“It is very difficult for us to quickly repair the house and restart agricultural activity [following floodings in Bihar]. CFW helps people to buy food and to restart their activities” Read more…

Filed under: News on June 25th, 2009

Topics covered in this newsletter:

Focus Pakistan: Responding to the IDPs’ emergency

Haiti: Innovating in prevention and sensitization to water hygiene

Indonesia: May celebrations - Self-help group successes in Nias

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan: Reducing border tensions in the Ferghana Valley

Republic of Congo: Environment and economic development - meeting agricultural groups in the district of Mindouli

Europe and Uganda: The Karamoja region honoured at UNESCO

Afghanistan: exclusive use for the independent humanitarian actors

Sri Lanka: ACTED’s intervention

New projects: Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, CAR, Uganda…

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Click here to download the 55th issue of ACTED’s Newsletter

Click here to view our previous newsletters

Filed under: News, Newsletters on June 12th, 2009

Recognizing the challenges posed by post-earthquake livelihoods recovery and in achieving long term economic development in Nias, ACTED’s livelihoods project targets 26 communities in Nias. Trainings in best practice techniques relating to agriculture and fisheries is combined with inputs supply and the encouragement of self-help group development. To ensure that the project reaches as many local people as possible, community volunteers are trained to teach the techniques to their community members in what is called Farmer Field Schools (FFS). These volunteers are vital to the success of the program and will be key to maintaining the gains made in the communities after the project’s completion. ACTED in Indonesia’s Deputy Agro Program Manager, Sevi Waruwu, sat down with Arius, from Fadoro Hilimbowo village, a community volunteer who has recently completed training in January 2009. 

What do you like about volunteering with ACTED?

I am really interested in ACTED’s program, especially the intervention in agricultural sector. I still remember the program socialisation meeting where an ACTED staff member explained to my village that ACTED was to conduct trainings of trainers to selected volunteers on cultivating, harvesting and post-harvest handling of commodities such as cocoa, rubber, and vegetables. Then the volunteers would in turn train farmers in their own villages. I realized that most people in my village are farmers who own land with many cocoa and rubber trees but do not properly maintain the trees. The small harvest generated keeps farmers below the poverty line. In the beginning, I thought ACTED was just the same as other NGOs: I thought they would come to the field, do a distribution and leave this island. But in the end, I realized ACTED is different and special. I believe that the program’s activities will help me increase my knowledge and skills. And that is true. From my experience, it is a pleasure to interact with many people, to work with communities and nice to meet volunteers from other villages.

Read more…

Filed under: News on June 11th, 2009

During the winter months, most vulnerable families in northern Afghanistan suffer from an acute lack of food and fuel. In Baghlan and Faryab provinces, ACTED provided support to 4,233 beneficiaries through Cash for Work (CFW) activities and direct aid to the most vulnerable households with no men to directly participate in the works. The project took 5 months and was financed by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department.

The rural areas of Baghlan and Faryab, where the project took place, have so far received relatively little attention from the development community and the government. Especially in the project locations selected in Faryab, the poor and vulnerable have been forced to adapt drastic coping mechanisms to survive the winter. Examples are not hard to come by. In one of the targeted villages, Qarah Mullah Qurban, children were often seen sweeping dung and scraps of straw from the street to use as a fuel for cooking and heating, since the price of wood puts it out of reach of most Afghan families. Another family from Takhti Qeshlaq came to use animal fodder to bake bread, as it is cheaper then flour. Read more…

Filed under: News on June 11th, 2009

The village of Modelle in Haiti is an example of the people’s commitment in the activities of rehabilitation of the Artibonite river’s embankments and dykes.

The Artibonite Department in Haiti is highly vulnerable to flooding in the cyclonic season. In order to prevent the risk of flooding and to support the recovery of the local economy, ACTED is implementing, with the support of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department, the rehabilitation and cleaning of irrigation canals, embankments and dykes. The communities are an integrated part of these activities through the Cash for Work - CFW and Food for Work - FFW schemes.

