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.
ACF International Map
Where We Work

Angola
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After more than 30 years of bloody conflict, ACF is assisting the population in developing agriculture and ensuring access to clean water in order for the population to be able to return to their areas of origin. ACF is also working with the health authorities in the prevention of diseases such as HIV.

Program Information

Directing HQ: 
Action Against Hunger - Spain
Launch Date: 
January 1995
World Region: 
Africa
Location(s): 
Luanda, Lubango as logistics and coordination bases that begin their transformation as operation bases; Caconda and Chipindo (Huila province) as operation bases. This year another base will be settled in Huambo in order to implement the AECI agreement.
Expatriates: 
9
Local Staff: 
60
Beneficiaries: 
418,000people
Funding: 
European Union, AECI, Government of Navarra, City Council of Barcelona, Government of Castilla-La Mancha, UNICEF, City Council of Madrid, Government of Catalonia, Acción Contra el Hambre

Humanitarian Context

  • 27 years of conflict between the government party (MPLA) and the rebel movement UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) have left 500,000 people dead and the country's economy at a standstill.
  • Civilians have no access to basic services or drinking water. The sewage system has collapsed. Angola has one of the world's lowest ratings on the Human Development Index (see indicators above).
  • Many of the country's inland areas, where the main fighting took place, are mined (it is estimated that there are some 10 million mines and 70,000 amputees, 8,000 of whom are children), limiting people's movements and access to humanitarian organizations
  • The battle for control of the country's rich natural resources (diamonds and petrol) has helped prolong the conflict.
  • The re-initiation of the peace process has allowed the country's internal borders to be opened up. 1.2 million people in Angola have been displaced by violence and there are 230,000 refugees in neighboring countries. Many of them are currently returning to their place of origin.
  • The peace process raises the problem of how to reintegrate 350,000 former UNITA soldiers back into society. The mechanisms for social and economic reinsertion that have been put into place are too slow and constitute one of the main obstacles to stability. Transporting families back to their place of origin poses significant problems, often due to the inaccessibility of mined areas.
  • The State is displaying significant limitations in terms of adapting the former war economy to the peace process. The country is divided politically between UNITA followers and Government supporters. The population is insufficiently represented among the governing classes. Corruption has reached extremely high levels despite the administration's short time in office.

Area(s) of Work

Nutrition: 
  • Medical staff training at hospitals, health centers and health related jobs
  • Promotion of health through local committees
  • Therapeutic and Supplementary Nutrition Centers
  • Training of Ministry of Health staff (Minsa) in order to take care of the nutrition centers
  • Tracking and analysis of the evolution of the nutritional and medical situation
Food Security: 
  • Distribution of seeds and farming tools
  • Implementation of a seed store and training of women’s associations
  • Training of farmers in sustainable agricultural methods
  • Agricultural diagnostics of seed systems
  • Multiplication of sweet potato seeds
  • Agricultural social and economic analysis of towns
  • Implementation of a working group to deal with counterparts at a provincial level
  • Organizational diagnostics of food security stakeholders at a provincial and national level
  • Training of counterparts and field staff
  • Participation in seminars at a provincial level
  • Setting relations and partnerships with international groups and institutions
Water & Sanitation: 
  • Construction, rehabilitation of wells and installation of manual pumps
  • Promotion of building latrines
  • Training of self-management groups for water points
  • Hygiene promotion through community volunteers
  • Logistic support and training for the recently created Municipal Water Teams
  • Participation in a project of urban sanitation at the country capital
  • Punctual interventions in tackling epidemics (cholera)