Who we are : our values, expertise and fights

Action Contre la Faim

SOME 828 MILLION PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING FROM HUNGER ACROSS THE WORLD. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

ACTION CONTRE LA FAIM HAS BEEN FIGHTING THIS INJUSTICE FOR OVER 40 YEARS . AND THE WORLD STILL NEEDS OUR WORK.

AT ACTION CONTRE LA FAIM,

WE SAVE LIVES

AND REDUCE FOOD INSECURITY.

Everyone should have enough to eat and access to a varied, sustainable diet. We are a long way from achieving this. In 2021, we supported 24.5 million people by tackling the consequences and structural causes of hunger. War, the climate crisis, and socio-economic and gender inequality are the main reasons behind it. We unite, act and provide solutions, for and with communities. Because the solutions are out there, and we at Action contre la Faim know how to stop hunger being inevitable.

AT ACTION CONTRE LA FAIM,

We take action on the ground

so we are activists

We take action on the ground both here in France and worldwide. We operate everywhere, in all contexts, and we save lives in emergencies while helping to build sustainable solutions for the long term. We use our solid expertise to work locally with and alongside communities in fifty-one countries.

AT ACTION CONTRE LA FAIM,

WE BELIEVE IN COLLECTIVE POWER.

Our approach to humanitarian assistance rests on the belief that collective mobilisation is fundamental in order to ensure that our actions have a widespread effect. That is why 95% of our 8,000 collaborators are from the countries where we operate. We work with international and local NGOs, states and donors, companies, universities, schools and citizens. We come together with those who are battling hunger, without whom we would be nothing. There is no such thing as small actions, small gestures. Only big ambitions.

Let’s harness our strengths, our talents, our ideas and our voices to further this fight.

A FRENCH HUMANITARIAN ASSOCIATION

Founded in 1979, our association is a non-governmental organisation focused on international solidarity. In other words, Action contre la Faim fights hunger all over the world. Conflict, climate imbalance, poverty and unequal access to water and care are just some of the causes of malnutrition. Our mission is to save lives by eliminating hunger through the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition, especially during and after emergency situations linked to conflicts and natural disasters.

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY AGAINST HUNGER

Today, Action contre la Faim is one of the leaders of the fight against world hunger. Our non-profit organisation, structured as an international network, helps to provide a coordinated response in the countries where we operate. For our association, which has been recognised as an organisation of public utility in France, the priority is to take concrete action on the ground and to bear witness to the experiences of the populations we support.

Originally created by a group of French doctors and intellectuals, our international solidarity NGO saves millions of lives every year, mainly in Asia, South America, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, but also in Europe. Since 2019, Action contre la Faim has been a member of Alliance Urgences: a group of 6 NGOs whose goal is to create a surge of national solidarity around specific humanitarian emergencies.

The causes of hunger are multiple, so we provide a multi-sector response based on real expertise.

Our 7 fields of expertise

Access to drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Nutrition and Health

Food Security and Livelihoods

Mental Health, Psychosocial Support

Advocacy

Risk and Disaster Management

Research

Independence

Neutrality

Transparency

Free and direct access to people in need

Non-discrimination

Professionalism

Charter of principles

We commit to the following principles:

Independence

Action Against Hunger acts according to its own principles in order to maintain its moral and financial independence. Action Against Hunger's actions are not defined in terms of domestic or foreign policies, nor does the organisation act in the interest of any government.

Neutrality

Action Against Hunger maintains a strict political and religious neutrality. Action Against Hunger can however denounce human rights violations it witnesses as well as obstacles put in the way of its humanitarian activities.

Transparency

Action Against Hunger is committed to respecting a policy of transparency and disclosure for its beneficiaries, donors, and partners by making available all information on the allocation and management of its funds, and by providing independent verification of its good management.

Free and direct access to people in need

Action Against Hunger demands free access to populations in need and direct control of its programmes. Action Against Hunger uses all means available to achieve this goal, and will denounce and act against obstacles that prevent the organisation from doing so. Action Against Hunger also verifies the allocation of its resources in order to ensure that they reach those individuals for whom they are destined. Under no circumstances can partners working together with or alongside Action Against Hunger become the ultimate beneficiaries of the organisation’s programmes.

Non-discrimination

Action Against Hunger rejects all discrimination based on ethnicity, nationality, opinion, race, religion, sex or social class.

Professionalism

To maximise its efficiency and use of resources, Action Against Hunger bases the assessment, conception, management, and realisation of its programmes on the highest professional standards and years of experience.

About our Charter

Charter of principles

Private, apolitical, non-denominational, not-for-profit, it was created in France to operate worldwide. Its vocation is to save lives by fighting hunger, physiological misery and distress situations that threaten the lives of defenceless men, women and children.

HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS THAT HAVE MARKED OUR ASSOCIATION:

In the event of a serious crisis, natural or man-made, threatening food security or causing famine.
In the event of a breakdown of the social fabric, linked to internal or external reasons, placing certain popula*ons in a situation of extreme vulnerability.
Where humanitarian assistance is a matter of survival.

The association’s action then takes place either during the crisis itself or afterwards. It can also intervene in risk prevention. All ACF’s programmes aim to enable their beneficiaries to regain their autonomy and means of living as quickly as possible without relying on assistance.

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History

The milestones of our fight

Created in the context of the Afghan crisis in 1979, Action contre la Faim is part of the second generation of NGOs, the "French Doctors", French doctors who in 1968, at the time of the Biafra war, rebelled against the silence of humanitarian aid workers, bound by secrecy and yet witnesses to the worst horrors. Wishing to force this silence by denouncing injustice, these NGOs added testimony to the action.

Leading the fight against hunger

Governance

Pierre Micheletti

Chairman

A doctor with a national diploma in public health, he began his first experiences abroad in 1985.

Aïcha Koraichi

Vice-Chairman

Sciences Po Paris' Graduate, Aïcha Koraïchi started her carrier as an organizational consultant for public sector

Caroline Dib

Secretary general

Caroline Dib joined the board of directors of Action contre la Faim in September 2017.

Antonio Lopez

Assistant secretary general

Graduated from ENSAM (Arts et Métiers) in 1976 as an engineer, managed important building projects of power plants in export

Eric Tran

Treasurer

FRANCISCO RUBIO

Assistant treasurer

Siences Po Paris’ graduate and master degree in public law’s holder, Fransisco Rubio started his career as legal department supervisor for the Agricultural Ministry in Paris.

Raymond Couderc

Chairperson of the Ethics Committee and Member of the Board of Directors

Since 2017, he his the Hérault delegate for Action Against Hunger.

Benjamin Nguyen