategies that
restore dignity and
self-sufficiency for the
long term.
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Sabine Cassel
Jessica Weber
President, Jessica Weber Design
Cathy Skoula
Executive Director
Olivier Cassegrain
Managing Director, Longchamp
t
he year 2005 was a year of growth for Action
Against Hunger in our efforts to eliminate hunger
in the world. And the year put us to the test with a
seemingly endless series of natural disasters.
We were on the frontlines racing to beat the
arrival of winter following the major earthquake that struck
Pakistan in October. We provided food, tents, and water
to those rendered homeless by the magnitude 7.6 quake.
We continued our efforts to rebuild in Sri Lanka and
Indonesia after the December 2004 tsunami, moving to
the rehabilitation phase in which we’re providing the tools
necessary to restart fishing and farming activities. And we
warned the world of impending droughts in Mali, Niger,
and the Horn of Africa through our early warning systems
that constantly monitor water, crop, and nutrition status.
These activities—demonstrating our improved emergency
response capacity—were a result of the cooperative efforts of
the ACF International Network, comprised of headquarters
in New York, London, Paris, Madrid, and, as of August
2005, in Montreal. The five headquarters work together to
maximize our efforts by pooling resources across borders. In
Pakistan, for example, led by the New York headquarters,
we were able to bring in staff variously overseen by our
New York, Paris, London, and Montreal offices; monetary
resources from New York, Paris, and Madrid; and supplies
from Paris and New York. The result: We were on the ground
delivering assistance within 48 hours of the earthquake.
During 2005, we also saw positive changes in the countries
where we work that enabled us to grow. The Democratic
Republic of the Congo prepared for elections scheduled
for July 2006; the accompanying peace allowed us access
to more areas of the country that were previously insecure
and permitted us to shift the emphasis in some of our
programs from lifesaving to life rebuilding. Similar changes
are happening in southern Sudan with the signing of a peace
accord in January 2006; refugees are returning to their
homes, some of whom have not seen their native land in 10
to 20 years. Most will need our help to rebuild their lives.
By rebuilding lives we will truly beat hunger—attacking
its causes through our programs in nutrition, water and
sanitation, food security, basic health care, and advocacy.
These provide the tools and training to save lives, to restart
livelihoods, and to restore dignity to more than 4 million
beneficiaries every year.
Photographs (from left): Blazej Mikula, Burger/Phanie, Burger/Phanie, ACF-France
Nina S. Zagat
Co-Founder and Co-Chair,
Zagat Survey
Tim Zagat
Co-founder, Co-Chair & CEO,
Zagat Survey
Burton K. Haimes
President
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
our programs
London
Headquarters
North Caucasus
Paris
Headquarters
Montreal Headquarters
Georgia
Madrid
Headquarters
Azerbaijan
New York Headquarters
Action Against Hunger’s programs reach more than 4 million
people each year. Yet with an estimated 852 million people
suffering from hunger and some 1.1 billion people lacking
sufficient drinking water, much work remains to be done.
Action Against Hunger’s innovative approach integrates
nutrition, water and sanitation, food security, basic health
care, and advocacy programs.
Tajikistan
Palestinian
Territories
Afghanistan
Iran
Pakistan
Nepal
Myanmar
Haiti
Mali
Niger
North Sudan
Our Therapeutic Feeding Centers save the lives of severely
malnourished children and adults who may be just hours
away from death. Action Against Hunger developed, field
tested, and pioneered the now widely used therapeutic
milk formula F100, which has decreased the mortality rate
of severely malnourished children under the age of 5 from
as high as 25 percent to as low as 5 percent. We also operate
Supplemental Feeding Centers, distributing nutritionally
balanced food supplies to treat malnutrition before it
becomes life-threatening.
Laos
Cambodia
Chad
Philippines
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Nutrition
Mongolia
Armenia
South
Sudan
Somalia
Ethiopia
Sri Lanka
Colombia
Ivory Coast
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Guinea
Democratic
Republic
of the Congo
Kenya
Indonesia
Uganda
Burundi
Malawi
Angola
Zambia
Bolivia
Zimbabwe
WATER AND SANITATION
Every year, 2.2 million people, most of them children,
die from diseases associated with unsafe drinking water,
inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. Action Against
Hunger provides access to safe drinking water by tapping
springs, drilling wells, and installing water systems. We also
teach the importance of water and sanitation in preventing
disease, and train local teams to maintain water and
sanitation equipment.
Argentina
WHERE WE WORK
food security
Treating malnutrition is only the beginning. Action
Against Hunger combines emergency relief with programs
that develop dependable sources of food and income.
By providing seeds, tools, and training programs for
income-generating activities such as farming, gardening,
animal breeding, fishing, small-scale retailing, and food
conservation, we work to help communities attain longterm self-sufficiency.
4
Million people
benefited from
Action Against
Hunger’s
life-saving
programs in
2005
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
852
million people suffer
from hunger
1.1
health
THE ACF INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
Hunger and disease are inextricably linked. Action Against Hunger’s
staff includes experts on the medical aspects of malnutrition, tailoring
our treatment to ensure that malnourished children and their families
receive not only the food they need to regain their health but also
medical treatment for diseases associated with malnutrition. We also
integrate health initiatives into all of our other programs, and are on the
cutting edge of research on the links between HIV/AIDS and hunger.
Action Against Hunger USA is part of the ACF
International Network, named for the original
member of the network, Action contre la Faim,
or ACF, founded in 1979 in Paris. Today, the
network consists of five independent organizations:
Action Against Hunger USA (ACF-USA) in New
York; Action contre La Faim (ACF-France) in
Paris; Acción contra el Hambre (ACF-Spain) in
Madrid; Action Against Hunger UK (ACF-UK)
in London; and Action Contre la Faim/Action
Against Hunger Canada (ACF-Canada) in
Montréal. The network shares an overall vision
of a world without hunger, and the five member
organizations collaborate closely, sharing human
resources, logistics, and technical capacity. Each
country program is managed by one of the five
member organizations.
advocacy
Action Against Hunger continually analyzes the fundamental causes
of hunger and publicizes our findings to government officials,
international organizations, and the public. Our advocacy and public
awareness efforts aim to effect institutional and cultural changes to
help create a world without hunger.
Our comprehensive,
cost-effective approach
to global hunger delivers
a range of communitycentered solutions to
populations in crisis
billion people lack
sufficient drinking water
Photograph: Burger/Phanie
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
HIGHLIGHTS: 2005
Responding to Devastation in Pakistan
Our Programs Rescued Thousands from Starvation
Action Against Hunger’s most daunting
challenge during 2005 was the launching
of programs in Pakistan at a time of extreme
urgency. On October 8, a 7.6-magnitude
earthquake killed an estimated 73,000 people
and leveled villages across Afghanistan, India,
and Pakistan, with Pakistan the most affected by
far. The United Nations estimated that 4 million
people were affected, whereas 2.5 million were
left homeless in Pakistan. Their needs were vast,
including blankets, drinking water, food, and
winterized tents. Complicating the emergency
was a Himalayan winter expected to arrive in
full force at any moment.
Within a week we had established program
headquarters in Islamabad and had flown 30
tons of food and water supplies to desperate
beneficiaries. During the next few months we
distributed shelter items (blankets, tents) and
hygiene kits (soap, toothpaste) and established
emergency water routes to more than 33,000
people in hard-hit and difficult-to-access areas
surrounding Battagram and Bala Kot.
Meanwhile, temperatures in Pakistan
hovered between -2 and 10 degrees Celsius, the
ground alternated between frozen solidity and
mud, snow fell heavily, and cases of pneumonia
among the displaced tripled. Landslides blocked
roads, so our team used helicopters to reach
remote villages in Allai and Kahgan Valleys
where we distributed 25 tons of food per day
throughout the winter. Some refugees managed
to reach camps at lower altitudes where we
installed latrines and sanitation facilities. At
year-end, our efforts continued.
Our name informs the world that Action Against Hunger feeds beneficiaries—more
than 4 million every year. But our most notable skill is giving life back to the dying
victims of starvation through our internationally recognized protocols: our Therapeutic
Feeding Centers (TFCs) provide an intensive month-long set of medical procedures
and nutritional protocols designed for those desperately sick beneficiaries suffering from
severe acute malnutrition; our Supplemental Feeding Centers (SFCs) are designed for
the moderately malnourished and provide additional rations for those who need help
but aren’t on the brink of death. In 2005, the TFCs and SFCs supervised by Action
Against Hunger’s U.S. headquarters alone treated 51,550 patients. Some 84.2% of these
beneficiaries were treated for moderate malnutrition. On average, we treated 680 children
a month in our TFCs during 2005 and 11,000 in our SFCs. We operated 17 TFCs and
69 SFCs on average during the year in all seven countries where we work, and in March
2006 we opened several SFCs and baby-feeding tents in Pakistan.
