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Action Contre la Faim
in Myanmar |
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 Action contre la Faim (ACF) is a
non-political, secular
international non-governmental
organisation (NGO) founded in
Paris in 1979 and now operating
in 43 countries.
Action contre la Faim originated
in Paris, France, but now has
operational head quarters in
Madrid, London, and New York.
Dedicated to emergency,
post-emergency and relief
assistance, our technical staff
are specialised in the fields of
nutrition, food security, health
and water/sanitation.
ACF conducted its first
exploratory mission in Myanmar
in 1993 and obtained its first
Memorandum of Understanding with
the Ministry of Health the
subsequent year. The most recent
MOU was signed in May 2007.
A medical programme, preceded by
a water and sanitation programme
linked to supplemental health
and hygiene programmes were
implemented in eastern Rakhine
State. Action contre la Faim
expanded its programmes into
northern Rakhine State to assist
in the return of refugees,
launching water and sanitation
programs in 1995 and food
security surveillance, with
subsequent family food programs
in 1996 and a nutrition
programme that opened in late
2003. Food security surveillance
in eastern Rakhine State began
in 2000 when a baseline survey
was conduced to determine the
underlying factors affecting
household food security. Action
contre la Faim programmes in
eastern Rakhine State closed in
end of 2005. In May 2006 ACF
started a three years project
supported by the European Union
with a food-security and water
and sanitation component.
Strategy and methodology
Action contre la Faim works with
the whole population of the
townships of intervention,
focusing on the most vulnerable
people and their basic needs.
We increasingly rely on the
motivation and participation of
the local population to
implement our projects as well
as the cooperation and
assistance of local health
professionals.
Human
resources
Due to Action contre la Faim's
intensive work with the
beneficiaries, we have a
relatively large national staff
base of 300 persons. Technical
assistance is provided through a
team of qualified expatriate
staff who come from all over the
world.
Brief description of ACF current
and recent programmes activities
in Northern Rakhine State
1. Nutrition programme
activities
2. Food security programme
activities
3. Water and sanitation
programme activities
Nutrition programme activities
The nutrition programme started
in 2003.
The current programme runs from
1st January 2007 to 31st
December 2007.
Action Contre la Faim’s
objective is to detect and treat
acute malnutrition cases amongst
the target population and to
prevent future malnutrition.
Supplementary Feeding programme
(Treatment of
moderate malnutrition and
prevention of severe
malnutrition)
In the SFC the beneficiaries
receive a dry ration of
therapeutic food that is only a
supplement to their normal
family meals.
11 mobile SFC teams and 2 fix
SFCs, covering a total of 22
village tracts in Maungdaw
downtown, Maungdaw Central
Plain, Buthidaung downtown and
Buthidaung South.
Stabilisation Centre, OTP and
home treatment programme
(Therapeutic Feeding
program)
(Treatment of severe
malnutrition)
In the SC , severely
malnourished beneficiaries
receive nutritional therapeutic
products and specific medical
care (systematic treatment and
Medical follow up). The first
phase of the treatment is done
in the center (day care) and the
second phase at home (through
Home treatment), or the whole
treatment is directly at home
according to the status of the
beneficiaries (Outpatient
Therapeutic Program - OTP).
Severely malnourished children
need close medical and
nutritional follow-up, along the
treatment.
2 SCs in Maungdaw downtown and
Buthidaung downtown.
Screening
In new areas: to inform and
sensitize the population about
the SFC role and implementation
in targeted hamlets of the
village tract.
In areas we already cover: to
detect and refer the
malnourished children to the
centers. Community approach will
be developed in 2007.
Home
visiting
For the SFC program: to monitor
the application of the education
messages by the beneficiaries,
to evaluate the hygiene of the
household, to provide care
practices education and to
monitor the use of the ration.
For the SC program: to monitor
the home treatment part of the
SC program (education,
measurement, nutritional and
medical follow up.)
Health
and nutritional Promotion
sessions
During each
distribution at the SFC,
nutritional education sessions
are provided to all
beneficiaries.
