ACF International Network
water_drink.jpg
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.
water_pump.jpg
Central to the targeting of malnutrition, Action Against Hunger extends water and sanitation improvements to communities with little or no access to proper sources.
foodsec_berries.jpg
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.
foodsec_pond.jpg
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.
foodsec_field.jpg
Action Against Hunger’s innovative food security programs offer a broad range of solutions for generating income, boosting food production, and strengthening livelihoods.
water_hose.jpg
Our comprehensive approach to hunger involves extending water and sanitation services to communities faced with water scarcity, unsafe drinking water, and inadequate sanitation.
nutr_heal2.jpg
Action Against Hunger occupies a unique place among international organizations: our expertise encompasses emergency relief, longer-term development, and the terrain in between.
nutr_smile.jpg
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.
nutr_aaa.jpg
Action Against Hunger helps rehabilitate and restock public health infrastructure, fields mobile health clinics, and trains local medical personnel on preventative and diagnostic care.
nutr_nurse.jpg
Our comprehensive programs address the linkages between disease and malnutrition by coordinating with local expertise and strengthening existing public health systems.
ACF International Map
Where We Work

Lebanon: Thousands Survive Despite Insufficient Water

August 31, 2006
Beirut, Lebanon — Action Against Hunger’s (ACF) teams of water-and-sanitation specialists are at work in the areas of Qana, Sadiquine, Kafra, and Yatar, just 10 kilometers from the Israeli border. They are working around the clock to deal with the complete lack of water derived from the destruction of crucial infrastructure during the war. The teams, along with ACF’s nutrition teams, have had to withdraw several times due to security incidents in the areas.

Action Against Hunger water-and-sanitation specialists have confirmed the complete destruction of the preexisting water distribution systems – water tanks, piping, and other infrastructure. There are only a few subterranean water reserves left, which are very deep and difficult to access even with generators. While these reserves are providing some relief, these sources are being overexploited as they were already providing water for a number of towns before the conflict.

  • Action Against Hunger water-and-sanitation teams are working around the clock in the region of Qana, 10 km from the Israeli border, to ensure the provision of sufficient drinking water
  • There is only botteled water in the region, which is unaffordable for a population lacking sufficient resources. Action Against Hunger is responding to meet these emergency needs.

In Kafra, at 6 km from Qana, there are no water reserves of any type. A local provider from a village nearby with access to a private pond is able to provide 4,000 liters for non-drinking purposes (cooking and cleaning) for the 3,000 inhabitants of Kafra once a week. Action Against Hunger is working to ensure15 liters of clean water for every person (the minimal standard established by the World Health Organization) via water distributions and water trucking. Each distribution costs only about $20.00 to deliver water to 3,000 villagers.

In Yatar, two municipal reserves provide non-drinking water to local populations, but they are required to pay out of pocket for the generator fuel and trucking costs associated with these distributions. The majority of the inhabitants in Kafra, by contrast, are not required to pay for such services. The distribution of drinking water, on the other hand, is much more expensive and difficult to provide, as they must buy bottled water in Qana or Tiro and transport it by truck to Yatar.

Action Against Hunger, the only international NGO working in this region, witnesses firsthand the daily hardships confronting the local populations – difficulties made all the more taxing by the fragility of the cease-fire. To facilitate the populations’ access to drinking water, ACF is currently studying the feasibility of installing a series of inflatable water storage bladders, given the existence of unexploded ordinance scattered throughout the region.

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