In 2005, the beneficiaries of our feeding centers were distributed as follows: Chad,
1%; D.R. Congo East, 15%; D.R. Congo West, 10%; Kenya, 20%; South Sudan, 1%;
Tajikistan, 22%; Uganda, 31%
Our Invaluable Volunteers
Our Gala Honored Desmond Tutu
We are deeply grateful for the professional and general support we
receive from our growing network of volunteers who help us in more
ways than we can count. In 2005, for example:
On November 11, at our annual World Food Day Gala in New
York City, producer/director Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) presented
the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award to Archbishop
Desmond Tutu. We honored the Nobel prize-winning archbishop
for his efforts not only to
achieve political equality
but also to fulfill basic
human needs such as
adequate food, clean
water, and healthcare.
In addition to hearing
from Archbishop Tutu
and Mr. George, 350
attendees were entertained
by World Music diva
Angélique Kidjo and heard deeply felt, first-hand testimony about
our programs in Africa from Action Against Hunger’s National Staff
Member of the Year, Aimé Lukelo, our Food Security Coordinator
in Kinshasa, D.R. Congo.
The sold-out, glittering, formal evening raised more than $500,000
for our programs from ticket sales, an auction, and a wishing well
that elicited specific donations for such essentials as drinking wells,
medicines, and kits for farming and fishing activities.
• Diverse professionals gave us legal advice, while others kept our
computers running.
• Professional newscasters volunteered to assemble video reports
on our operations in the field and managed to get their reports
highlighted in media newscasts worldwide.
• Other pros designed and edited our annual report, our
brochures, our website, and our e-newsletters. They lent their
expertise to our marketing and fundraising, helping us produce
a 15-fold increase in our online donations between 2004
and 2005.
• In January, restaurateurs volunteered a portion of their receipts
in support of our rescue efforts in response to 2004’s tsunami
that devastated Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
• And general support volunteers arrived daily in our offices
to assist us with such tedious chores as data entry and
envelope stuffing.
During 2005, interest in helping our programs grew so intense
that we initiated semi-monthly volunteer nights at which we describe
our work and explain how newcomers can help us. The generosity
of all our volunteers who contribute their time and labor was and
continues to be of incalculable value.
The Media Focus on Our Global Efforts
51,550
Severely and moderately
malnourished patients were treated
at our therapeutic and supplementary
feeding centers in 2005
These ‘before-and-after’ photos
are of a little girl named Habiba
who was treated for 30 days at
an ACF therapeutic feeding
center in Mandera, Kenya—a
powerful visual illustration of
the life-saving work our teams
carry out every day.
Staff and
beneficiary at an
ACF Therapeutic
Feeding Center
in Kinshasa,
Congo.
We Pioneer New Technology
Father and Daughter
amid the aftermath
of the earthquake in
Pakistan.
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
In 2002, the U.S. Agency for International Assistance (USAID), in collaboration with
other agencies in the U.S. and Canada, initiated the SMART Initiative. SMART is an
acronym for Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions.
The idea behind SMART is to standardize measurements of humanitarian crises so that
calls for aid will be seen as authoritative and so that donors can assess relative needs. In
addition, as indicators of a crisis recede, the technology can signal that the emergency has
passed. SMART software analyzes three measures of a troubled community: death rates,
instances of malnutrition in children younger than five and levels of food security.
In 2005, the creators of SMART asked Action Against Hunger to field-test its new
software, and we helped refine the initiative’s technology in Chad. In doing so, we also
helped create the protocol for using SMART, and now the creators want us to teach that
protocol to other aid organizations.
Photographs (clockwise from left): James Pomerantz, Glenn Hughson (2)
In the summer of 2005, to avert a famine that the UN warned could
affect a population of 2.5 million—including 800,000 children—
Action Against Hunger distributed more than 4,000 tons of food in
Mali and Niger. A prolonged drought had increased the vulnerability
of pastoralists who wander in search of water and grazing land
for their livestock. In addition, our international network set up
Supplementary and Therapeutic Feeding Centers to treat severe
infant malnutrition, and we constructed and rehabilitated water
sources for people and animals.
One of our longstanding volunteers, media consultant and TV
news reporter Kiran Khalid, advised Action Against Hunger on
our media strategy during the crisis. Working with Action Against
Hunger’s Communications staff, it was decided that the crisis in
Mali and Niger deserved a segment on TV newscasts, so Kiran
volunteered to travel there as a reporter, paying her own way. Our
network of volunteers led us to cameraman Richard Rowely, who
signed up to travel with Kiran, bringing his own editing equipment
so that he and Kiran could assemble segments in the field.
As a result, for the first time we produced our own TV news spots.
Ms. Khalid’s reports appeared on CNN International, and Reuters
made them available to local TV stations around the world. After
that, our intrepid news reporter and cameraman edited their footage
into a short film, The Hunger Gap, which was honored by inclusion
in the annual UN Film Festival in New York City in April 2006.
We rallied in Washington
On October 15, we held a public exhibition at Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., in support of World Food Day, a UN designated day which
brings attention to the issue of world hunger. Borrowing a tradition begun by our Paris office, volunteers set up 50 standing silhouettes in an
open space. Then, beginning at noon and continuing until 3 p.m., every four seconds we sounded a gong, and a volunteer overturned one of the
silhouettes. This symbolized the reality that a hunger-related death occurs every four seconds. After each of the 50 silhouettes had been toppled,
they were set back up again, and the process was repeated.
The Congressional Hunger Center, a bipartisan anti-hunger training and awareness organization co-chaired by Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
and Rep. James P. McGovern (D-MA), helped us arrange this event, and Rep. McGovern, a fifth-term Congressional veteran, spoke fervently at
the rally about the challenge posed by world hunger.
Photographs (from left): Burger/Phanie, Tina Buckman
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Articles
150
emergency
response
Metric tons of emergency supplies,
water-sanitation equipment, and food
rations were airlifted to Indonesia
and Sri Lanka within 48 hours of the
devastating 2004 tsunami
43
Countries
currently
host Action
Against Hunger
relief and
development
programs
276,000
After more than 25
years of responding
to situations arising
from war, conflict,
and natural disaster,
Action Against
Hunger has learned
that the most
effective response
to an emergency is
to be there before it
happens.
Our International Network maintains an emergency response team with
an array of capabilities in surveillance, rapid response, and emergency
preparedness.
Disasters often strike repeatedly in the same region, because of recurring
weather patterns, political instability, poor infrastructure, and poverty.
The most vulnerable and impoverished countries generally suffer the most
from such emergencies.
Through disaster surveillance and rapid response systems, we can
monitor emergency hot spots, build buffer stocks of potential supplies,
and put staff on the ground, often before a crisis hits. We carry out this
monitoring in part with a Geographic Information System (GIS) that
produces a computerized analysis of factors such as available pasture,
agricultural production, population movements, market prices of staple
foods, and water sources. GIS integrates this complex data into illustrative
maps of our program areas.
Cyclical Emergencies: Responding in Mali and Niger
In late 2004 our GIS data warned us of a looming nutritional crisis in
Mali, and by early 2005 we had alerted Mali’s government of trouble
ahead. At the time, Action Against Hunger’s nutritional surveys found
rates of global acute malnutrition at 15%. Internationally, a rate of 10%
10
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Beneficiaries assisted by ACF in Niger
(Clockwise from top) Malnourished children being treated at an ACF Therapeutic Feeding
Center in Malawi; ACF staff prepare the pre-mix for the nutritional food at a Supplementary
Feeding Center in Malawi; Boxes of the therapeutic F-100 milk arrive for beneficiaries in south
Sudan; ACF airlifts vital supplies to earthquake-ravaged regions of Pakistan.
Beneficiaries of
ACF’s life-saving
programs in Mali
constitutes an emergency. The “hunger gap,” a span of months between
the depletion of last year’s harvest and the reaping of this year’s crops, is a
chronic problem in Mali and many other countries. For Mali in 2005, the
hunger gap began much earlier than usual, and Action Against Hunger
joined other humanitarian organizations in calling on the international
community to address the situation before it turned into a crisis.
We’ve been present in Mali since 1996, and we responded to the
growing malnutrition rates with programs in emergency nutrition and
food security targeted at the most vulnerable populations in the regions of
Gao and Kidal. We also expanded our emergency services in neighboring
Niger, a country facing a similar nutritional crisis, far in advance of broad
action by the international community. Our surveillance and response
efforts helped successfully mitigate the impact of the crisis, and our
emergency programs reached more than 276,000 beneficiaries.