The main topics discussed during
these sessions are:
The three food groups, concept
of well balanced diets,
breastfeeding, care practices,
weaning food, personal and
environmental hygiene, diarrhoea,
malaria, vaccination, scabies
and skin infections.
Specific sessions are given
systematically for new
admissions. We take time to
explain the rules of the centre,
the importance of the treatment,
and how to prepare and give
porridge.
At the SC, everyday sessions are
organized on the same topics
mentioned above.
Care
practices and psychosocial
aspect of treatment
The psychosocial aspect of
treatment in malnutrition is
specifically following these
activities, and is responsible
for training of all the
nutrition staff.
The following are some of the
activities set up:
• Support given to the caretaker
(individual interview with each
beneficiary, opening of social
file for each beneficiary in the
day-care)
• Special attention and support
for building the relationship
between the caretaker and the
child (observation and
assessments of the
caretaker/mother-child
relationship by the team),
• Play sessions for
caretakers/mothers and children
• Activities for the
caretakers/mothers: sewing
clothes for their children, and
toys
• Focus Group discussions
• Home-visits and family
discussions when caretaker needs
some support to convince the
family of the necessity of daily
treatment of the child in
centers.
Food
Security programme activities
The food security programme
started in May 2006 for current
programme (2006 – 2009).
Food
security activities to improve
livelihoods and reinforce
self-sufficiency
In this programme, food security
activities are implemented to
improve livelihoods and
reinforce self-sufficiency. ACF
builds on its experience and
offers custom-made assistance
for the vulnerable population,
by increasing their access to
productive assets, economic
opportunities, and by
strengthening their support
networks through group
activities.
Two
types of support will
be offered depending on the
needs and constraints in each
intervention area:
Food
Production Activities (FPA):
Provision of necessary
agricultural inputs and small
livestock to vulnerable
households, to enhance food
production at the household
level.
Income
Generation Activities (IGA):
Provision of grants to those who
are interested and who have the
capacity and skills to start an
income generation activity.
Larger grants will be available
for group activities. Some
previous beneficiaries who have
well developed activities will
be networked together into
groups in order to share and
exchange best practices and
strengthen the social safety
nets.
Food
security surveillance activities
Food security surveillance is
conducted through ongoing
collection of data from the
field staff, and via analysis of
secondary information available.
This is critical for adapting
our activities to the
food-security situation of the
region.
Monthly market surveys are
conducted by ACF field staff;
collecting prices of household
items and food from all major
markets in the area. These data
are compiled in a database and
analysed for regular review.
During the life of this project
it is planned to conduct
quarterly household food
security surveillance
activities; ACF staff will
collect data in quarterly
household surveys at the hamlet
and household levels.
Water
and sanitation programme
activities
The water and sanitation
programme started in May 2006
for current programme (2006 –
2009).
Hydro and Hygiene Promotion
activities are two main
components of the programme.
HYDRO
PROGRAMME
→
Provision of safe and sufficient
water:
Mobilisation and sensitisation
of community leaders on the
project - Village selection
Community involvement is
imperative and a precursor to
ACF interventions with regard to
water provision. A number of
visits and sessions are held
with the communities to work
with them to identify the most
appropriate option for their
community. The feasibility study
includes the identification of
one or several potential sites
for the water point.
Construction or rehabilitation
of the water point(s)
ACF has developed a range of
technical solutions that can be
used depending upon local
constraints. These include
boreholes, wells, ponds, and
spring catchments. Our
intervention strategy gives
preference to deep underground
water sources, as they are
protected from superficial
floods and less vulnerable to
contamination.
Provision of sand filters
A sand filter programme is
implemented to reinforce the
usage of high iron content water
points. The filters are designed
to reduce the iron concentration
of the water at very low cost,
making it acceptable to drink by
beneficiaries.
Adapted hygiene education
sessions are developed to
support the sand filter
programme.
