Our role

Action Against Hunger firmly believes that no child should suffer from acute malnutrition and that acute malnutrition can be overcome.

Every day, tens of thousands of professionals around the world work around the clock to save children dying from acute malnutrition. Action Against Hunger addresses acute malnutrition on several fronts:

Identification and diagnosis

• Analysing the nutritional situation at community level, identifying the causes of malnutrition and the risk factors

Treatment and nutritional care

• Through home treatment, mobilising communities and developing nutritional products for the most vulnerable people, including those suffering from diseases such as HIV and AIDS or tuberculosis

Prevention and risk reduction

• In all areas of intervention: promoting an integrated, multi-sectoral approach through food security, public health and access to water, hygiene and sanitation

Strengthening capacity and sustainability

• Integrating actions and services to fight against malnutrition into Ministry of Health programmes and public health structures, to ensure they are sustainable over time 

• Sharing its know-how and expertise from decades of experiences around the world with local organisations, developing strong local capacity, and building long-term alliances.

Research and innovation

• Striving constantly to improve the quality and the impact of Action Against Hunger’s work

Political impact

• Communicating widely through outreach campaigns, advocacy and coordinated activities that acute malnutrition, the leading cause of infant mortality, is perfectly preventable

• Promoting access to nutrition treatment through community-based programmes

• Encouraging innovation and research to develop effective nutritional products

• Establishing an integrated approach, extending from assessment to treatment to prevention, and including both causes and consequences of malnutrition.