Catastrophic Emergencies: Tsunami-Affected Asia
While some emergencies, such as a hunger gap, are cyclical and possible
to anticipate, others arrive with no warning, often causing catastrophic
damage. When disaster strikes, the most effective aid delivers immediate
relief—the first 24 to 48 hours are critical for people displaced, injured,
or otherwise affected by natural disasters and large-scale emergencies.
Photograph: Hedy Ip
With programs and staff in more than 40
countries, Action Against Hunger is wellpositioned to respond quickly.
For example, when the catastrophic
tsunami of 2004 ripped through South
and Southeast Asia, killing hundreds of
thousands and wreaking unprecedented
destruction, our emergency teams arrived
within 48 hours in the hardest-hit areas
of Sri Lanka and Indonesia. In the first
15 days, we dispatched five aircraft that
delivered 150 tons of supplies. Our waterand-sanitation teams helped restore water
supplies by providing emergency fresh
water as well as cleaning water sources
polluted by the tsunami waves. We also
established disaster preparedness programs
in Aceh designed to reduce the vulnerability
of Indonesians to future floods.
Rapid Response Capabilities:
Post-Earthquake Pakistan
With emergency teams on call, and
essential supplies stored at staging grounds
in Europe, we can travel swiftly to anywhere
in the world when the need arises. Our
emergency response team is made up of
highly trained professionals, experts in
disaster relief and rapid response. Our team
members are on-call 24/7, ready to act as
soon as they’re needed. Once dispatched to
an emergency, the response team undertakes
rapid assessments, defining where and how
to distribute relief, and to evaluate what
kind of aid is most needed.
Action Against Hunger tested its
emergency response capabilities following
the devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake
that struck Pakistan in October 2005.
Within hours, we dispatched a surveyor to
the scene and began assembling a team to
assist the estimated 2.5 million Pakistanis in
need of aid to feed themselves and to survive
the severe Himalayan winter. The team first
embarked on an assessment of two areas
within the damaged region. Answering
logistical questions, such as how to transport
food aid, supplies, and staff, as well as how
Photographs (clockwise from top): Atwood/Agence Vu (2), Blaze j Mikula, Richard Moss
to coordinate information and resources with other aid
organizations working in the region, is central to the
implementation of effective, efficient programs.
Through an assessment of the damaged region, our
team of experts identified the hard-hit and difficultto-access areas surrounding Battagram and Bala Kot
and the mountain valleys of Allai and Kaghan as most
appropriate for our emergency relief programs. Our
logistics coordinators had to determine the fastest,
safest way to transport food and supplies to desperate
beneficiaries. With the rugged, mountainous terrain
further compromised by landslides and other earthquake
fallout and many of our target areas far from roads
and unreachable by truck in the best circumstances,
helicopters proved the best option to carry out shortterm distributions. We distributed emergency hygiene
kits, blankets, and tents, in addition to food and water
supplies. Like the choice of helicopters for transport,
our emergency response team had to use the results of
their assessments and expert knowledge to make swift
decisions in all aspects of program formation, a process
that usually requires months of careful planning under
non-emergency circumstances.
Action Against Hunger’s emergency response
initiatives proved to be a significant part of our
work in 2005. Disaster surveillance, rapid-response
mechanisms, and emergency preparedness capabilities
place Action Against Hunger at the forefront of
disaster relief. All of our emergency response programs
include longer-term components designed to provide
training and to help local communities better prepare
for and mitigate future crises. For survivors of natural
disasters as well as chronic emergencies of drought and
malnutrition, self-sufficiency is the most powerful tool
for rebuilding after disaster. n
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
11
Articles
NUTRITION
Action Against Hunger’s
methods for identifying
and rescuing starving
populations have
become the world’s
standard. The World
Health Organization, for
example, recommends
our therapeutic rescue
protocols in the treatment
of malnutrition. We
replicate these procedures
everywhere we operate,
and the thoroughness of
our approach can be seen
in our efforts in southern
Sudan in 2005.
On January 9, 2005, a peace agreement
between the Government of Sudan and the
main southern rebel organization, the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement, ended a fierce
civil war that ravaged southern Sudan for 21
years. An estimated two million Sudanese lost
their lives during the civil war while some four
million have been displaced.
And while the peace agreement has raised
hopes for greater peace and stability in southern
Sudan, restoring self-sufficiency has proved to
be a daunting task. Action Against Hunger’s
teams have long carried out extensive surveys
documenting the nutritional problems in the
south; indeed, our teams provide the only
comprehensive understanding available of
malnutrition in southern Sudan, which forms
the basis of our broader advocacy efforts in
the region. Our surveys have consistently
uncovered global rates of malnutrition
that rank among the highest in the world,
and whereas the peace process is a crucial
development, it hasn’t meant greater health
and security as of yet—in fact, thousands of
Sudanese have begun returning home only to
find new problems and scarce resources.
Acknowledging the challenge, in 2005 Action
Against Hunger began extensive nutritional
training of local and international nongovernmental humanitarian organizations,
teaching our state-of-the-art protocols for
curing and preventing malnutrition to
international and national aid workers alike.
In addition, we opened facilities in southern
Sudan with two new Therapeutic Feeding
Centers (TFCs) and Home Treatment Centers
in the Bahr-el Ghazal region.
Malnutrition is life-threatening because it’s
often associated with other complications such
as dehydration, hypoglycemia, hypothermia,
and infection. Malnourished patients are
particularly vulnerable to infection because of
the poor inflammatory response, changes in
body composition, loss of energy reserves, and
vitamin and mineral deficiencies associated
with hunger.
To treat these conditions, our TFCs form
the core of our emergency rescue programs in
southern Sudan and elsewhere. At our TFCs,
treatment is divided into three phases:
• Initial Acute Phase: We begin feeding
patients immediately with the F-75
therapeutic milk, which is the only food a
malnourished child’s system can tolerate.
(Sugar water is sometimes given to
children as an initial stop-gap while the
F-75 formula is being prepared.) Small
doses of F-75 are given eight to 12 times
a day which restores the body’s basic
metabolic functions without overtaxing
weakened bio-cellular mechanisms. If
diseases are present, the patient receives
appropriate medications. This phase can
last a week or more.
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
• Intermediate Phase: This phase lasts for four days and involves five to eight meals daily. The
only food given is F-100 therapeutic milk, which has a greater concentration than F-75 has
of energy-supplying nutrients, lipids, and proteins. Both the F-100 and F-75 formulae were
developed by members of our Scientific Committee and field tested by ACF.
• Rehabilitation Phase: This lasts for 15 to 20 days. A patient’s meals are cut back to six a day,
and patients one-year-old and up are given, along with F-100 milk, a porridge most commonly
made from corn flour, soya flour, oil, and sugar.
Typically, these three phases together last for one month. Then, if weight-gain has been satisfactory
(patients weigh at least 85% of their expected weight), patients are discharged to their homes and
asked to return periodically for monitoring during the following three months. Discharged patients
are also enrolled in our Supplementary Feeding Centers (SFCs)—for the treatment of moderate
malnutrition—where they and their family receive supplemental food rations to augment the
household diet, thereby ensuring that the discharged patient continues to recover.
In 2005, our TFCs in southern Sudan cured more than 80% of their beneficiaries, most of whom
were on the brink of death when they arrived. Some 3% of the children in our TFCs suffered from
severe medical complications and were referred to other medical care facilities because of underlying
4
Beneficiaries in Malawi await a
meal at an ACF Supplementary
Feeding Center.
12
In 2005, our TFCs in southern
Sudan cured more than 80% of their
beneficiaries, most of whom were
on the brink of death when they arrived.
Photograph: Atwood/Agence Vu
million displaced
by the civil war in
Sudan, which ended in
2005 after 21 years
90
diseases (malaria or respiratory tract infections
being the most common). Other patients
simply left our program in mid-stream against
our advice—individuals for whom our home
treatment options may be better suited.
Because we require a caretaker to remain
with a child throughout treatment in a TFCs,
family demands on the caretaker (usually a
child’s mother) can sometimes make 30 days
of treatment impossible. So in recent years,
we’ve initiated home treatment programs. A
malnourished child must remain at a TFC
for the first week of treatment, but after that,
the child’s mother is instructed how to feed
her recovering child at home according to
our therapeutic regimen of either BP-100 or
Plumpy’nut—two ready-to-eat products with
the same nutritional composition as F-100.
Action Against Hunger workers visit the child
at home to ensure that recovery is continuing,
and the child must return to the TFCs weekly
so that his or her weight gain can be measured
accurately. In south Sudan during 2005, our
home care programs produced a cure rate
higher than 90%.
