Press release
Dr. Robert Sebbag Elected President of Action Against Hunger France
The Board of Directors of Action Against Hunger France elected Dr. Robert Sebbag as President of the organization this Friday, following the General Assembly which renewed part of its members. He succeeds Aïcha Koraïchi.
A founding member of the NGO in 1979, a board member since 2017, and Vice-President since 2024, Dr. Sebbag takes the helm of Action Against Hunger France at a critical moment: humanitarian and food needs continue to grow, while international funding is collapsing.
Severe budget cuts are hitting international solidarity. In the United States, the USAID agency has been dismantled. In France, cuts to official development assistance could reach -52% by 2026 compared to 2024. Massive reductions are also underway in several Northern European countries.
“The reduction in the international solidarity budget would trigger an explosion of poverty and inequality, even though it is vital to finance peace, humanitarian action, development, and access to food, health, education, water, and equal rights. These cuts will hit the most vulnerable the hardest: hunger is not inevitable, it is the result of political choices, and this one will come at an immense human cost,” declared Dr. Sebbag.
The figures are already alarming: 673 million people suffered from hunger in 2024. According to a study published in The Lancet in July 2025, U.S. budget cuts could lead to up to 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children under the age of five, mainly due to worsening access to nutrition, healthcare, and social protection in the most fragile countries.
“Now more than ever, we need political will guided by humanity, in order to deliver aid to those who need it, free from political interests,” emphasized Dr. Robert Sebbag.
A career devoted to humanitarian action
A medical doctor by training, Dr. Sebbag has carried out numerous missions with Action Against Hunger since the late 1970s. After starting his career at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in 1980, he went on to take up responsibilities in public health and humanitarian work: Fondation Rhône Poulenc Santé, Fondation Elf, then Director of International Operations at the French Red Cross in the early 2000s.
From 2000 to 2004, he served as Director of Scientific Affairs at Aventis Pasteur before joining Sanofi, where in 2004 he created an “Access to Medicines” department to adapt the pharmaceutical business model to Global South countries. There, he notably developed a differentiated-pricing antimalarial drug, as well as an oral treatment for sleeping sickness made available free of charge to the WHO and affected countries. He left Sanofi in 2016.
Action Against Hunger Board of Directors 2025–2026
- Robert Sebbag – President
- Benjamin Nguyen – Vice-President
- Irétie Lokonon – Treasurer
- Matthieu Yziquel – Deputy Treasurer
- Caroline Dib – Secretary General
- Stéphanie Charles – Deputy Secretary General
- Laurent Bacos
- Serge Breysse
- Manuel Carrard
- Violette Douillet
- Antoine Esteban
- Bénédicte Fischer
- Nicole Gesnot
- Amandine Kashani-Poor
- Antonio Lopez
- Garance Mathias
- Herrick Mouafo
- Jacques Serba
A propos d’Action contre la Faim
Action contre la Faim est une ONG internationale humanitaire française qui lutte contre la faim dans le monde. Nos actions humanitaires se concentrent sur la prévention, le dépistage et le traitement de la sous-nutrition. Notre association humanitaire apporte son expertise depuis plus de 40 ans dans différents domaines comme la santé et la nutrition, la sécurité alimentaire et les moyens d’existence, l’accès à l’eau à l’assainissement et à l’hygiène, le climat mais aussi la santé mentale. Notre ONG de solidarité internationale intervient dans près de 59 pays à travers le monde.