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acf-nous-decouvrir-1420x810 © Lys Arango pour Action contre la Faim

Who we are
Overcoming hunger
by fighting its causes.

Action Contre la Faim is a non-governmental organization that has been fighting hunger in the world for over 40 years.

Action Contre la Faim

SOME 733 MILLION PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING FROM HUNGER ACROSS THE WORLD¹. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

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 2023, we supported 21 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 56 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 9,000 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 (articles of association, internal rules)  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.

 

¹Source : SOFI 2024

Our 7 fields of expertise

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.

  • 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.

fermer le détail

History

The milestones of our fight

Created in 1979, it is part of the second generation of NGOs, the "French Doctors".

AFG_2016-10-31_0727 © Sandra Calligaro - Afghanistan © Sandra Calligaro pour Action contre la Faim FSL Cambodia 2016 © Guy Calaf pour Action contre la Faim ETH-2014-06-17_19-1024x683 © Agnès Varraine-Leca pour Action contre la Faim Kurdistan irakien, 2017 Kurdistan irakien, 2017 A convoy of trucks moves across the hastily-built pontoon bridge at the Maslenica sea crossing July .. © Reuters Nikola Solic Two wounded Rwandan soldiers limp 23 August as they approach the Panzi refugee camp which houses som.. © Reuters - Patrick de Noirmont CHECHEN REFUGEES QUEUE FOR HUMANITARIAN AID AT SLEPTSOVSK. © Reuters - Vasily Fedosenko IQ MH&CP 2017 Bawiza 04 - Copie © Lys Arango pour Action contre la Faim A KOSOVAR MAN WALKS THROUGH THE RUINS OF THE OLD TOWN OF PEC. © Reuters - Damir Sagolj AN UNDERWEIGHT COW PULLS A WAGON LOAD OF TIMBER IN KUMCHONG © Reuters - Str Old IMG_4207 © Florian seriex - Irak © Florian Seriex pour Action contre la Faim An aerial view of the holiday resort of Ton Sai Bay in Thailand's Phi Phi island, after a tsunami ... © REUTERS/Luis Enrique Ascu muttur © Eric Fenot pour Action contre la Faim A Haitian sells water next to a destroyed street market in downtown Port-au-Prince © REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz A man walks amid rubble of collapsed buildings after what activists said were air strikes by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Douma Eastern Al-Ghouta, near Damascus REUTERS/Mohammed Badra Yemen 2016 © Florian Seriex pour Action contre la Faim 010_dburgui_KAT_vincent01__MG_5719-1-1024x683 © Daniel Burgui pour Action contre la Faim AAH_kenya_22_0434 © Peter Caton pour Action contre la Faim ssd_whd2017-5_2 © Lys Arango & Guy Calaf pour Action contre la Faim HL_JHELAINE-5819 ©Julien Helaine pour Action contre la Faim France SSD_2020_COVID_PeterCaton_60 © Peter Caton pour Action contre la Faim 253043530_432716008213773_3534526159401571028_n © Chloé Ramdani / Z Event MD_UKR_ER_220308_GonzaloHöhr_059 (1) © Gonzalo Höhr pour Action contre la Faim REMI PORTIER_Grande CCF-6640 © Rémi Portier pour Action contre la Faim
1979

1st country office : Assistance to Afghan refugees in Pakistan

1982

Emergency response in Thailand to help Cambodian refugees

1985

Emergency response in Ethiopia to deal with famine

1990

Aid to the Kurdish people in exodus during the Gulf War

1992

Opening of a country office in Bosnia to provide medical and nutritional assistance to displaced people

1994

AICF is recognised as a public-interest organisation by the Ministry of the Interior. Genocide in Rwanda: Nutritional aid for refugees

1995

Opening of the Chechnya country office during the 1st Russian-Chechen war

1996

AICF becomes Action Against Hunger

1999

Emergency distribution in Kosovo

2000

Action Against Hunger withdraws from North Korea and denounces the manipulation of aid

2003

Opening of the country office in Iraq

2005

Action Against Hunger launches an emergency response after the tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka

2006

Killing of 17 Action Against Hunger aid workers by the army in Muttur, Sri Lanka. Closing of the country office in protest of the impunity of the crime

2008

"Hunger riots" in many countries of the Global South following a sharp rise in food prices

2011

Conflict in Syria begins in the context of the Arab Spring

2012

Country office opens in Yemen

2015

Emergency relief for 180,000 people after the Nepal earthquake

2017

Threat of famine in 4 countries : Yemen, Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia. New Action Against Hunger brand identity

2019

Major deterioration of the security situation in Nigeria with the murder of two of our aid workers and the abduction and execution of 4 other colleagues. An Action Against Hunger humanitarian died as a result of bombing in the city of Hodeida in Yemen.

