Action Against Hunger | ACF-USA

A Million Children At Risk of Deadly Malnutrition in the Sahel

mkoltermann — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:49:19 +0000

A looming food crisis threatens a million children as shortages, price spikes, and drought affect thousands across the Sahel

More than 10 million people are at risk of food shortages across Africa’s Sahel region, including communities in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. With Early Warning Systems on high alert, poor harvests across the region have contributed to food shortages and skyrocketing prices—cereal prices alone are 60 to 85 percent higher than their five year average—that threaten millions with hunger and malnutrition as tens of thousands of families exhaust their food reserves.

“Although the 2011 harvest hasn’t been catastrophic, after the 2005 drought there haven’t been two consecutive years of good harvests. Many vulnerable households are still extremely weak… and unable to cope with the slightest shock.”

—Patricia Hoorelbeke, Action Against Hunger’s West Africa Regional Office

Help vulnerable communities across the Sahel

The Hunger Season

This year’s hunger gap—that period of seasonal scarcity between harvests—will likely begin as early as March across the Sahel instead of in July, ensuring six months before the next harvest is available in October. Thousands of families were already struggling as the region experienced a series of setbacks over the past five years—drought, erratic rainfall, debilitating market fluctuations—and the cumulative impact of scarcity and sharply rising food prices impose additional hardships on already-vulnerable communities. Acute malnutrition rates have already exceeded emergency levels in many areas of Chad and Mauritania, and thousands of young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women are in need of immediate, lifesaving support.

“This [crisis] is not only due to a lack of rain, pasture and crops. In the absence of storage facilities and loans, many farmers have no choice but to sell their crops the moment they are ready, only to buy food on local markets months later, at prices four times as high. In addition, thousands of impoverished households in the Sahel were previously dependent on family members working in Libya and Ivory Coast sending money home. Political instability has forced 200,000 workers to return to their home countries, resulting in lower remittances.”

—Vincent Taillandier, Desk Officer, Action Against Hunger

Lifesaving Action

We’re racing to scale up our emergency response across the region, strengthening ACF’s cash-based interventions to help families purchase food in local markets, cash-for-work programs that provide families with needed income between harvests, and emergency food distributions for vulnerable families with severely malnourished children. But much more is needed beyond the emergency response to help these communities recover self-sufficiency and to ensure their resilience in the near future.

Tell Us What You Think

What is the international community’s responsibility when vulnerable populations are made even more insecure? How best can we save lives today while helping families weather future hardships?

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Food Security & Livelihoods

Nutrition

PBS Newshour Features Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Honoree

dhernandez — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:24:21 +0000

Events

In the News

A pioneer in nutrition and public health statistics, Dr. Hans Rosling shares his engaging message.

Dr. Hans Rosling, recipient of Action Against Hunger’s 2011 Humanitarian Award, was the subject of a fascinating profile on PBS Newshour Monday night. We’re happy to report that PBS did not miss the chance to feature Dr. Rosling’s affiliation with Action Against Hunger! In case you missed it, we’ve embedded the video below.

Watch Rosling Brings Life, Sword-Swallowing to Health Statistics on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Action Against Hunger’s Humanitarian Award is given to individuals who have made extraordinary or notable contributions to the humanitarian field, whether through direct efforts, philanthropic support, or help in raising public awareness.

Dr. Rosling received his Humanitarian Award both for his prowess with statistical visualizations and his pioneering work on the paralytic disease konzo, which is mentioned only briefly in the PBS profile but certainly deserves a show of its own.

Konzo is cyanide poisoning that results from the consumption of certain species of improperly-processed cassava root. Cruelly, the species that are most drought-resistant—and therefore most frequently and abundantly consumed in a food shortage—are those highest in cyanide. Proper preparation can remove the poison, but before this information can have a positive impact on health it must be made widely known. Dr. Rosling has been central to these efforts—and entertaining all the while.

Tell Us What You Think

How else can data be used to motivate people to action? Are there ways to combine data-driven appeals with more emotional ones?

Clean Water Projects: Fixing the Cycle of “Break-Down & Repair”

dhernandez — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:57:32 +0000

Current Events

Technical Expertise

Action Against Hunger joins Engineers Without Borders in exploring solutions to water project failures

In the following TEDx video, David Damberger of Engineers Without Borders broaches the subject of failure as it relates to international aid and development. Watch the video and read on for Action Against Hunger’s take on what he gets right—and where his argument needs some elaboration.

