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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Where We Work
October 23, 2006

Pakistan One Year After the Earthquake
A Summary of ACF's Work in the Last Year In Pakistan
By Roger Persichino

On October 8, 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale clobbered south Asia. The quake’s epicenter was 95 kilometers northeast of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The initial quake was followed by aftershocks that continued for months. India and Afghanistan were also affected, but Pakistan was by far the worst-hit country. The Government of Pakistan requested international assistance on Oct. 9, 2005.

A team from Action Against Hunger team arrived in Pakistan less than 48 hours after the quake struck. Our objective was to reach victims in isolated areas. After conducting a rapid needs assessment, we began distributing food and non-food items, including tents, shelter, and hygiene kits, in the Kaghan and Allai Valleys, and we provided water and sanitation in Battagram and Bala Kot.

Food and Nutrition

The earthquake destroyed stores that were full from Pakistan’s fall harvest as well as seeds that had been put away for the next planting season.

Markets in the rural valleys faced a substantial shortage not only as a normal effect from winter, but also due to destruction of roads, which prevented restocking. Moreover, the sudden loss of assets impoverished much of the valleys’ population, who lost homes, food supplies, and cattle.

In response, from November 2005 to August 2006, we distributed more than 2,000 tons of food to more than 19,000 families. We also supplied farm families with nearly 650 tons of seeds, almost 25,000 tool kits, and more than 210 tons of food for livestock.

After assessing nutrition among the Pakistanis during December and January, we opened seven Supplementary Feeding Centers to treat malnutrition in Balakot, Battagram, and Mansehra. This was not only in preparation for expected food shortages but also, in part, precautionary in case malnutrition should increase during a long and harsh Himalayan winter, as well as a response to crowded and unsanitary living conditions in camps set up for displaced persons. Our centers treated more than 300 beneficiaries per month, but in May, we decided to close all seven after determining that the rate of malnutrition didn’t constitute an emergency, and that the winter had been milder than forecasters had feared, reducing its impact.

Water and Sanitation

At peak level (November – December), we distributed 60,000 liters of clean water per day, and our other water-and-sanitation projects included refurbishing and creating water sources. We also built latrines, bathhouses, and drainage systems. We estimate that our water-and-sanitation projects reached more than 100,000 beneficiaries through the end of May.

Non-Food Items

We distributed tents that housed more than 17,000 beneficiaries, blankets to more than 35,000, stoves to more than 20,000, and plastic water jugs to more than 25,000. Immediately after the earthquake, these items were urgently needed to assist the population survive the coming winter. But by June, the rural populations were well on their way to recovering from the catastrophe. The communities closest to main roads had almost fully restored themselves.

Where We Stand in Pakistan Today

Our success in helping the Pakistanis wouldn’t have been possible without widespread support from individual donors, donor agencies—especially the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, and the World Food Programme—the Government of Pakistan, and other humanitarian organizations. Above all, nothing would have been possible without the support of the communities themselves, whose populations displayed resilience, patience, and tolerance.

Now our efforts are evolving towards rehabilitation and reconstruction. At the same time, however, pockets of high vulnerability are still present, most of which are far from main roads. In addition, other areas of Pakistan have more recently been devastated by monsoons and floods. Consequently, we continue to assess the need for relief—particularly shelter, as well as water and sanitation—in areas where vulnerability remain high. In conformity with our Charter, we will strive to meet humanitarian needs wherever they arise and, more importantly, to anticipate them in order to mitigate suffering. We believe that our commitment is a small measure of our gratitude to Pakistan and its people for their hospitality and inspiration.