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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One year after Muttur massacre: "We will never forget them."
August 8, 2007
New York, NY — One year ago, on August 6, 2006, 17 Action Against Hunger humanitarian aid workers were found savagely assassinated in the organization’s office in Muttur, located in northeast Sri Lanka. In honor of their sacrifice, commemorative ceremonies have been organized in Sri Lanka and all over the world. While the truth that will explain this massacre has not been found yet, Action Against Hunger (Action contre la Faim – ACF) calls on the humanitarian and international community to remember these 17 aid workers who died because of their commitment to assist the most vulnerable people.

On August 4, 2006, an unprecedented massacre was committed against humanitarian aid workers. Beyond the human tragedy, all the humanitarian community was affected. When principles of independence and neutrality are not respected, all humanitarian interventions are undermined.

The past year has been difficult for the families of the victims, for ACF, and for Sri Lanka. During these remembrance ceremonies, ACF would like to focus the international community’s attention on the 17 victims: young and old, men and women, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters—all of them humanitarian aid workers committed to working alongside the most vulnerable people.

Out of respect for Sri Lankan tradition—according to which families meet a year after the death of a parent to commemorate a tragedy—several commemorative ceremonies in memory of the victims have been organized for August 6, in Batticaloa, Colombo, and Trincomalee in the presence of the victims’ families, ACF members, and representatives of the civil society, of the United Nations, and of local and international humanitarian organizations present in Sri Lanka. Speeches related to the lives and personalities of the 17 victims and their commitment alongside ACF in Muttur will be delivered, and a minute’s silence will be observed.

In Colombo, the ceremony will take place in the presence of the Sri Lankan Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe, the UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Sir John Holmes, and the Coordinator of the ACF International Network Benoît Miribel.

In Paris, ACF has organized a commemoration ceremony on Monday, August 6 at 5:00 p.m. in the presence of ACF employees, members, and members of other humanitarian organizations based in Paris.

The other ACF headquarters (London, Madrid, Montreal, and New York) and the 43 international missions of ACF International Network have also been asked to organize commemorative ceremonies.

One year after the tragedy, ACF is more than ever committed to finding the truth and asks the humanitarian and international community not to forget its 17 colleagues and friends:

  • Muralitharan, 34 years old
  • Arulrajahd, 24 years old
  • Pratheeban, 24 years old
  • Jaseelan, 27 years old
  • Kavitha, 27 years old
  • Kovarthani, 28 years old
  • A. L. Mohammed Jawffar, 31 years old
  • Ganesh, 54 years old
  • Kokilavathani, 29 years old
  • Romila, 25 years old
  • Narmathan, 24 years old
  • Ketheswaran, 36 years old
  • Rishikesan, 27 years old
  • Koneswaran, 24 years old
  • Anantharajah, 32 years old
  • Sritharan, 36 years old
  • Kodeeswaran, 31 years old

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