Damberger is right when he says that this topic is rarely discussed publicly, but while his candor here is refreshing, his conclusion—that aid has “failed [...] but only because it hasn’t failed enough”—is unjustifiably grim.

Listening to Damberger, one gets the impression that development organizations are simply plowing ahead with projects that are doomed from the start by poor follow-through and post-project planning. While this may have been what he observed in his experience with Engineers Without Borders, it should not be taken as an accurate assessment of what’s going on in the broader NGO community.

In fact, many humanitarian organizations (including Action Against Hunger) have long understood the lessons of failure articulated by Damberger. For example, he’s completely correct when he says that water points tend to break down without maintenance. However, his prescription of simply admitting failure and creating spreadsheets to track program effectiveness is, to put it mildly, not all that can be done about this.

Building Capacity, Self-Sufficiency

Nick Radin, Action Against Hunger’s Senior Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Advisor, well understands the failures Damberger is talking about. Nick acknowledges that this cycle of “break-down and repair, break-down and repair [of water points] has, in some cases, created a belief among beneficiaries where they say ‘We don’t need to maintain our water infrastructure because if it breaks down, another NGO will come along and replace it.’ And while such an outlook is understandable amongst vulnerable people who lead difficult lives, so long as NGOs are repairing and re-repairing the same water points, it means that other unserved communities will not receive assistance.”

The solution, says Nick, is not to pack up and go home:

“NGOs are increasingly working with local authorities, community-based organizations, and water committees to ensure infrastructure is maintained… as, the best way to teach people to operate and maintain a system is to train, enable and advise them in how to carry out routine maintenance or major repairs themselves.”
—Nick Radin, Senior Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Advisor, Action Against Hunger

Tackling Technical & Organizational Failures

But as Damberger says, it’s often the case that communities can’t afford to replace faulty parts when an improved water source breaks down. This, too, is a problem with solutions that Damberger does not mention, says Nick. “It’s often a question not of equipment breaking down but of social cohesion, a responsible water committee building a cash reserve [by requiring small fees to use the water point while it operates] so that when it breaks down a new one can be bought or repairs made.” And when the community can’t afford even small fees, NGOs are more than ever working to strengthen local water ministries so they have the capacity to help communities operate and maintain their water points. In this way, citizens also learn to hold local authorities accountable instead of waiting for another NGO to come along.

Greater Coordination, Coverage, Efficiency

And if that’s still not enough, there’s a relatively recent strategy called the “cluster approach” that shows promise. The essence of the cluster approach is that different organizations with similar missions are now coordinating with one another to ensure that their projects do not overlap and waste resources. This helps ensure that the situation Damberger describes—multiple failed water points built by a jumble of different agencies—is replaced by greater agency coordination, improved coverage, and a more efficient use of aid dollars.

Ultimately, Damberger raises some great points even when he fails to include some recent advances. ACF applauds the discussion that Engineers Without Borders is having as we and all our colleague NGOs strive to ensure ever-more effective aid.

Tell Us What You Think

What responsibility do NGOs have to talk about their failures with donors? As a donor, what kinds of failures are tolerable, and what would cause you to stop supporting an organization?

Help vulnerable communities access clean water & sanitation.

Tags

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

Awesome Fundraisers: Guardian Fall Protection

dhernandez — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:34:03 +0000

Fundraisers

An example of how a team can accomplish so much.

Recently, we posted about our 2011 fundraisers—those who have signed up over on our My Action Against Hunger platform and created fundraising web pages to support unique projects. We’re so proud of the community that has grown as the result of this program. It’s one full of inspired ideas and individuals who aren’t afraid to take initiative.

It’s truly amazing to see what a group of people can do when they come together united by a common cause. The employees of Guardian Fall Protection, a company in the business of saving lives and preventing injuries through the manufacturing of safety gear designed to prevent falls for construction workers, decided one day to reach out and expand upon the core principles of their business—saving others. This was the birth of the Halo Charity Committee.

This past summer, news of the Horn of Africa drought and food crisis had spread far and wide, and the Halo Committee wanted to get involved in relief efforts. Michael Arcari recommended Action Against Hunger to the committee after a careful vetting process. After signing up on the platform, the work began.

To get people to come to our team page, we sent bi-weekly emails to our employees and vendors detailing the progress of our charitable efforts that included a link to our Action Against Hunger team page. We also provided our employees with flyers and information packets to raise awareness of the Somalia crisis that included information on how to donate online through our team page.