Training of water point
management Committees and
caretakers
ACF creates and promotes Water
Point Management Committees for
each water point built or
rehabilitated. The aim is to
develop their capacities and
self-sufficiency. The committees
are then autonomous to ensure
the sustainability of their
water point. ACF also tries to
reinforce ownership of the Water
Point by the community.
To ensure the proper maintenance
and repair of the facilities,
Water Point caretakers are
trained for each water facility
equipped with a hand pump. A
toolbox with the required tools
and starter spare parts is
provided to each committee.
→
Increased access to a sanitary
environment:
Provision of family and school
latrines
Family
latrines
The purpose of the family
latrine programme is to provide
villages with the possibility to
reduce the risks of faecal
contamination by using latrines.
The family latrine programme is
implemented in combination with
the water supply program and
hygiene promotion and consists
of the distribution of pan and
pipe kits in combination with
hygiene promotion.
School
latrines
The school latrine programme is
developed with the double
purpose of reducing faecal
contamination in schools and
creating an opportunity to
educate children at an age where
they are still very receptive to
new ideas. In addition,
providing schools with the same
resources and addressing
children with the same messages
as those targeted toward the
families, will provide the
reinforcement needed to lead to
greater chances of behavioural
change within the families.
HYGIENE
PROMOTION PROGRAMME
Hygiene
Promotion
Evolving from a basic programme
consisting solely of simple
education sessions, the hygiene
education promotion is done
through complementary methods:
education sessions, community
hygiene facilitators (CHF),
theatre and sketches, and home
visiting; and by covering
general and specific issues: for
example - basic hygiene
education and specific education
for latrine use.
The hygiene messages that are
provided to the population at
both individual and community
levels can be divided into the
various ways to prevent
diarrhoeal diseases:
1. Hand washing with ash, soap,
etc.
2. Protection of the water point
3. Water protection at all
stages between collection and
consumption
4. Latrine use and safe stool
disposal.
Hygiene
promotion sessions
Hygiene promotion sessions are
organising at the village level,
through interactive
methodologies. To maximize
audience participation, sessions
provide to a maximum of 30
women, men, and children,
separately. Each group receives
five sessions, covering the
above-mentioned topics.
Community Hygiene Facilitators (CHF)
In Community Hygiene
Facilitators (CHF) programme,
hygiene education is rooted in
the training of CHF who are
women or men from the village
that are interested and
motivated to invest in their
community and who are willing to
provide hygiene education to
their fellow villagers.
The ACF hygiene promotion
animators provide training to
the identified community hygiene
facilitators. Upon completion of
the training, ACF animators
continue to provide training in
the villages, incorporating the
community hygiene facilitator
into the training and gradually
handing over the responsibility
of training to them for the
future.
Hygiene
theatre and sketches
The hygiene promotion theatre
programme was launched to
increase the impact of hygiene
promotion on the general
population through the provision
of a cultural and entertaining
event.
This programme was implemented
by a group of hygiene promotion
theatre staff and this group
performing theatre, small
sketches and doing
demonstrations in an
entertaining way, for villagers.
Due to its heavy logistic needs,
the theatre cannot be carried
out everywhere. A “flying team”
of four actors develop shorter
sketches that can be adapted to
the audience.
Home
visiting
Women are involved daily in
fetching water, cooking, and
teaching children hygiene
behaviours but are generally
have poor access to information.
The home visiting programme to
strengthen hygiene education for
women, as they are often not
able to attend hygiene
programmes at the village level.
In addition, home visits can
provide the opportunity to reach
the extended family members and
evaluate, by observation,
household conditions and
changing responses as a result
of our programme.
The combination effect of
nutrition, food security, water
and sanitation (water supply,
increased access to sanitary
environment and hygiene
promotion) programmes should
have a big impact on the general
health of the population.
ACTION
CONTRE LA FAIM - MYANMAR
27, Kanbawza Yeikthar, Bahan,
Yangon, Union of Myanmar, P.O.
Box 1093
Tel : 95-1-502170, 534145 Fax :
95-1-510130
E-mail : ACF-MYANMAR@mptmail.net.mm
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