Modelle village, located on the river Artibonite, is affected yearly by massive flooding (20 cm in 2008) which isolate the village, destroying crops, weakening mud houses and favoring the development of water-borne diseases. Those regular catastrophes burden the development perspectives for the inhabitants of Modelle. In March 2009, ACTED has started the rehabilitation of one kilometer of the river embankments alongside the village, in the framework of the project “Emergency intervention to improve the living conditions of the communities affected by flooding in the Lower Artibonite”. Read more…

Filed under: News on June 8th, 2009

Read more…

Filed under: News, Newsletters on June 7th, 2009

Situated at the extreme South-East of the Central African Republic, in an isolated region between the Sudanese and Congolese borders, the Haut-Mbomou prefecture is witnessing a new enthusiasm for ACTED’s new strategy focusing on local development. While most of the humanitarian activities are taking place in the North and the West, the opening of this new area of intervention will allow ACTED to exert its influence on the western part of the territory, and to become an innovative actor in terms of sustainable actions on the field, by setting up a program supporting regional economic recovery.

It took almost 2 days by bike for Ibrahima to travel the 45 kilometres separating him from “the pretty Zémio”. Nicknamed as such in the thirties, the Haut Mbomou sub-prefecture attracted the breeder not so much because of its palm trees or its river where some hippopotamus paddle, but because he wanted to meet with ACTED’s team, located on the main street since the beginning of March 2009. Everything happened very fast: in two days, the office was opened; one month later, the team recruitment was finalized by Aurélie, the bubbly yet determined project manager. The needs are tremendous and pressing, the expectations as well. The core of the program aims at supporting local development actors, which is key to a better understanding of regional economic potentials and to the elaboration of a prefectural Development Plan. Read more…

Filed under: News on June 5th, 2009

Since 2004, ACTED has been working to prevent the regular pandemics of cholera and water-borne diseases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thanks to the implementation of projects of access to clean water and to sanitation facilities for the local populations.

Indeed, limited access of the populations to clean water and precarious hygiene conditions lead to regular cholera pandemics and other water-borne diseases in DRC, notably in the Eastern part of the country and in the Katanga and Southern Kivu provinces where ACTED is active. Read more…

Filed under: News on June 1st, 2009

ACTED to provide emergency relief to 30,000 families in war torn Pakistan

Peshawar, Pakistan: Less than 9 months after the dramatic events in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) which caused the displacement of 500,000 people, a new Pakistani army offensive against Taliban militants has triggered a major humanitarian crisis in Northern Pakistan. According to UN estimates as of May 25th 2009, over 2 million people - many of whom are children women, and elderly - have fled from Swat, lower Dir, Buner and Shangla since the end of April as a result of ongoing fighting and increased insecurity, bringing the total internally displaced persons (IDP) in the North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan to an astonishing 2.5 million.

REUTERS - Adrees Latif - courtesy www.alertnet.org - Camp in Mardan - 2009

Read more…

Filed under: News on May 27th, 2009

In the wake of the Israeli operations in Gaza last December and January, thousands of families are struggling to cope with the loss of their homes, livelihoods and loved ones. ACTED is on the ground providing emergency services to those most in need.

In the aftermath of this intervention, the population of Gaza is facing a devastating humanitarian crisis. The ongoing needs are immense. Thousands of homes need to be rebuilt, agricultural land rehabilitated, fishing boats repaired and irrigation networks restored. ACTED is on the ground working with local partners to provide cash assistance, access to fresh food and income to farmers whose livelihoods were destroyed in the Israeli military offensive. Read more…

Filed under: News on May 25th, 2009

Download the Quaterly issue of ACTED AME Newsletter (issue #6) - in low resolution here (1 Mo) -

Find our previous issues here

Filed under: News, Newsletters on May 24th, 2009

Thousands of lives are at risk in Sri Lanka because aid to Internally displaced People is being restricted by difficulties in securing access for staff and vehicles international agencies said today.

As a result of the restrictions, agencies cannot adequately provide urgently needed services including food and water to people who are almost totally reliant on aid.

Heads of agencies stated, “The camps in Sri Lanka are huge. They stretch over 1,000 acres and take nearly an hour to walk across. Without vehicles we can’t do our work properly and that’s putting lives at risk.

