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Advocacy and awareness-raising

ACF’s advocacy and awareness-raising activities are closely linked to its operations in the field and its humanitarian mandate to combat hunger. Advocacy aims to promote lasting changes to policies, practices and intervention capacities by influencing political and economic decision makers and by mobilising public support. ACF’s advocacy work is structured around two main areas:

The fight against hunger and malnutrition
The defence of humanitarian principles

Advocacy is the continuation of ACF’s field work. Through its programmes, the organisation employs both well-recognized and innovative means of tackling malnutrition. Capitalising on these experiences, ACF develops best practices in the sectors that it works and supports states and international institutions to integrate these best practices into their policies.

ACF’s advocacy also aims to demonstrate why it is so critical to combat acute malnutrition calling for it to be recognised as a major public health problem which requires more attention from decision makers and increased financial resources.

Furthermore, ACF advocates for an integrated approach in the fight against malnutrition and lobbies for the countries it works in to incorporate nutrition into different sectors (e.g. agriculture and health). Through the experience it has gained in tackling the root causes of hunger, ACF is now increasingly involved in global movements to eradicate hunger worldwide. Therefore ACF’s advocacy activities are implemented internationally throughout the ACF-IN network. ACF’s headquarters in London coordinates ACF International’s advocacy activities.

As a major French humanitarian aid organisation, ACF also fights to uphold humanitarian principles. It supports the evolution of humanitarian policies, particularly in France and elsewhere in Europe, by providing expertise and evidence on issues witnessed by its teams on the ground. Finally, ACF pursues ongoing efforts to raise the awareness of citizens in the North and South on hunger and malnutrition so as to exert more pressure on decision makers and bring about lasting changes.