Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA) was established in 1994 with several like-minded individuals, in response to the atrocities of the Rwandan genocide.
More than a decade later AHA continues to provide life saving humanitarian assistance to refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and local communities across Africa. To date more than 12 million people affected by crisis have benefited from the support of AHA, in 17 different countries: Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (DR), Ethiopia, Guinea (Rep), Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia.
What we do
Capacity Development
To this end, AHA runs a broad range of capacity development programs, addressing the varying needs of diverse groups of people across Africa. Be it training community health workers in Ethiopia, rehabilitating dams in Sudan or initiating agro-forestry programs in Namibia AHA works to strengthen the capacities of affected populations, promoting self reliance in order to realise effective and long lasting change.
HIV/AIDS Prevention
AHA is dedicated to providing the necessary information and services to enable and empower vulnerable communities to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS. Prevention and community mobilization are key to our work and we run many programs to this end. Activities include: information, education and communication campaigns (IEC), awareness raising sessions, anti-AIDS clubs, peer education programs, sensitisation campaigns, youth programs, and condom distribution. To compliment such activities we produce outreach materials, set up resource centres, and host events and support outreach activities such as drama, poetry and music presentations.
Public advocacy
AHA brings an importance to all African voice to the otherwise northern dominated international humanitarian field. AHA advocates for:
Healthcare
AHA places special emphasis on investing in health to reduce poverty through addressing the physical, mental and social wellbeing of vulnerable populations. At the heart of our work is community based healthcare, where assisted populations are both partners in and beneficiaries of the services we deliver. We not only care for affected populations but also seek to empower them, by supporting individual health needs and providing training and employment to community health workers. We recruit local doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff and train community members to deliver education and support services. Through building the capacity of a community to serve its own needs, we enable people to achieve self reliance and sustainable outcomes.
AHA also plays an active role in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Global Health Cluster, working at both international and country levels as part of the Cluster Leadership Approach, with WHO as the lead agency.
In providing the following services AHA seeks to deliver holistic care to those who need it and make lasting improvements to devastated healthcare systems:
Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV)
AHA Activities include: medical response, psychosocial care and support, referral, safety and redress, community sensitization, training, educational workshops, awareness raising, campaigning, collaboration and co-ordination with stake holders, and safe and ethical data collection.
Relief and recovery
AHA provides multi-sectoral support in relief and recovery to vulnerable populations throughout Africa; predominantly working with victims of forgotten and protracted crisis. In such a context, communities – in particular women and girls – face numerous challenges to securing a protective environment.