2019

Opening of the France country office

2020

Global Covid-19 pandemic

2021

Action Against Hunger receives over €10m from the Z Event

2022

Conflict in Ukraine starts

2022

25 years of the Race Against Hunger

Leading the fight against hunger

Governance

AÏCHA KORAICHI
Robert Sebbag
benjamin Nguyen (1)
Irétie Lokonon
CAROLINE DIB
Stéphanie Charles
Manuel Carrard
Matthieu Yziquel
Jacques Serba
Antonio Lopez
Herrick Mouafo
Francisco-Rubio
LAURENT-BACOS_1321 (1)
Elvira Rodriguez Escudeiro
Bénédcite Fischer
Garance Mathias
marc lescaudron
Photo pro_AKP_AFD (2)
Violette Douillet
Photo identité couleur
Aïcha Koraichi
Chairman

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

Robert Sebbag
Vice-Chairman

One of the founding members of ACF in 1979.

Benjamin Nguyen
Treasurer

Benjamin Nguyen has a 25 years career in diverse NGOs.

Irétie Lokonon
Assistant Treasurer

Irétie Lokonon has been working in the international solidarity sector for around fifteen years.

Caroline Dib
Secretary general

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

Stéphanie CHARLES
Assistant secretary general

She has been involved with Action contre la Faim for 18 years as a member and volunteer in several delegations and at head office.

Manuel CARRARD
Member of the Board of Directors

A graduate from the superior school of journalism of Lille (ESJ Lille), with a master's degree in life sciences, he worked as a journalist for several titles in the French press for almost 10 years.

Matthieu YZIQUEL
Member of the Board of Directors

Matthieu has worked in the public and private sectors for 20 years, including public policies, building industry and social inclusion.

Jacques SERBA
Member of the Board of Directors

Jacques Serba is an Officer of the French National Order of Merit and a Commander of the French Order of Academic Palms.

Antonio Lopez
Member of the Board of Directors

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

Herrick Mouafo
Member of the Board of Directors

He is a lecturer in the academic community and his lessons are based on the “conflict transformation” or the “mutation by conflict” approach as a critical view of the identity notion while discussing the “relation” notion of Edouard Glissant.

FRANCISCO RUBIO
Member of the Board of Directors

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.

Laurent Bacos
Member of the Board of Directors

Laurent Bacos started his career in NGOs in 1995 with Action Against Hunger.

Elvira Rodriguez-Escudeiro
Member of the Board of Directors

She joined the Paris headquarters of La Chaîne de l'Espoir as Head of Institutional Financing to support the development of this portfolio within the organisation.

Bénédicte Fischer
Member of the Board of Directors

Bénédicte Fischer is a senior lecturer in public law.

Garance Mathias
Member of the Board of Directors

Garance Mathias founded Mathias Avocats over 20 years ago.

Marc Lescaudron
Member of the Board of Directors

Marc Lescaudron is a humanitarian professional for nearly 20 years and has been teaching professional master's courses in several universities.

Amandine KASHANI-POOR
Member of the Board of Directors

Coming soon.

Violette DOUILLET
Member of the Board of Directors

Involved in humanitarian work for the past eight years and recently resettled in France, Violette has been on assignment in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa

Alain Maïo
Member of the Board of Directors

A volunteer in Action against hunger since the end of 2017, Alain Maïo has been leading the Gard delegation since June 2018.

