ACF International Network
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Action Against Hunger has developed its water and sanitation expertise over nearly three decades of field work, advancing a number of solutions for populations at risk from water insecurity.
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Central to the targeting of malnutrition, Action Against Hunger extends water and sanitation improvements to communities with little or no access to proper sources.
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Action Against Hunger's programs are sustainable because of our commitment to community participation—to build local capacity and harnesses a population's energy and resources.
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Though strategies may vary, our food security interventions all share a common goal: to fight hunger by preserving and strengthening livelihoods in a sustainable and contextual manner.
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Action Against Hunger’s innovative food security programs offer a broad range of solutions for generating income, boosting food production, and strengthening livelihoods.
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Our comprehensive approach to hunger involves extending water and sanitation services to communities faced with water scarcity, unsafe drinking water, and inadequate sanitation.
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Action Against Hunger occupies a unique place among international organizations: our expertise encompasses emergency relief, longer-term development, and the terrain in between.
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We have developed an effective method to treat acute malnutrition that includes field-tested protocols and nutritional products backed by an international scientific advisory committee.
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Action Against Hunger helps rehabilitate and restock public health infrastructure, fields mobile health clinics, and trains local medical personnel on preventative and diagnostic care.
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Our comprehensive programs address the linkages between disease and malnutrition by coordinating with local expertise and strengthening existing public health systems.
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Kidnapping of Aid Workers: All Humanitarian Assistance to Iraq Now at Risk
September 8, 2004
Madrid, Spain — Action Against Hunger, Aide Medicale Internationale and Handicap International were shocked and outraged to learn of the abduction of four humanitarian workers yesterday in Baghdad. Italians Simona Torita and Simona Baro, who work for the NGO “A Bridge to Iraq,” were seized by gunmen at their offices in the Iraqi capital in broad daylight, along with an Iraqi female aid worker and an Iraqi male colleague. The relief groups are expressing their grave concern about the situation, and making an appeal that all efforts be made to secure their release as soon as possible. Moreover, the kidnappings are forcing the humanitarian community to reconsider the possibility of continuing operations in Iraq altogether.

The abductions represent a crime which has already led to worldwide condemnation. The fact that relief workers were seized underscores the degree to which the situation has deteriorated in Iraq, and communicates the message that the kidnappers are seeking to sever any relationship between the Iraqi people and the outside world. Under the circumstances, the vast majority of NGO’s who still maintain foreign aid workers in Baghdad are now in the process of pulling them out. Iraqi aid workers as well are being forced to cease activities, having been shown that they too are in danger.

 

Beyond the message the situation communicates, the critical fact remains that the lives of Simona Torreta and Simona Pari, as well as our two Iraqi colleagues, are in grave danger. Action Against Hunger, Aide Medicale Internationale and Handicap International hope for the strongest possible movement within the community in the coming days to reassure that our friends are not forgotten, and to encourage the authorities to do everything within their power to win their immediate freedom.

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger / Action Contre la Faim (ACF), an international relief and development organization committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and families, provides sustainable access to safe water and long-term solutions to hunger. For nearly three decades, ACF has pursued its vision of a world without hunger by combating hunger in emergency situations of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity.

Press Contact

Action Against Hunger - USA

James L. Phelan
Senior External Relations Officer, ACF-USA
Contact James Phelan
Direct: 212-967-7800 x108
Cell: 646-265-7796

Action Against Hunger - France

Sylvain Trottier
Chargé de communication, ACF-France
strottier@actioncontrelafaim.org
Direct: + 33 1 43 35 82 24
Offsite/Weekends: + 06 70 01 58 34 / + 06 70 01 58 43