We’ve seen substantial success at our centers
and in our training of other humanitarian
workers in southern Sudan, but malnutrition
remains at dangerously high levels. Meanwhile,
in addition to curing beneficiaries, we’re
training local residents to take over our
operations so that the community can meet its
own needs without our assistance. In all our
programs in southern Sudan and elsewhere, we
work to support municipal health structures,
coordinate with existing government services,
and build capacity in local institutions to
ensure that our programs are sustained over the
long run—long after we’ve left the area. We’ll
cede administrative control just as soon as we
feel confident that local institutions will be
able to continue the work we’ve begun, thus,
recruiting and training local staff is an integral
part of all of our nutrition programs. n
Percent cure rate produced
by Action Against Hunger’s
home care programs in
southern Sudan in 2005
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
13
Articles
40,000
Water and
Sanitation
in Haiti and
Guatemala
Beneficiaries in Port-de-Paix,
Haiti, had clean water and basic
sanitation restored when AcF
set up 37 water sources and 77
latrines after a hurricane.
5
Liters of water per
day were provided to
50,000 Guatemalans
by our emergency
water-and-sanitation
programs after a
hurricane severely
damaged local infrastructure.
Action Against Hunger airlifted
critical supplies, watertreatment chemicals, water
tanks, electric generators,
and water pumps to the region
to support communities left
without safe drinking water,
food, or basic sanitation
In developing
countries, 2.2 million
people, most of them
children, die every
year from diseases
associated with
unsafe drinking water,
inadequate sanitation,
and poor hygiene.
1
ACF water
source serving
beneficiaries
in hurricaneravaged Haiti.
3
(1) Displaced communities in northern Uganda
celebrate the inauguration of a new ACF hand
pump; (2) ACF’s water and sanitation teams
operate a drilling rig to create a borehole
for clean water in Uganda; (3) Our teams
construct water sources and distribution
networks for hurricane-affected communities
in Haiti; (4) ACF’s emergency interventions
ensure access to clean water, a first line of
defense in mitigating a natural disaster.
2
4
14
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Photographs: (1, 2) Mike Wolf. (3, 4) ACF-France
A community’s health and nutrition require a
lasting supply of clean water and the knowledge
of how to use and care for it properly. People,
of course, as well as farm animals and crops,
require water to avoid dehydration—which in
a few hours can kill a child locked in a hot car
or an athlete exercising vigorously in intense
sun. Equally important, the water must be
clean because communicable diseases thrive in
dirty water. Contamination spreads cholera,
hepatitis A and E, meningitis, polio, shigella,
and typhoid fever. Intestinal parasites lurk in
impure water waiting to colonize the intestines
of unsuspecting drinkers, and mosquitoborne illnesses including malaria and yellow
fever can spread when stagnant ground water
allows insects to breed. And as every medical
professional knows, the single most effective
way to prevent the spread of disease is to scrub
your hands thoroughly using soap and clean
water. One study concluded that simply having
people wash their hands could save the lives of
more than a million children each year.
All of our programs at Action Against
Hunger require the availability of clean water.
When it isn’t available, we bring it in—by
truck, if necessary, but also by tapping natural
sources such as springs, aquifers, lakes, and
streams. Our teams dig wells (when water is
Photograph: Atwood/Agence Vu
near the surface) or boreholes (when it’s deep),
and even construct distribution networks.
Water and sanitation is at the core of all
our programs, but during 2005 we responded
swiftly to emergencies caused by hurricanes
in Haiti and Guatemala that destroyed
water-and-sanitation infrastructure in many
communities.
During July, Haiti endured winds and
torrential rains that caused mudslides and
demolished
local
water-and-sanitation
networks—which were already damaged from
rains earlier in the year. In the hardest-hit
communities, Haitians had no safe drinking
water, and drainage systems were overwhelmed.
During 2005 in Port-de-Paix, for example,
Action Against Hunger set up 37 water sources
and 77 latrines to serve 40,000 beneficiaries.
There and elsewhere in Haiti, we also installed
wastewater treatment plants and drinking
water fountains, and we distributed kits for
house-cleaning and hygiene.
In October, a hurricane struck Guatemala,
severely damaging local infrastructure and
leaving isolated communities without safe
water, food, or basic health care. In response,
we sent 10 water tanks, 100 kilograms of watertreatment chemicals, electric generators, and
water pumps. We were at one point supplying
five liters of water per day to 50,000 people.
Years of experience, however, have taught us
that simply creating and rehabilitating water
structures is insufficient. In order to ensure that
a source of clean water is sustained and that the
water is used effectively, we must also educate
communities about keeping their water, hands,
and environment sanitary. In both Haiti and
Guatemala, therefore, in addition to building
and
rehabilitating
water-and-sanitation
systems, we organized and trained local water
committees to manage and maintain those
systems independently.
Though each of our humanitarian
interventions presents its own particular
challenges, our response in Haiti and
Guatemala typifies our approach everywhere,
which combines rescue, rehabilitation, and
training to ensure self-sufficiency. Year after
year, those procedures prove successful. n
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
15
Articles
FOOD
SECURITY:
FARMING
IN BAGS
An estimated 100,000
people have died as a
result of two decades
of conflict in northern
Uganda, with another
20,000 abducted by
rebels roaming the bush.
As a result, roughly two
million displaced people
are crowded into camps
with little access to their
former farmlands. ACF’s
food security programs
offer unique solutions to
this problem.
Action Against Hunger has been active in
Uganda since 1997, and in 2004 we launched
a pilot project in microgardening at two local
camps, which we expanded to five camps during
2005. The project involved planting vegetable
seeds in large polyethylene grain sacks, which
are abundant in the camps and inexpensive.
Gardeners received as many as five sacks and
placed banana stems in each, propped upright
with rocks. After filling the bags with soil,
gardeners removed the stems and planted seeds
in the top of the bag as well as in the sides,
maximizing the productive surface of the bag.
Altogether, more than 2,800 sack gardens were
planted during 2005. We trained participants
using a demonstration garden in each camp,
teaching construction of microgardens,
maintenance, and vegetable harvesting. After
the training, we gave each household a watering
can and a kit containing seeds for carrots,
climbing beans, onions, spinach, and tomatoes.
The climbing beans were intended as a solution
to the lack of space in displacement camps:
Beneficiaries used their huts as supports for the
tomato and bean vines.
Nearly all the participants were women, each
of whom constructed sack gardens near her
household. The gardeners took soil and rocks
from nearby areas and built fences using local
materials, such as thorny bushes or bamboo.
16
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Health:
We Advocate
Breastfeeding
The nutritional and
disease-preventing
benefits of breastfeeding
are beyond question.
Yet the practice is often
distrusted in developing
communities.
ACF’s innovative food
security programs offer a
broad range of solutions
for generating income and
boosting food production—
like this farming association
in the Congo.
Maintenance was minimal. Watering,
planting, and weeding typically required little
more than two hours a week. ACF food security
staff made weekly visits to monitor the gardens
and help troubleshoot.
The project had three primary goals:
• To decrease beneficiaries exposure to
insecurity by reducing travel times (i.e.,
traveling from homes to adjacent sack
gardens rather than to fields in the
countryside, where there is risk of assault
or abduction by rebels is great)
• To decrease the time spent on farming
(e.g., the need for weeding was
minimized)
• And to increase the food security options
for households (i.e., they could sell the
vegetables they grew, they could improve
their own diets, and they could provide a
bit of work for landless or idle families).
The simplest path to healthy nourishment
for infants worldwide is complicated
by each community’s attitudes toward
breastfeeding. Even in the United States,
the acceptability of breastfeeding seems
to change every generation or so. The
World Health Organization’s protocols
stress that infants should be breastfed for
at least the first six months of life, even
while adding other liquids and solid foods
after six months. Yet some cultures frown
on breastfeeding a child who is older than
six months, even though a longer regimen
is likely to produce healthier children.
In Tajikistan, for instance, our team
has organized a breastfeeding support
group that advocates breastfeeding
among our beneficiaries. In one village, a
woman who was in labor asked an Action
Against Hunger midwife to deliver her
fourth baby. The midwife persuaded
the mother to allow other women from
her community to witness “skin-toskin” contact after delivery. Immediately
following the birth, the midwife placed
the newborn on the mother’s abdomen.
The baby started to seek the breast, and
with guidance from the mother and the
midwife, the baby started nursing. The
women who were watching had been
skeptical when the midwife described a
newborn’s breastfeeding instinct, but this
demonstration convinced them. Now the
participants plan to continue sack gardening
in the future. Many reported that they had
no other land to plant and were relieved to
have more food for their children. They also
praised the ease of maintaining the gardens
and of monitoring them to prevent loss of their
produce to thieves. Many participants also
found the sack gardens to be decorative.
