Action Against Hunger - History

History

Action Against Hunger (ACF) was established in 1979 by a group of French doctors, scientists, and writers. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Alfred Kastler served as the organization’s first chairman.

ACF moved to provide assistance to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, famine-stricken Ugandan communities, and Cambodian refugees in Thailand. ACF expanded to address humanitarian concerns in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Balkans and elsewhere in the 1980s and 1990s. Action Against Hunger’s Scientific Committee pioneered the therapeutic milk formula (F100), now used by all major humanitarian aid organizations to treat acute malnutrition. As a result, the global mortality rate of severely malnourished children under the age of five has been reduced from 25% to 5%.

Action Against Hunger – USA was established in 1985 and became the first member of what is now ACF International. ACF International currently has headquarters in five countries – France, Spain, the United States, Canada and the UK. All members of the ACF International Network agree to a charter of principles: independence, impartiality, nondiscrimination, free and direct access to victims, professionalism, and transparency.

In the short term, Action Against Hunger addresses hunger and malnutrition through feeding centers, food and supply distributions and by providing water and sanitation facilities in emergency situations. In the long term, ACF provides training in nutrition, water and sanitation, food security, and health care.. ACF utilizes international experts and over 6000 local (national) staff to develop programs.