Our actions
Our 199 projects are carried out in 25 countries by 3,007 national employees, 219 expatriates and 139 head office staff.
Having become Première Urgence Internationale in 2011, the organization is now active in 25 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, engaging in direct aid for populations suffering crises.
Our presence in the world
Our expertise
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Food Security and Livelihood
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Health
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Mental health and psychosocial support
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Nutrition
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Protection
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Water, sanitation and hygiene
Food Security and Livelihood
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food security exists when “all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. Food security is based on four major elements: availability, access, utilization and stability of these three components over time.
On the ground, Première Urgence Internationale deploys three types of Food security and Livelihood activities:
- Cash transfers: this type of intervention provides monetary assistance to people affected by a crisis in a technical intervention sector. Money can be distributed in the form of cash (money, cheque, bank card, bank transfer), vouchers with monetary value or goods (food vouchers),
- New information and communication technologiesw: this means we can improve the efficiency of our projects by using tools such as tablets, computers, cell phones and software to ensure better follow-up of people receiving support services,
- Partnerships, participation and coordination: links with local organizations, social centers, foundations, research institutes, etc. provide specific thematic expertise.
Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
Primary Health Care (PHC) is the fundamental pillar of health actions and the main priority of Première Urgence Internationale. Primary healthcare is implemented through mobile clinics or support for health structures, whether temporary (in refugee camps, for example) or permanent.
The secondary health care level includes care requiring more specific or more advanced management (from diagnosis to treatment and rehabilitation), which is carried out in a structure with specialized equipment and laboratory facilities. Secondary health care (SSS) is provided in referral hospitals – or other facilities with specialists – and primarily in primary care hospitals.
Specialized care is the third component of Première Urgence Internationale’s health intervention framework. It is integrated into a global public health approach, enabling a true continuum of care between the different levels.
Mental health and psychosocial support
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as a state of well-being in which each individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. The positive dimension of mental health is also emphasized in the WHO’s definition of health, as set out in its constitution: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity“.
This is why mental health must be seen as a continuum that includes well-being, psychological suffering, distress and mental disorder. It’s a continuum where there are multiple forms of symptoms and intensity, and on which we, as individuals, are constantly moving as a result of life events, our ability to cope, our environment and our biological factors.
Nutrition
Malnutrition is defined as an imbalance between nutrient intake and the body’s needs. In a broad sense, it refers to both undernutrition (dietary deficiency) and overnutrition (unbalanced diet with excessive caloric intake in relation to energy requirements, with or without sufficient intake of nutrient-rich foods).
At Première Urgence Internationale, the management of acute malnutrition includes several components:
- Community outreach to encourage community participation, early detection, referral of acute malnutrition cases and follow-up of problem cases;
- The management of severe acute malnutrition in the care of children aged 6-59 months with no medical complications;
- The management of severe acute malnutrition in the care of hospitalized children aged 6-59 months with medical complications and hospitalized acutely malnourished children aged less than 6 months ;
- Outpatient management of moderate acute malnutrition for children aged 6 to 59 months.
Protection
Première Urgence Internationale recognizes the definition of protection adopted by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and the humanitarian community as “all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual, in accordance with the letter and spirit of the relevant bodies of law”.
To complement the IASC definition, the European Commission has defined humanitarian protection as “aimed at reducing and combating the risks of violence, coercion, deprivation and man-made abuse of individuals and groups of people in the context of humanitarian crises, in accordance with the principles of humanitarianism or humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and within the framework of the corpus of international law, and in particular international human rights law (IHRL), international humanitarian law (IHL) and refugee law”.
Water, sanitation and hygiene
The WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) sector is one of the three main areas of humanitarian aid.
Première Urgence Internationale works in emergency situations where affected populations have to cope with deteriorating environmental, water, hygiene and sanitation conditions, putting their health at risk.
Our major objectives are to :
- Provide sufficient water for drinking, cooking, personal and domestic hygiene,
- Protect all water sources from pollution
- Ensure that people in crisis situations can store drinking water safely,
- Provide facilities for the crisis-affected population to defecate safely and healthily,
- Raising awareness of possible diseases and their prevention,
- Provide inputs for implementing good hygiene practices
Our cross-cutting issues
Première Urgence Internationale uses an innovative operational method designed to recognize the complexity of humanitarian situations, and to identify and understand all the needs of people affected by a crisis.
Its aim is to better target priority actions to stabilize and then improve the situation of the most vulnerable groups, and to ensure the coordination of all players in the field. It makes it possible to take into account all the dimensions of a problem and to propose a combination of efficient and effective solutions based on our sectors of intervention, and to have a strong and lasting impact for the populations.
This “integrated” approach also takes into account the cross-cutting issues linked to humanitarian action.
What is an exploratory mission ?
The exploration phase is an essential part of any humanitarian intervention. It enables us to analyze immediate and priority humanitarian needs on the ground, and to assess the relevance of intervening.
The first step is to assess access in an area where a population has been affected by a crisis – caused by war, economic collapse, climate-related disaster or public health emergency.
The aim is to analyze the priority needs of this population, from the angle of food security, water, hygiene and sanitation, primary health, mental health and psychosocial support, protection and shelter, in order to define an appropriate response strategy. The exploratory mission also enables us to assess the legal, administrative, logistical, financial and human resources requirements for launching an emergency operation, and possibly opening a mission.
Taking into account the environmental impact of our humanitarian actions
Today, humanitarian aid is deployed on a planet that is the victim of a phenomenon now known to all: climate change. That’s why Première Urgence Internationale is directly affected by these new environmental and climatic challenges and has been mobilizing since 2019 on the issue, which has now become a central element of our strategy.
Première Urgence Internationale takes into account climate and environmental disruptions and their effects (catastrophic climatic hazards, extreme heat, droughts, floods, loss of productivity in agricultural production, pollution…), and tends to adapt its modes of intervention to meet the new needs created by their consequences. It also aims to reduce the impact of its interventions on the environment, and to ensure that the risks to the communities concerned and their natural environment are minimized.