Among the seeds we distributed, carrots
were new to many recipients, but children
loved them. Some parents reported that their
children ate more enthusiastically whenever
carrots were part of the meal. When we first
introduced carrot recipes into our training, the
mothers cheered.
Our project in Uganda wasn’t the first to
introduce farming in sacks, but in the wake
of its success, we intend to initiate similar
programs elsewhere. n
Camp residents found the project to be odd,
but they participated nonetheless, and the
gardens proved notably successful. Spinach,
carrots, and onions grew especially well. All
participants used the produce from their
gardens to improve their families’ diets, and
nearly half were able to sell some. The most
successful gardeners prepared as many as 60
meals from their gardens, and the majority of
Beneficiaries in
south Sudan
learn the virtues
of breast milk.
6
Photograph: Burger/Phanie
Minimum number of
months that infants
should be breastfed
according to the World
Health Organization’s
protocols
Photograph: Blazej Mikula
25
witnesses are helping to educate other
mothers in the community. The skinto-skin mother, in turn, had bottle-fed
her previous three children, but she’s
successfully breastfeeding her fourth baby.
One complication in persuading
mothers to breastfeed is that numerous
cultures in the developing world mistrust
colostrum. During the first three or four
days after a child is born, a mother’s
breasts produce milk that’s high in
antibodies, carbohydrates, and protein
called colostrum. It’s easily digestible,
and the nutrition it contains is highly
concentrated. It jump-starts a baby’s
digestive system and protects the child
from disease. In addition, when children
suckle colostrum, the action helps prevent
engorgement of the mother’s breasts and
prompts them to produce milk more
abundantly in the following weeks and
months.
But colostrum is thicker and more
yellow than the milk that comes later,
and many cultures are suspicious of it.
Until a mother’s milk becomes more
“normal,” they believe that breastfeeding
their children is unhealthy, though in fact
newborns benefit more from colostrum
than from any other food they could be
given.
Often, teams organized by Action
Against Hunger are able to change
community opinions about colostrum.
In one culture, for example, herders
periodically lead their livestock away
from their homes in search of food and
water, but traditionally a herder will leave
one animal behind for each member of
his family. Sometimes this leads to female
livestock being separated from their
newborns. When this happens, no matter
how the newborn is nourished, it grows
with less hardiness than if it had fed on its
mother’s colostrum, and villagers know it.
When our teams point out that the same
debility can result from human mothers
depriving their newborns of colostrum,
understanding often dawns and minds
are changed.
The nutritional and disease-preventing
benefits of breastfeeding are beyond
question. Yet the practice is often
distrusted in developing communities
and sometimes in developed communities
as well. Nonetheless, none of our efforts
is as effective in forestalling disease
and malnutrition among infants than
persuading beneficiaries to breastfeed for
the first 6 months. n
number of
breastfeeding support
groups created
under Action Against
Hunger’s health
initiatives in Tajikistan
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
17
Articles
Advocacy:
Working In
Politically
Charged
Zimbabwe
Delivering more than
assistance: engaging
in advocacy to ensure
long-term humanitarian
outcomes
The past half decade has been particularly cruel
for Zimbabwe. A debilitating mix of drought,
hyperinflation, plummeting food production,
soaring unemployment, shortages of consumer
goods, among other setbacks have exacerbated
a steep economic and social decline. Add to
this a burgeoning health crisis—a sharp drop
in health and social services coupled with an
HIV/AIDS pandemic—and you have a recipe
for a horrifying new reality: Life expectancy in
Zimbabwe has plunged from 61 to 34 years in
a mere decade and a half.
To make matters worse, the humanitarian
dimensions of this crisis have been completely
obscured by its politics: Divisive land reform
has produced an impasse of hardened national
and international positions, mutual suspicions,
and finger-pointing that has aggravated the
social emergency. The resulting polarization
has had ruinous consequences for Zimbabwe’s
shaky economic health, its already vulnerable
populations, and its ability to access
international assistance given its deteriorating
relationships with the West.
political climate surrounding Zimbabwe and
its international reputation was making the
humanitarian situation worse. Regardless
of who was ultimately to blame for the
crisis, its underlying causes were not being
addressed. Instead, they were overshadowed
by the ongoing turmoil and political tensions
stemming from the land-reform controversy.
Zimbabwe’s emerging status as a pariah state
and its strained relationship with the West
began to color the international community’s
response to the humanitarian crisis, prioritizing
political considerations over needs:
The Political Dimensions
of a Humanitarian Crisis
Action Against Hunger (ACF) began its foodsecurity and water-and-sanitation programs
in Zimbabwe in 2002, during the height of a
regional food crisis that extended well beyond
Zimbabwe’s borders. Since then, thanks to
• The areas resettled during land reform
were excluded from the main aid
packages, despite the areas’ central role
in food production, the decimation
of needed agricultural supports, and
the resettled population’s ongoing
vulnerability.
• The cooperation and development
funding normally available to Zimbabwe
was curtailed, and international assistance
was limited to emergency relief.
• Humanitarian assistance has been
channeled
exclusively
through
international organizations, bypassing
support for Zimbabwe’s government
services (despite the evidence of what
this has meant for poor Zimbabweans).
In short, the basic health and nutritional
needs of the population were being
sacrificed for political ends.
Enter Humanitarian Advocacy: ACF Reasserts the Need for Depoliticized Aid
As a humanitarian organization, Action Against Hunger’s mandate is to improve the lives
of communities trapped in humanitarian crises—helping families get back on their feet
through our nutrition, water-and-sanitation, food-security, and health interventions.
But if the larger political context undermines a population’s health and well-being or
prolongs a vulnerable community’s exposure to life-threatening conditions, then ACF is
compelled to address the setting in which our humanitarian programs takes place. This is an
essential role of humanitarian advocacy.
Humanitarian advocacy enables non-political organizations such as ACF to operate in
broader political arenas while maintaining the core values that make humanitarian action
unique: independent, impartial, non-discriminatory, needs-based assessments of conditions
on the ground. These are the values that should ground and inform international assistance—
not the shifting agendas of political adversaries.
In Zimbabwe, relief agencies found themselves trapped between the government and the
international community’s mutual mistrust while being further hobbled by the politicized
conditions on the ground. The result: Humanitarian aid had become so politicized that
it was no longer possible to present impartial data on the scope of the crisis, let alone to
influence the design and direction of the humanitarian
response in Zimbabwe.
What was needed, our analysis said, was to reassert
a “shared understanding of the challenges faced by
the communities and the priorities of assistance,”
lest the vulnerable people of Zimbabwe continue to
be victimized. ACF’s behind-the-scenes advocacy
aims to do just that. We hope to reshape the debate
on Zimbabwe’s crisis so that humanitarian action
will be shielded from politics, and the international
community’s priorities can tackle the underlying causes
of the crisis rather than spar with the regime.
Action Against Hunger’s Recommendations
for More Effective Assistance
Action Against Hunger’s advocacy made three general
recommendations for revitalizing the humanitarian
response in Zimbabwe:
• To the International Community
Zimbabwean beneficiaries pose in front of
a new source of clean water, built through
Action Against Hunger’s programs
Western governments must not impose sanctions
on governments which adversely affect populations
already weakened by economic crisis and climate
constraints. Western governments must promote
a non-discriminatory approach for assistance
programs.
• To Government Donors
Rather than react to Zimbabwe’s political issues,
donor strategies should integrate socioeconomic
analyses and avoid any form of discrimination
in assistance. The community of donors should
promote humanitarian programs and recovery
activities aimed at improving living conditions
sustainably for all of Zimbabwe’s vulnerable
communities.
Our food security and
water-and-sanitation
programs in Zimbabwe
are vital to the vulnerable
communities pictured here,
but we can only be effective
if the overall context
ensures humanitarian
outcomes.
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ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
ample food assistance from the international
community, Zimbabwe has managed to avoid
a spike in its malnutrition rates even though
much of its population remains precariously
vulnerable. And while Zimbabwe’s problems
are still largely framed as a “food crisis,” the
real threat to the lives and livelihoods of poor
Zimbabweans is the decimating health crisis
and AIDS pandemic that currently claim some
170,000 lives a year.
Yet even as the health and economic
contributions to this social emergency must
be addressed, the political context needlessly
prolongs and deepens the crisis.
ACF’s teams began to realize that the
• Despite a devastating health crisis—an
HIV/AIDS pandemic with one of the
highest death rates in the world—the
health sector remains acutely underfunded, even by regional standards.