Vendors, customers, and employees took it from there by sharing the link to the page with all of their own friends and family, expanding the network of potential donors. By utilizing the wide variety of fundraising methods and harnessing the power of a team, Guardian Fall Protection was able to raise over $4,000.

Michael, the team captain, recommends that fundraisers consistently communicate with their potential donors about the project, including its goals and progress. He also suggests that one develop creative ways to make the project fun for employees and team members, and that once they're involved, it's a great team building exercise. Also, he told us that having a core team of individuals to act as the anchor of the project is useful—a group that knows the ins and outs of all of the project details that can act as a resource to other team members. We thank Guardian Fall Protection and Michael for their extraordinary efforts!

Start a Fundraising Team.

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Awesome Fundraisers: 2011

Awesome Fundraisers: Su May and Cee Yee

dhernandez — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:44:37 +0000

Fundraisers

The story of one woman's climb to the Everest base camp.

Su May Ang is a Malaysian woman with extraordinary ambition. An IT consultant by day, her inspiration to fundraise came during a business trip.

I was working in South Africa for more than 9 months and saw children dying from hunger on TV. I've always wanted to do something for a charity but hadn't figured out how to do so. I told my friend about my plan to hike to the Everest base camp, and he asked if I planned on doing this for charity. The idea of raising funds began.

The path was set. Su May chose Action Against Hunger as the beneficiary of her incredible efforts, partnered up with her friend Cee Yee, and set about creating an informative and helpful fundraising page.

Su May and Cee Yee found that Facebook and good old word of mouth were the best tools at her disposal for spreading the word about their campaign. Also, Su May had the creative idea to make an ACF tag for the backpack that she carried during the trip. When people asked about it, she explained her fundraising mission.

Although Su May found that some of her Malaysian friends were distrustful of the idea of donating online, she was able to exceed her $2,500 goal. She advises new fundraisers to not give up, even when their friends say no or give reasons why they don’t want to donate. Her perseverance has paid off—she’s raised almost $3,000 to date. We're so grateful to have partnered with Su May while she achived this incredible goal!

Become a fundraiser.

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Awesome Fundraisers: 2011

Awesome Fundraisers: Calvin

dhernandez — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Fundraisers

Meet one of the world's most incredible teenagers.

Calvin Munson is one of the most impressive 14-year-olds we’ve ever seen. He’s an ambitious student active in sports and music, and also teaches pre-schoolers at his church. Up until this point, his parents have always helped him and his siblings work on community service projects, but as a high schooler, he felt that he should take up his own cause.

All throughout my younger life my parents always helped me and my siblings to do community service but now that I'm in high school I feel the responsibility to do something on my own to help less fortunate people. I chose ACF because it's a well-organized program with good values. I chose to help prevent hunger because I knew that starvation was a big problem in poorer countries and wanted to do something about it.

Calvin’s family runs a farm in Boulder that his grandparents started over 30 years ago. Since the farm regularly donates to the local food bank, giving food to others is second nature to Calvin and his family.

Calvin faced the challenge of being an incredibly busy teen, but still found time to mount an awesome campaign—he’s raised over $1,000! He found that email and Facebook were effective tools to drive people to his fundraising page. Since Munson Farms sells pumpkins, he creatively decided to give away a free pumpkin before Halloween to anybody who donated over a certain amount.

He advises new fundraisers to reach out to as many people as possible, and to ask them to share the project with their own networks – he says, “it attracts more people than you think.” He also advises fundraisers to develop “a creative, catchy theme for your fundraiser, one that will attract attention”. For more information on Calvin’s fundraising project, visit his Action Against Hunger page. And keep an eye out—he intends to repeat this fundraiser each year that he’s in high school!

Become a fundraiser.

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Awesome Fundraisers: 2011

Introducing Our Awesome Fundraisers

dhernandez — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:16:43 +0000

Fundraisers

We'd like to take a moment to introduce you to some truly incredible people.

We can’t count the number of emails and phone calls we receive from those asking what they can do beyond making a donation. What’s grown out of these requests is a community that we’re so proud of—our awesome fundraisers. They’ve not only chosen to join us in our mission, but they’ve gone above and beyond by harnessing the collective giving power of their own personal networks. By signing up on our My Action Against Hunger platform and creating personalized fundraising webpages, they’ve been able to let their friends and family know that they’re supporting us, and explain their personal reasons for doing so.

