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.
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Malnutrition Crisis in Uganda
Children Under Five at Risk of Mortality in Northern Uganda: ACF highlights the growing malnutrition crisis threatening children in northern Uganda
January 28, 2003

January 28, 2003 Kampala, Uganda - Nearly 18 percent of children under the age of five years were found at risk of mortality in a part of northern Uganda according to a recent rapid nutritional assessment conducted last week by Action Against Hunger, an international non-governmental organization.

The assessment was conducted in Pabbo Camp, Gulu District, one of the largest camps in Northern Uganda, in all about 57 percent of the children under five surveyed are in a precarious situation. This potential nutritional crisis might have cropped up following recent events in northern Uganda and security related access issues. Camp populations have had difficulties accessing their fields, and thus raises prospects of significantly reduced consumable crops.

In response to the assessment, Action Against Hunger desk officer Roger Persichino, said, "There is a potential problem but we need to carry out further surveys to know if there is a real nutritional crisis. We hope to obtain access to conduct further assessments." World Food Program is carrying out food distributions in northern Uganda, but Action Against Hunger is concerned that the assessment might be representative of the overall picture in Acholiland. There are presently an estimated 800,000 internally displaced people in northern Uganda.

Depending on security and access, Action Against Hunger with existing US and European support will:

  • Expand the scope of its assessments to the whole of Acholiland, as much as
    security permits;
  • Expand its network of feeding centers, in cooperation with United Nations
    Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Wold Food Program (WFP), as soon as possible, to
    address the needs of children most at risk.
  • Refocus its current water and sanitation activities to the most affected
    camps, with a focus on health facilities.

"We want to be able to assess the true extent of the problem and if needed avert a nutritional crisis, we therefore hope we will obtain access to the affected populations," Mr. Persichino said.

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger / Action Contre la Faim (ACF), an international relief and development organization committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and families, provides sustainable access to safe water and long-term solutions to hunger. For nearly three decades, ACF has pursued its vision of a world without hunger by combating hunger in emergency situations of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity.

Press Contact

Action Against Hunger - USA

James L. Phelan
Senior External Relations Officer, ACF-USA
Contact James Phelan
Direct: 212-967-7800 x108
Cell: 646-265-7796