In short, the basic health and nutritional
needs of the population have been sacrificed for
political ends, and ACF feared the crisis would
deteriorate further if the overall climate were
not addressed.
All Photographs: ACF-France
• To Non-Governmental Organizations
34 170
years is the average
life expectancy in
Zimbabwe after a
decade of crisis
Thousand AIDS-related
deaths occur every year
in Zimbabwe, obscured
by the political crisis
Relief agencies must strive to get out of the political
arena and give priority to relief, assistance, and
recovery activities. This can be achieved through
compliance with humanitarian principles such as
non-discrimination and impartiality, and through
sharing information and analyses related to
livelihood situations.
Engaging in humanitarian advocacy ensures that
organizations such as ACF can address the tensions
inherent in any political context, and in the end, deliver
not only direct assistance but broader humanitarian
outcomes as well. n
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
19
Contributors
$25,000 and above
Joseph and Claude Audi
Renee-Pierre
and Alexis Azria
Raymond Debbane
Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo
Burton K. Haimes
Yves-André Istel and
Kathleen Begala
Ketty Maisonrouge
Daniel and Pascale Py
J.P. Morgan Charitable Trust
Network For Good
Newmark & Company
Real Estate, Inc.
Pepper Hamilton, LLP
School Board of
St. Lucie County
The Raymond Corporation
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
$10,000 - $24,999
Anonymous (1)
Mohamed Amersi
Henri Barguirdjian
Robert de Rothschild
Daniel and Jill Dienst
Blair W. Effron
John and Melissa Eydenberg
Pierre and Isabelle Fay
Aaron Gural
Jeffrey Gural
Maurice Melsans
and Margaret Holyfield
William T. Hyde, III
Suad Juffali
Chang Hoe Kim
David and Sandra Kirchoff
John and Laura Lewis
Marc Marin
Diane Molleson
Harlan Moore
Tom Schiff
Edward and Barbara Shapiro
Karen and Gregory Shunick
Sikh Dharma
H. Matt Smith, MD, PS
Fran Taylor
Courtney Thorne-Smith
Isabelle Wilcox
Leonard C. and
Mildred F. Ferguson
Foundation
Roger and Brenda Gibson
Family Foundation
The Oxley Foundation
The Skolnick Foundation
The Stults Foundation
The Taylor Family Charitable
Foundation
Thomas B. Walker III
Foundation
Sandra and Stephen Waters
Foundation
Credit Suisse First Boston
Golden Temple Inc.
20
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
IBM Employee Services Center
Microsoft Giving Campaign
Sushi Samba
Transformation Trust, Inc.
United Way of
Burlington County
$5,000 - $9,999
Scott Adelsberg
Katherine Armstrong
Dominic Castriota
Anne Cox Chambers
Sabina Fila
Ann Freedman
Frederick S. Green
Carol Hao
Linda Huett
Hisashi and Kuniko Juba
Adam Komczyk
Kathy Lafreniere
Sasa Lainovic
Lawrence Lunt
Peter Levenberg
Jean Lignel
John Loughlin
Israel Makov
Achim and Colette Moeller
Ellen Odoner
Marcy and Paul Pfeiffer
Pierre Pottier
Mandakini and Radhika Puri
Stephen Rishton
Bartolomeo Ruspoli
and Aileen Getty
Thilo and Angelica Semmelbauer
Michael J. Sherman
Cody J Smith
James C. Sturdevant
Richard and Phyllis Taylor
John Wedge and Jeanne Markel
The Kenneth S. Battye
Charitable Trust
The J.P. Morgan Chase
Foundation
The Geoffrey Gund Foundation
Carlton Hill Family
Foundation, Inc.
Mahler Family Foundation
Pickard Circle of Light Fund
of the Community
Foundation
of Sarasota County
Joel E. Smilow Charitable Trust
American International School
Deutsche Bank
KTSF
Southwest Family Institute, LLC
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP
The Vasicek Foundation
Vermeil Family Fund
WeightWatchers.com, Inc.
$1,000 - $4,999
Anonymous (3)
Daniel Agner
Chris Ahearn
Robert Albrecht
John Allain
Mahyar and Fran Amirsaleh
Philippe Amouyal
Rand Angelicola
Aramark
Wayne Archambo
Fabrizio and Enrica
Arengi-Bentivoglio
Edward Arredondo
Richard and Beverly Bailey
Gustavo Bardas
Elliot Barenbaum
Kahlil Barrage
Radford Klotz and Shahnaz
Batmanghelidj
Rick Bayless
Lane Beatty
Guillaume and Anne Bebear
Steven Beede
Marianne Belardi
Anthongy Berardo
Alexander Bernstein
Stuart and Andrea Bernstein
Michel Berty
Michael Billett
Eddie Birnbrey
George Bitar
Thomas Boldman
David Bower
Douglas Bradgon
Raymond Brown
William Brown
Martha Brumfield
Marc Brune
Nicoletta Caccia
Kevin Campbell
Bridget Campomanes
Kimberly Carter
Olivier Cassegrain
Kenneth and Shirley Ceradsky
Cheng-Chang Chang
Danita Charity
Howard Chatzinoff
Stephen and Patrizia Chazen
Stephen Clemons Sr.
David Cockcroft
Adam Cohen
Alan D. Cohen
Karen Cook
David and Dera Cooper
Joseph Crain
Paul and Caroline Cronson
Jonathan Crumiller
Catherine Cusak
Martha Daiello
Peter Davies
Barbara de Portago
Nina Del Rio
Thomas and Kathleen Delaney
Cobie Delespinasse
Adriana Delogu
Patty Detroit
Jerome and Elinor Deutsch
Rory Deutsch
Layla Diba
Howard Dicker
Stephen Ledoux and Julie Dien
Chris Do
John Dougherty
John Dzelkalns
Kevin Eberly
Francisco Echegaray
Katherine Eggemeier
Jonas Fajgenbaum
Jeffrey Fiarman
Gabe Finke
Steven and Allison Fisch
Laura Fisher
Randall Fisher
Adam and Olivia Flatto
Jody Fleischer
Claudia Fleming
Heather Foley
Roger and Mary Lou Foster
Steven Cancro and Lidia Fouto
Burt Fujishima
Shawna Gage
Jean-Louis Galliot
Adam Garcia
Jed Garfield
Elisa Gatti
Stanley and Dorothy Gawle
Wendy Gelbart
Yetta and Irving Geszel
Raymond Gietz
Lucille Giganti
Clarice Giles
Tom and Beverly Gillett
Dolores Gluck
Ronald Goldberger
Mireille and Hubert Goldschmidt
Maynard Graves
Nicholas Groombridge
Erik and Christiane Grotness
Irene Habernickel
Robert Hall
Thomas and Diana Hall
David L. Hamilton
Robert Harrison
William and Aline Haynes
Keith Gollust and Barbara Hemmerle
David Henderson
Catherine Herkovic
David Alexander Hickerson
Douglas Hickey
Arthur and Eleanor Hoffer
Robert and Irene Hollweg
Douglas Schloss
and Alison Holtzschue
Seth Hoyt
Robert Spring and James Huddle
Donald Hultgren
Edwin Huston
Bradley Hutchison
Alice Hyman
Samina Ishtiaq
Lawrence Ives
Chris Jackson
Katherine Jacobson
Scott James
Daniel and Deborah Janes
Christopher Janish
Jonathan Abrams and
Sandra Jean-Louis
Georgios Kabakis
Roberta Kanter
Kimberly Kargman
Clifford Keller
Bradley and Linda Kent
Nona Kerr
Jason Kessler
John MacArthur
and Renee Khatami
Anthony Khuri
Angelique Kidjo
Jeffrey Kingsley
Brian Kinkade
Michael and Janice Lally
Alain LeCoque
Paul Lee
Nancy Leeds
Yves Leperlier
Stephanie Levaughn
Gianfranco and Rita Lavorone
Mark David Lewis
Michelle Lewis
Judith Lidsky
Chun Ta Lin
Paul Lindblad
Emily Lizcano
Michel and Odile Longchampt
Lisa Loveday
Liliana Lovell
J. Harry Lynch
Mitzi MacDonald-Laws
Stephen Maiman
Marita Makinen
Charles-Henri and
Marguerite Mangin
Bennet Manning, Jr.
Carrie Marsyla
David Martoccia
Liz Marx
Stephen and Patricia Masceri
Andy Maunder
Ruth and Nathan Mazurek
Jane McDonald
Sandra McEntee
John McDermott and Victoria
McManus
Stacey Mednick
David Melnik
Charles Merrill, Jr.
