Action contre la Faim
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| Action contre la Faim | |
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 Correcteur98 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source | |
| Name | Action contre la Faim |
| Native name | Action Against Hunger |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Bernard Kouchner, Alain Chauvet, Jean-Christophe Rufin |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Focus | Humanitarian, nutrition, food security, water, sanitation, health |
Action contre la Faim is a French international humanitarian organization founded in 1979 that specializes in combating hunger and malnutrition. It operates programs in nutrition, food security, water, sanitation, and emergency response across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, collaborating with United Nations agencies, national ministries, and international NGOs. The organization has engaged with actors such as United Nations, World Health Organization, UNICEF, European Commission, and International Committee of the Red Cross in crisis settings including Rwanda, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria.
History
The organization was established in 1979 by physicians and humanitarians including Bernard Kouchner, Jean-Christophe Rufin, and Alain Chauvet, emerging amid debates shaped by events like the Vietnam War, the Biafran War, and humanitarian responses to the Sahel droughts of the 1970s. In the 1980s it expanded operations during famines in Ethiopia and Sudan, coordinating with Médecins Sans Frontières and participating in international fora such as meetings of the United Nations General Assembly and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the organization adapted to crises in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and the aftermath of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami while engaging with institutions like the World Bank and European Union funding mechanisms. Recent decades saw programs responding to the Syrian Civil War, the Lake Chad Basin conflict, and the COVID-19 pandemic, often interacting with World Food Programme operations and regional bodies such as the African Union.
Mission and Objectives
The stated mission emphasizes prevention, detection, and treatment of acute malnutrition and related causes in collaboration with partners including UNICEF, World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and national health ministries. Objectives include scaling therapeutic feeding modeled on protocols from WHO and UNICEF combined with water, sanitation, and hygiene measures aligned with standards developed by Sphere Project contributors and technical guidance from the Global Nutrition Cluster. The mandate frames responses to emergencies like the Horn of Africa droughts and chronic crises in contexts such as Haiti and Venezuela.
Programs and Activities
Programs encompass community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) following guidelines from WHO and UNICEF, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiatives in coordination with UNICEF and International Committee of the Red Cross, food security and livelihoods projects influenced by Food and Agriculture Organization frameworks, and emergency preparedness linked to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs operations. Activities include therapeutic feeding centers modeled on protocols from Médecins Sans Frontières collaborations, nutrition surveillance interoperable with World Food Programme assessments, and advocacy campaigns engaging actors like European Commission delegations and national parliaments such as the French National Assembly.
Organizational Structure and Governance
The organization is headquartered in Paris with national branches in countries across continents, overseen by a governing board and executive leadership that interact with institutional stakeholders such as European Commission, United Nations Development Programme, and bilateral donors like the United States Agency for International Development. Governance includes partnerships with research institutions such as London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Institut Pasteur for program evaluation, and internal compliance systems aligned with standards from Humanitarian Accountability Partnership and donor frameworks like those of the World Bank and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
Funding and Partnerships
Funding is diversified among governmental donors including European Commission, USAID, and national ministries such as the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, multilateral agencies like UNICEF and World Food Programme, private foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and individual donors. Partnerships include strategic collaborations with Médecins Sans Frontières, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, and academic partners including Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University for operational research. The organization also engages corporate partners and philanthropic networks including connections with United Nations Foundation initiatives.
Geographic Presence and Impact
Programs operate in countries across West Africa, East Africa, Central America, South Asia, and the Middle East, with operational hubs in capitals such as Nairobi, Bangui, Beirut, and Bangladesh coordination centers linked to regional clusters like the Global Nutrition Cluster and Regional Refugee Response Plans. Interventions addressed acute crises in Somalia, Yemen, and South Sudan and protracted settings including Bangladesh (Rohingya response) and Chad, reporting impacts in terms of treatments delivered, malnutrition rates reduced, and water systems rehabilitated in partnership with entities such as UNICEF and World Health Organization.
Criticism and Controversies
The organization has faced scrutiny typical of large humanitarian actors, including debates over access in conflict zones like Syria and Yemen, questions about neutrality similar to controversies involving United Nations agencies, and audits related to donor compliance comparable to reviews of World Bank-funded projects. Critics and watchdogs such as Human Rights Watch and donor audit bodies have raised concerns in specific incidents regarding operational security, beneficiary selection issues in complex emergencies like the Sahel crisis, and coordination challenges reported in evaluations by Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and academic critics from institutions like London School of Economics.