These go-getters have taken on an impressive variety of projects to inspire others to give in support of our lifesaving work around the world. You’ll learn more about each of their stories, as well as the secrets behind their fundraising success, in a series of upcoming blog posts.

Su May, a woman from Malaysia, hiked Mount Everest with her friend Cee Yee, for two weeks.
Calvin, a ninth grade student from Colorado, offered a pumpkin from his family farm to those who gave over a certain amount.
The charity committee at Guardian Fall Protection came together and chose Action Against Hunger as the beneficiary of their fundraising campaign centered around the Horn of Africa food crisis and drought.

In December, we issued a challenge to our 2011 fundraisers to try and meet their goals by the end of the year—getting us that much closer to achieving our 2011 goal for this program—$100,000. For those who have already met their goal, we asked them to double it, and meet the new goal. It sounds tough, but these are the people that have the spirit to make it happen. Do you think you have what it takes to join their ranks in 2012?

Become a fundraiser.

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Awesome Fundraisers: 2011

North American Power Named One of Forbes' "100 Most Promising Companies"

dhernandez — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:08:22 +0000

Partnerships

We're proud to partner with such a distinguished company.

As 2011 comes to a close, Action Against Hunger is thankful for its partnership with North American Power, one of the nation’s fastest-growing retail energy suppliers. In addition to its generous “Mission to Millions” fundraising program, which donates $1 to charities like Action Against Hunger each time that customers pay their monthly electric bill and its 100% renewable energy option, American Wind, we’re delighted to hear that North American Power was recently named one of Forbes’ 100 Most Promising Companies.

Forbes’ list highlights 100 “hidden gems with scintillating prospects” that boast convincing business models, impressive management teams, prominent customers, strategic partners, and valuable investment capital. The magazine arrived at its Top 100 by leveraging a proprietary software program that tracks an array of metrics to calculate an algorithmically-derived score of their financial health and growth potential.

Action Against Hunger looks forward to continuing its valuable partnership with North American Power in 2012!

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North American Power

Action Against Hunger Named Among Top “High-Impact” Agencies

mkoltermann — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:52:48 +0000

Achievements

Philanthropedia’s panel of industry experts evaluated 52 international nonprofits & selected 11 as having the highest impact.

Action Against Hunger has been named one of the top emergency response nonprofits by a panel of independent industry experts after evaluating a range of well-known international relief organizations.

The nonprofit research company Philanthropedia (now a Guidestar project) consulted 55 experts with considerable experience in the humanitarian and development fields—individuals with an average of 17 years of professional experience. These experts were asked to recommend international nonprofits that carry out high-impact programs across multiple countries or regions, that respond to natural and man-made disasters, and that are adept at responding to slow- and fast-onset disasters.

Philanthropedia’s experts identified 11 top nonprofits (out of 52 reviewed) making the biggest positive impact at the international level, and we were selected for our global impact, expertise, and reach.

We work hard at Action Against Hunger to solicit reviews and routine feedback from our supporters, but an assessment from industry experts adds value by providing informed, independent perspectives on a nonprofit’s real-world ability to deliver lifesaving programs when disasters strike. Such assessments should provide a degree of comfort for donors looking to support international NGOs like Action Against Hunger.

Tell Us What You Think

Weigh in, tell us what you think: is there value in having expert reviews of an NGO’s work? What problems can this create, and by what criteria should humanitarian NGOs be judged?

Support Action Against Hunger's lifesaving work.

Emergency Response Following Tropical Storm Washi in the Philippines

mkoltermann — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:32:16 +0000

Breaking News

Hundreds of people are dead and more than 167,000 people have been affected following the crash of Tropical Storm Washi on the shores of the Southern Philippines over the weekend. Action Against Hunger, which operates a mission on the island on Mindanao, replied immediately to the disaster and charted course to effectively address the emergency water, sanitation, and nutrition needs of those impacted. Here's how we're helping:

The Action Against Hunger team in the field moved to the area of Cagayan de Oro and conducted an assessment of the destruction caused by the storm and the conditions of the people who survived.
Action Against Hunger in Manila has mobilized shelter materials, hygiene kits and other emergency equipment and will be moving to Northern Mindanao later in the day to deliver those supplies and assist with their implementation
Action Against Hunger will be assessing the health conditions of the already overcrowded temporary shelters constructed and acting to prevent water- and nutrition-related diseases that could put the population at further risk

Support emergency response in the Philippines.

Tags

Asia

Philippines

Emergency Response