Laurie Miller
Mary Frances Miller
Alison Miner
Marti and David Minker
Gerd Mittmann
Richard Moffitt
Richard and Beverly Moody
Rebecca Morey
Jean-Marc Moriani
Margaret Moyers
Megan Moynihan
Enrica Murmura
Dave Nape
Raya Novak
Patricia Pacelli
Kara Parker
Hasmukh and Bhanuben Patel
Mukeshkumar and Lataben Patel
Jay Patidar
James and Gloria Paul
Thomas Peterson
Guy Phillips
Darcy Pollack
B.A. Powell
Catherine Prices
Frederic and Maria Ragucci
Annapurna Ramanarayanan, MD.
Farzad and Neda Rastegar
Daniel Riess
Matthew Robbins
Jordan Roberts
Thomas and Mary Alice Roberts
Andrew Hamilton and
Anne Robinson
Daniel Rootenberg
Jeffrey Roseman
James and Alice Ross
Stuart Ross
Greg Roth
David Rouse
David Rush
Sharon Russell
James Sage
William Samuels
Joan Saunders
Fuad Sawaya
Ole Scheter
Charles Schlangen
Jill Schreiner
Randy Seeley
Edward and Virginia Sermier
Meredith and Anthony Shepherd
Susan Shroyer
Robert Siegel
Coralis Sierra
Lisa Silva
Ronald Simons
Anna Sinclair
David Sirota
Lai Shan Siu
Jeffrey Smith
Quade Smith
Garrett and Jeannine Snipes
Michael Snyder
Miriam and Israel Soibelman
Daniel Sokolnicki
Ron and Annette Soufrine
Ashley Spicer
Sheila Spradlin
Jill Stansky
Brian Steinwurtzel
Ronald Stevens
Joyce Stone
Edward Stuart
Caren Sturges
Erica and Patricia Sugden
Carol Sugimori
Robert and Sharon Swindler
Jeffrey and Karen Tanenbaum
Matthew Tate
Ali Tayar
Madeline Thomas
Robert Thompson
Phornanan Thungkasemvathana
Loren Tibbitts
Carole Tillman
Mark Utay
Joseph Valerio
William and Melinda
Vanden Heuvel
Deborah VanderHeyden
Henry and Margaret Vosswinkel
Joe Wagner
Rubina Wahid
Robert Weaver
David Weeks
Henry and Laura Weil
Wendy Weiler
Stephan Wessels
Christopher Flowers and
Mary White
Robyn Wittleder
Ethan Wohl
Barry Wolf
P. Garrett Wyckoff
Michael Yancey
Diana Yates
Myth York
Robert and Jeanne Zabelle
Walter Zalenski
Mike Zoi
Hossein Amirsaleh Foundation
Ashken Family Charitable
Foundation, Inc.
Carlson Family Foundation
Simon & Eve Colin
Foundation, Inc.
Community Foundation
of New Jersey
Cunningham-Wright
Family Fund
Deutsche Bank Americas
Foundation
DJRJ fund at Fidelity Charitable
Gift Fund
Fribourg Family Foundation
GlaxoSmithKline Foundation
James C. Hormel Revocable
Living Trust
Holland and Knight Charitable
Foundation, Inc.
Kenneth A. Lattman Foundation
Leonard & Evelyn Lauder
Foundation
Naval Station Religious
Offerings Funds (ROF)
The News Corporation
Foundation
Pfizer Foundation
Matching Gifts Program
Poncelet Family Fund
Kenneth G. Prior Foundation
Rebold Family Fund
Rimerman Family Foundation
Ryan Family Trust
Jennifer L. Schiff
Charitable Trust
Schwab Fund for
Charitable Giving
Charles Schwab Foundation
Jane Schwartz Foundation
Susan Stein Shiva Foundation
Seth Neiman & Lauren Speeth
Foundation
Strong-Cuevas Foundation Inc.
Sun Microsystems Foundation
Vanguard Charitable
Endowment Program
Weingart Family Fund
Arlington High School
Activity Fund
Athena Group
ASAP Personnel Services, Inc.
Back Office Support Systems, Inc.
Bakersfield Christian High School
Bethel Baptist Church
Boston Copley Place Marriott
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Capri Institute of New Jersey
Central Lafourche High School
Clyde A. Erwin High School
Chemcentral HQ
Concentra Preferred System
Curves Dimond
Curves Rockridge
Dance Space Center, Inc.
Daylily
Equus Real Estate Management Inc.
Falcone & Truman Plumbing
and Heating
Fifth Avenue Elementary School
Flushing Hospital Medical Center
Henry Gunn High School Key Club
HOPE Sudbury
Il Buco
Integrated Management, Inc.
Interior Building Services
ITG Software Solutions, Inc.
Jim Boyd Construction, Inc.
Joy Wok Express
Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club
Krinos Foods, Inc.
Mahalaxmi Inn Corporation
Nemet Motors
Nick & Toni’s Restaurant
Skyview Tenants Association
Northrop Grumman Corporation
North Shore Catamaran Charters
Oakton Community College
O’Brien Law Firm
Pathways for Youth, Inc.
Perelson Weiner, LLP
Rotary Club of Pomton Lakes
PMK Group
Pruzan & Co., LLC
Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical
Culture
SoundToys
Things Remembered
The College of New Jersey Student
Government Association
Towery Homes, Inc.
UNAUSA Riverdale Chapter
United Directories
West Hillsborough School
The Womens Club of New Seabury
Yosemite High School
Zodiac Pioneer Aerospace
Corporation
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
21
In-Kind Contributions of Goods or Services
ACF-USA’s Statement of Activities and changes IN
NET ASSETS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2005
Individuals
2005 World Food Day Gala Supporters
Special Thanks To
Angela Alston
Andrew Chen
Timothy Crespi
Jonathan Dienst
Kiran Khalid
Fiorella Lavado
Matt Mason
Mitzi MacDonald
Cynthia Mejias
Blazej Miluka
Margarita Peces
Nancy Penner
James Pomerantz
Traer Price
Mat Norton
Reed Robbins
Mary O’Neil Berry
Karen Shunick
David Sirota
Erica Zelfand
Benefit Committee
Bernardaud
Chanel, Inc.
Chateau Lafite Rothschild
Chateau Mouton Rothschild
Christain Dior, Inc.
Susan Eng
Givenchy
Hermes de Paris, Inc.
Hotel Plaza Athenee
John Hardy
Jessica Weber Design, Inc.
La Maison du Chocolat
Lalique North America
Lanson Champagne
L’Olivier Downtown
Luxottica Group
Alexandra Leclerc
Longchamp
The Macallan Scotch Whisky
Nicholas F. MacLean, Christie’s Auction House
Monsieur Touton Selections, Ltd.
Ruth C. Schwartz & Co. Public Relations
and Events Solutions
Sal Anthony
Sal Anthony Pilates Studio
The Scottish Gourmet
Smashing Ideas
Swiss International Airlines
Virginie Sommet
Starchefs.com
The Thomas Group Printing
UNRESTRICTED
Corporations / Institutions
Avenue A / Razorfish
Interrupción
J&D Labs, Inc.
Lillian Lincoln Foundation
The Newspark Group
NYU Capstone Program
Peace Cereal
Puppet PSA People
Smashing Ideas, Inc.
StarChefs.com
Thelen Reid & Priest, LLP
Vranken
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Action Against Hunger’s international
relief and development programs
provide immediate assistance and
long-term relief to malnourished
children and their families. As a
world leader in the treatment of
malnutrition, ACF’s programs are
informed by over a quarter century
of cutting-edge activities in the fight
against global hunger, delivering
effective assistance in a wide range
of countries and cultural contexts, as
exemplified by these photos.