“Thousands of people are arriving from the war zone in a very weak condition. We’re very worried about their health, with small children and the elderly being particularly at risk. Keeping aid agencies out will only make their condition more critical.

“We’re asking the Sri Lankan government to adhere to the guiding principles agreed, by them with the humanitarian community and to let us do our job properly.”

As UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon prepares to visit the camps, the agencies called on the Sri Lankan government to allow better access to the camps and to drop the restrictions, which have been in place since the weekend.

The camps in the north of the country are still expanding with traumatised people pouring in from the conflict zone. They already hold 270,000 people. The military have told aid agencies to expect up to another 50,000 Internally Displaced People in the next few days. The new arrivals are the people who were held in the conflict zone by the Tamil Tiger rebels until their defeat on Sunday.

Circulated on behalf of

Oxfam, ASB/Solidar, ACTED, Danish Refugee Council, ZOA Refugee Care, Forut, UMCOR, Relief International, Handicap International, Save the Children, Welthungerhilfe, CARE, World Vision, Medical Teams International

Filed under: News on May 22nd, 2009

Topics covered in this newsletter:

Focus Microfinance Conference Convergences 2015: Financing Development. Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals

Sri Lanka: Acute Emergency

DRC: ACTED’s expertise in fighting against cholera

Occupied Palestinian Territories: The Aftermath of the Fightings, Mitigating Food Insecurity for Gaza’s Poorest Families

CAR: Zandé Country, ACTED pioneer in the fight against poverty

Indonesia: Agro volunteers, a successful experience in Nias

Haiti: The commitment of local populations, a key to disaster reduction and risk preparedness

India: “CFW helps people to buy food and to recommence their activities”

Afghanistan: The challenge of beneficiary selection process

New projects: Chad, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan, Uganda…

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Click here to download the 54th issue of ACTED’s Newsletter

Click here to view our previous newsletters

Filed under: News, Newsletters on May 15th, 2009

ACTED, Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development has been active in DRC for more than 6 years with a staff of 420 employees working over 4 regional offices and 10 local offices in the Provinces of Katanga, Southern Kivu and Equateur. Since May 2008, ACTED has been implementing emergency programmes in Katanga and Southern Kivu for returnees with the support of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department.

Difficulties related to the repatriations of refugees are numerous. Therefore, ACTED promotes the reintegration of refugees in their returning zones, through a multisectoral approach with the reconstruction of housings, the rehabilitation of sanitation and health infrastructures as well as access roads and the access of the populations to potable water.

For more information on our activities in DRC, please click here.

Filed under: News on May 11th, 2009

To respond to the rapid influx of Internally Displaced People in Vavuniya district in Sri Lanka, ACTED has stepped up its efforts to provide much needed water, sanitation facilities and Non Food Relief Items to IDPs. ACTED - with the financial support of its donors - European commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department, Centre de Crise/French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UMCOR and OFDA - supports over 15,000 people through emergency relief aid. Over 100,000 IDPs have managed to leave the conflict zone in recent days adding to a caseload of 70,000 who had escaped in recent weeks. ACTED remains extremely concerned by the suffering of several thousands of people still trapped in the conflict zone.

Filed under: News on April 23rd, 2009

Filed under: News on April 9th, 2009

Topics covered in this newsletter:

Focus Mapping in Labutta (Myanmar): GIS in a disaster area

Occupied Palestinian Territories: West Bank families face freezing temperatures with ACTED’s support

Occupied Palestinian Territories: ACTED in partnership with Shelter Box provides immediate shelter for Gaza families

Kyrgyzstan: Presentation of Visual Information Materials for Dehkan Farmers

Chad: “ACTED reduces our reliance”

Lebanon: Improved living conditions for vulnerable families in North Lebanon

South Sudan: Success story in Mapel village

Uganda: ACTED - a policymaker on Voucher-for-Work projects in Northern Uganda

Dispatches from the field: Indonesia, Afghanistan…

New projects: CAR, Haiti, Pakistan, Chad, Tajikistan, Congo Brazzaville…

Click here to view this Newsletter online

Click here to download the 53rd issue of ACTED’s Newsletter

Click here to view our previous newsletters

Filed under: News, Newsletters on March 27th, 2009