Update Against Hunger - February 7, 2007
Field Notes:
My Agenda for Action Against Hunger
I’m honored to have joined Action Against Hunger in the fight to develop and implement the most effective programs possible to help vulnerable populations survive and eventually thrive despite acts of war, conflict and natural disaster. I know what a wonderful and well-deserved reputation Action Against Hunger has for its work. And I know that reputation is a result of the skill and commitment of our staff members around the globe and the strength of the ACF network.
My job, as Executive Director, is to make it possible for all those on the front lines of delivering programs in the field to have the resources, skills, and support needed to get the job done. Indeed, that’s the job of all headquarters staff. There is a lot to be done, and it won’t happen overnight. But, together, I know we can continue the ACF tradition of excellence and that we grow the programs to serve even more people in desperate need of ACF's life-saving program services.
I look forward, especially, to seeing our work in the field and to meeting the staff who have taken on the most difficult of tasks—making real that which we do for the people who need us most. I’ll be traveling to parts of D.R. Congo, Kenya, and Uganda during the last two weeks in February and early March to meet many of my teammates and to see the work firsthand. I’ll also be eager to learn more about the challenges we face in delivering services and how the New York office can best support those efforts.
Nan Dale
Executive Director
Action Against Hunger-USA
New from US Headquarter:
We Move Up in the World
As an indication that Action Against Hunger is moving up in the world, we’ve moved two flights downstairs. Our New York headquarters is still at 247 West 37th Street, but we’re now on the tenth floor, no longer the twelfth.
The chief reason for the move? More room. We’ve increased our floor space 54% from 3,900 square feet to 6,000. This will allow us to accommodate more staff than our former space. And best of all, our rent has risen only 9%.
Those of us who have endured launching projects in the field won’t be surprised that the move was chaotic. We moved into our new offices before the painters and plasterers had finished, furniture was delivered late, and getting phones and computers functioning imposed several days of confusion.
But large, south-facing windows brighten the interior, and the first impression you have when you arrive at our offices is no longer, “How can they possibly function in these cramped quarters?” The space is far from luxurious—our mandate continues to require keeping overhead to a bare minimum. But as our impact around the world continues to grow, our new larger headquarters reflects that progress. Next time you’re in the neighborhood, stop by, look around, and say hello.
News from the field:
Darfur Becomes More Dangerous
Aid organizations are being forced out of Darfur. Six organizations—Action Against Hunger together with CARE International, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam International, Save the Children, and World Vision—have joined to protest world inaction and to propose what ought to be done. If the situation is ignored, the six groups warn, today’s enormous humanitarian response in Darfur will soon be paralyzed. Despite calls from around the world for intervention if the Sudanese won’t settle their strife, attacks on civilians are again rising and forcing more people to flee their homes. A breakdown of humanitarian assistance, of course, will leave millions in even greater danger.
Fighting in January left more than 350 people dead and forced tens of thousands from their homes. Splits among the rebels and a widespread lack of accountability have left Darfur increasingly lawless, leading to the direct targeting of aid workers. The refugee camp at Gereida is now the world’s largest, harboring 130,000 refugees, but it is considered so dangerous that all aid workers have been evacuated. Even major towns and cities are plagued with violence and hijackings. Action Against Hunger is still in Darfur, but the safety of our workers is evaluated constantly. Sudan’s violence spread last year into Chad threatening our workers so seriously that we abandoned our projects there.
The six collaborating organizations are asking the African Heads of state and the United Nations to increase pressure on Sudan’s government and rebel militias alike. The agencies are also asking troops from the African Union Commission to provide more protection of refugees, especially of women gathering food and firewood outside the encampments. In addition, the agencies want more money from donors to finance a buildup of troops.
Person Profile:
Profile—Marie-Sophie Simon
Marie-Sophie Simon, our Technical Coordinator at the New York headquarters, was born in Montpelier, France, and she wanted to be a biologist. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in genetics of the population and ecosystems from Nice and Montpelier Sciences University and then a second master’s in nutrition for underdeveloped countries.
But Sophie recognized that scientific papers too frequently had little impact on the world, and she wanted to make a difference, “to do something I could be proud of,” she says. Action Against Hunger is well known in France and to Sophie, its opportunities for effective projects seemed obvious. Also, the prospect of living as an expat was exciting, and the challenge of improving nutrition in struggling communities, she adds, was “super interesting.”
Sophie began work as a nurse-nutritionist for Action Against Hunger in 2000, and we’ve sent her pingponging around the world.She led nutrition teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo, both East and West, as well as in South Sudan and Uganda. She has made nutritional surveys in North Sudan and in Burundi, where she also set up therapeutic and supplementary feeding centers in partnership with the Ministry of Health. We’ve also sent her to Afghanistan and Ivory Coast.
Then she was offered a six-month assignment in New York. Sophie wanted to see what work was like at headquarters, and she knew the expat experience would be starkly different from her previous sojourns. Her assignment has extended itself to three years now, and Sophie is relishing her work: discovering and implementing large-scale challenges that enhance our work in the field, such as integrating our programs with Ministries of Health. Also, she says, acute emergencies are, thankfully, becoming less frequent—but the need to adapt and improve our programs to eliminate hunger in developing countries is as urgent as ever.
Someday, Sophie says, she’ll settle down, but not yet. Expat life, whether in New York USA or Bentiu South Sudan, together with the opportunity to see her efforts improve life for hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries remains as alluring as ever.