Executive board

Perrine BENOIST nb-min

Perrine Benoist

Temporary Chief Executive Officer

quote
Perrine Benoist will be in charge of the "Social Mandate & Institutional Representation" executive management. Perrine has been working in the humanitarian sector for 17 years. After a PhD on agri-food resilience in armed conflict, she spent 10 years in the field as Program Manager, Technical & MEAL Coordinator and then Head of Mission, and 7 years at headquarters as Desk, Research Manager and then Technical Director. She has worked for ACTED, Médecins du Monde, DRC, the European Union and most recently Handicap International. Perrine joined ACF last year as head of Expertise & Advocacy Department.
eric tran

Eric Tran

Temporary Chief Executive Officer

quote
Eric Tran will be in charge of the "Organizational Management and Private Funds" executive management. After graduating from HEC PARIS, his 28-year career in the private commercial sector (advertising, media and music) and then 10 years in the non-profit sector (health and social services, humanitarian and environmental) has given him all the strategic, technical and human skills required to respond effectively and calmly to the challenges we face. Eric knows ACF very well, having held the position of Administrative and Financial Director since March 2023, after having held this position on an interim basis in 2019.
Image

Elodie Andrault

Operations Director

quote
With a legal background, Elodie Andrault has 25 years' experience in humanitarian response management in emergency situations. She has held operational positions based in crisis zones, as well as leadership positions at the headquarters of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). She took her first position in the humanitarian sector on the field with Action contre la Faim (ACF) in Burundi, then in Myanmar and Chechnya, before joining Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Humanitarian Affairs department, then as Country Director in Chad, Nepal, Brazil, and Myanmar again. She was then Director of Crisis Action France before working as a consultant for several NGOs. She also trained in gender analysis with the Global Women Institute's Gender Pro at George Washington University, and in responses to sexual violence with the Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Studies.
Photo ID - BVIENOT

Benjamin Viénot

Logistics Director

quote
Benjamin spent 10 years in emergency humanitarian operations in Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, including 7 with Action contre la Faim. After developing expertise in Monitoring and Evaluation of humanitarian projects, he moved into Operations, notably as Country Director for ACF. He joined our organization's headquarters in 2022.
Lucie

Lucie Codiasse

Director of Communications and Development

quote
With a strong field experience in Iraq and Calais, Lucie has a 15 years experience in communications and marketing with international brands for the fight against hunger.
DSC02017-min2

Michael Siegel

Director of Advocacy

quote
With 15 years of work experience in advocacy, Michael Siegel joined Action contre la Faim in 2018, having previously worked for Oxfam and Secours Islamique France. Thanks to his field experience in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Zambia, Guatemala, Mali, Lebanon, the Philippines and Ethiopia, he has in-depth knowledge of the humanitarian and international development sector. After graduating from Sciences Po Lille and the London School of Economics in 2010, Michael initially worked for the French National AIDS Council in Paris and for public relations consultancies in London in the health, social-care and education sectors.
Fred

Frédéric Wehner

Director of Human Ressources

quote
Social rights expert and humanitarian, Frederic has built his career internationally with 360° jobs before specializing, since 10 years, in human resources management.
Photo Rodolphe ACF-min

Rodolphe Jacquier

Information Systems Director

quote
After working for several years in the private sector, Rodolphe Jacquier decided to join ACF in 2005. Having worked in support functions at head office, particularly in the field, he continues to develop the Information Systems sector for the whole organisation.
ACF_7777-min (1)

Loïc BLANCHARD

Audit, Risk and Compliance Director

quote
With a legal background specializing in health law, Loïc has over 15 years' experience in the social economy sector. Loïc joined ACF to participate in and steer the development of a unit dedicated to risk management (ARC Audit risque et conformité), a department which also plays a major role in the accountability of our association on numerous subjects such as the fight against fraud and the promotion of safeguarding, as well as the management of our risks and the quality of our internal control processes.
photo SJ CV

Séverine Jault

Chief Financial Officer

quote
Séverine holds a business school degree and has over 20 years' experience in accounting, working for accounting firms and international companies. During her time at an audit and accounting firm, she successfully completed a number of accounting assignments and digital transformation support projects, specialising in the development of innovative activities in the healthcare sector. She then spent 13 years working in various positions as Accounting Director/Administrative and Financial Manager (for US, German and French multinationals) with subsidiaries around the world, where she was responsible for implementing efficient and regular financial management in decentralised financial structures, international cash management and transformation support (digital and human).

Key figures

How we use the funds to fight hunger.
a b c

Distribution by type of expenditure

  • Programmes (88.4%)
  • FUNDRAISING (6.4%)
  • OPERATING COSTS (5.2%)
a b c

DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES BY ORIGIN

  • RESOURCES RAISED FROM THE PUBLIC (16.3%)
  • RESOURCES NOT LINKED TO PUBLIC GENEROSITY (7.7%)
  • SUBSIDIES AND OTHER PUBLIC FUNDING (76%)

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