4
Henry H. Arnhold
Daniel Barth
Marcel and Marlise Biedermann
Olivier Cassegrain
Robert B. Chavez
Charles-Henri Cousin
Ariane Daguin
Olivier Giugni
David and Liz Hinden
Alison Holtzschue Schloss
Ida Kowit
Valerie Krieger
Olivier Lebret
Peter and janet Ley
Deanna Littell
Nicholas and Charlotte MacLean
Juan Pablo Molyneux
Jessica Packer
Joel and Yuta Powell
Marla Sabo
Robert and Julie Schaffer
Barbara Cirkva Schumacher and John Schumacher
Paul and Ursula Striker
Jessica Weber
Wendy C. Weiler and Donald E. Chappell
Epicurean Committee
Rick Smilow, The Institute of Culinary Education
Chef Cornelius Gallagher, Oceana
Chef Andrew Gold, The Institute of Culinary Education
Chef Deborah Snyder, Lever House
Ariane Daguin, D’Artagnan
Chef Karl Schmid, The Metropolitan Club
1
2
3
TEMPORARILY
RESTRICTED
TOTAL
$1,651,495
$ 1,921,308
$ 3,572,803
133,372
33,227
24,621
474
17,121,970
6,750,748
11,416,304
-
-
(17,121,970)
6,884,120
11,449,531
24,621
474
-
18,965,159
2,966,390
21,931,549
5,192,713
2,033,458
3,124,967
1,753,885
1,058,250
760,867
1,403,845
821,656
311,087
345,073
27,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5,192,713
2,033,458
3,124,967
1,753,885
1,058,250
760,867
1,403,845
821,656
311,087
345,073
27,000
16,832,801
-
16,832,801
Supporting services:
Management and General
Fundraising
1,399,513
358,133
-
-
1,399,513
358,133
Total supporting services
1,757,646
-
1,757,646
Total expenses
18,590,447
-
18,590,447
374,712
(200,000)
(92,605)
(20,288)
61,819
1,649,078
2,966,390
-
(462,323)
(40,342)
2,463,725
2,540,851
3,341,102
(200,000)
(554,928)
(60,630)
2,525,544
4,189,929
$ 1,710,897
$ 5,004,576
$ 6,715,473
REVENUE AND SUPPORT
Contributions
Grants (Note 5):
U.S. Government
Non-U.S. Government
Interest
Other
Net assets released from donor restrictions (Note 6)
Total revenue and support
EXPENSES
Program Services:
Democratic Republic of Congo Programs
South Sudan Programs
Uganda Programs
Pakistan Programs
Tajikistan Programs
Kenya Programs
Chad Programs
Sri Lanka Programs
Guinea Programs
Mali Programs
Niger Programs
Total program services
Changes in net assets before other items
Provision for unanticipated losses
Exchange gain (loss)
De-obligated awards and funds returned to donors
Changes in net assets
Net assets at beginning of year
NET ASSETS AT END OF YEAR
6
HOW WE USE OUR FUNDS
funds we commit to all our programs
FUNDRAISING
2%
ALL OTHERS 9%
MANAGEMENT
AND GENERAL
7.5%
5
TOTAL PROGRAM
SERVICES
90.5%
CHAD
8%
KENYA
5%
TAJIKISTAN
6%
PAKISTAN
10%
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC
OF CONGO
31%
SOUTH SUDAN 12%
UGANDA
22
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Photographs: (1) Claudine DOURY; (2) Laurence Leblanc, Agence Vu; (3) Burger/Phanie;
(4) Blazej Mikula; (5) Jane Evelyn Atwood, Agence Vu; (6) Blazej Mikula
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
19%
23
THE ACF INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
1
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER, USA
247 West 37th Street
Suite 1201
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel: +1 212 967 7800
Fax: +1 212 967 5480
info@actionagainsthunger.org
www.actionagainsthunger.org
President: Burton K. Haimes
Director: Cathy Skoula
2
3
4
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER, FRANCE
4 rue Niepce
75014 Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 43 35 88 88
Fax: +33 1 43 35 88 00
lgrosjean@actioncontrelafaim.org
www.actioncontrelafaim.org
President: Jean-Christophe Rufin
Director: Benoit Miribel
5
action against hunger, spain
C/Caracas, 6, 1°
28010 Madrid, Spain
Tel: +34 91 391 53 00
Fax: +34 91 391 53 01
ach@achesp.org
www.accioncontraelhambre.org
President: Jose Luis Leal Maldonado
Director: Olivier Longue
6
7
(1) Our programs reach vulnerable populations in far-flung areas like this man’s village in southern
Sudan. (2) Poverty, deprivation, and chronic malnutrition are all too common, but our programs
restore dignity and health, as this photo from Mongolia suggests. (3) Much of our work focuses on
children under the age of five because of their susceptibility to health complications from hunger
and malnutrition, as these images from Congo (3) and Malawi (4) depict. (5) This photo is of
the ready-to-eat nutritional product, “plumpy’nut,” that we often use during the initial phase of a
nutritional crisis. (6) We rely on the support of all kinds of people, including these young students
who participate in our annual “Run Against Hunger,” raising awareness and funds for ACF’s global
efforts. (7) Our therapeutic feeding centers (TFCs) take on many forms, from tents, to wooden
structures, to actual hospital rooms—like this photo of a TFC in Malawi—but they all operate as
intensive care units, despite their homey appearance.
Action Against Hunger, United Kingdom
First Floor, rear premises,
161-163 Greenwich High Road,
London, SE10 8JA
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 208 293 6190
Fax: + 44 208 858 8372
info@aahuk.org
www.aahuk.org
President: Sir Ronald Grierson
Director: Jean-Michel Grand
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER, CANADA
7464 rue St Denis
H2R 2E4
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Tel: +1.514.279.4876
info@actioncontrelafaim.ca
www.actioncontrelafaim.ca
President: Diane Bussandri
Director: Anne-Sophie Fournier
Our International Charter:
A Commitment to Principled
Humanitarian Action
All members of the Action Against Hunger International
Network adhere to the following humanitarian principles.
Independence
Action Against Hunger acts according to its own principles
in order to maintain its moral and financial independence.
Action Against Hunger’s actions are not defined in terms
of domestic or foreign policies, nor does the organization
act in the interest of any government.
Neutrality
Action Against Hunger maintains a strict political and
religious neutrality. Nevertheless, Action Against Hunger
can denounce human rights violations it witnesses as well
as obstacles put in the way of its humanitarian activities.
Non-Discrimination
A victim is a victim. Action Against Hunger rejects all
discrimination based on ethnicity, nationality, opinion,
race, religion, sex, or social class.
Free and Direct Access to Victims
Action Against Hunger demands free access to victims and
direct control of its programs. Action Against Hunger uses
all means available to achieve this goal, and will denounce
and act against obstacles that prevent the organization
from doing so. Action Against Hunger also verifies the
allocation of its resources in order to ensure that they
reach those individuals for whom they are destined. Under
no circumstances can partners working together with or
alongside Action Against Hunger become the ultimate
beneficiaries of Action Against Hunger’s aid programs.
Professionalism
To maximize its efficiency and use of resources, Action
Against Hunger bases the assessment, conception,
management, and realization of its programs on the
highest professional standards and its years of experience.
Transparency
Action Against Hunger is committed to respecting a policy
of transparency and disclosure for its beneficiaries, donors,
and partners by making available all information on the
allocation and management of its funds, and by providing
independent verification of its good management.
Special thanks to Peter Noah for the design and production of this publication.
24
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
Photographs: (1) Blazej Mikula; (2) Claudine Doury, Agence Vu; (3) Burger/Phanie; (4) Jane Evelyn Atwood, Agence Vu;
(5) Hedy Ip; (6) Jean Lapegue; (7) Jane Evelyn Atwood, Agence Vu
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
2005 ANNUAL REPORT
25
1200 2.6
,
People in the Democratic Republic of Congo die every
day, largely from disease and food shortages linked
to six years of war and the subsequent collapse of
the Congo’s health system and economy
43 5 26
Countries
currently host
Action Against
Hunger relief
and development
programs
ACF Headquarters
make up our
International
Network
Years of ACF
Expertise in
Humanitarian
Action
Billion people lack basic sanitation
today—an astounding forty-two
percent of the world’s population.
Unsafe drinking water, inadequate
sanitation, and poor hygiene lead to a
host of infectious diseases and chronic
malnutrition that ultimately kill over
two million children a year
396
852 3.9
Million people in the
world suffer from
malaria, which kills
one million people
each year, most of
whom are children
under the age of five.
Simple, cost-effective
solutions, however,
exist for preventing
the needless toll that
malaria exacts on poor
communities
Million people suffer from hunger around the
world, in both its chronic and acute forms.
Hunger and malnutrition kill over five million
children every year, induce tremendous suffering,
and cost poor countries billions of dollars in
national income and lost productivity
1.1
BILLION
People lack
access to safe
water around
the world,
leaving them
vulnerable
to daily
indignities and
frightening
rates of
death and
debilitation
Million
Congolese have
died as a result
of conflict since
1998, mostly
from hunger and
disease
51,550
ACTION AGAINST HUNGER
247 West 37th Street
Suite 1201
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel: +1 212 967 7800
People were treated in ACF’s Therapeutic and Supplemental Feeding Centers in 2005, most of whom
Fax: +1 212 967 5480
were on the brink of death when they arrived. ACF’s humanitarian interventions restore life,
info@actionagainsthunger.org
dignity, and self-sufficiency, uniquely bridging urgent relief with longer-term development
www.actionagainsthunger.org