Product Code Database
ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose stated primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide.
ActionAid is a federation of 45 country offices that works with communities, often via local partner organisations, on a range of development issues. It was founded in 1972 by Cecil Jackson-Cole as a child sponsorship charity (originally called Action in Distress) when 88 UK supporters sponsored 88 children in India and Kenya, the primary focus being is providing children with an education, further the human rights for all, assisting people that are in poverty, assisting those who face discrimination, and also assist people who face injustice. ActionAid works with over 15 million people in 45 countries to assist those people.
Today its head office is located in South Africa with hubs in Asia, the Americas and Europe. ActionAid was the first big INGO to move its headquarters from the global north to the global south. ActionAid's current strategy aims to "build international momentum for social, economic and environmental justice, driven by people living in poverty and exclusion". This includes running campaigns and providing training and resources for social movements.
In 2011, ActionAid revealed that 98% of the UK's FTSE 100 companies use tax havens. In 2013 its research into corporate tax avoidance in Zambia showed that Associated British Foods were avoiding paying millions of dollars in corporate tax.
Notable examples have included raising awareness about unpaid care work and sexual harassment and violence (including acid attacks) in Bangladesh, offering free cancer tests to women in Nigeria who could not afford them, and tackling female genital mutilation in Sweden. ActionAid's Who pays? report concerning the impact of supermarket on the income and lives of women in the developing world was listed for debate under an early day motion in the UK's House of Commons in 2007.UK Parliament, ActionAid Who Pays? Campaign, tabled on 18 May 2007, accessed on 5 March 2025
It calls for rich countries to live up to pledges of providing climate adaptation grants and pushes for agreements to improve the lives of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. ActionAid was also critical of climate insurance policies, such as those purchased by Malawi in 2015, since those insurance policies fail to deliver when they are desperately needed.
As it has established relationships with communities and other NGOs in countries that are prone to ecological events, ActionAid is often able to respond quickly to emergencies. Notable crises and responses have included the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 in the Indian Ocean, drought in East Africa and India, and floods in Ghana, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Nepal.
On 4 October 2018 ActionAid announced that Pakistan government had ordered 18 international aid groups (including itself) to leave the country.
Sponsorship funds support the child's whole community, "so children have a healthy and safe place to live and grow up." This support takes the form of providing clean water, healthcare, agricultural programmes, education centres in areas where schools are not available, and community income generation schemes.
In 2018, ActionAid USA stopped using the child sponsorship method of fundraising, and switched to a monthly giving program.
ActionAid also supported Shyam Benegal's film, Samar, which is based on the book Unheard Voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives by Harsh Mander. The film raises issues about .
Marco De Ponte is currently a member of the Global Leadership Team and also at the helm of ActionAid Italia since 2001. He has led ActionAid's expansion into new countries and is a well known civil society leader in Italy and internationally. He has previously engaged extensively, in particular as a human rights activist with Amnesty International and in the field of humanitarian assistance. He is on the coordination committee of the Italian Inequality Forum Forum Diseguaglianze e Diversità and has published extensively on issue of social justice and public policy.
Notable leaders
Javeria Malik is the first Pakistani woman to lead the Global Safety and Security Unit at ActionAid International and was featured on the official website of International Women's Day 2022. INSSA Insights has featured Javeria as the first female Chairperson of the International NGO Safety & Security Association. Her interview published by the city security magazine was nominated for the best article of the year award. She was interviewed by Global Interagency Security Forum to speak on the topic of inclusivity and Anti-racism in the nonprofit and aid sector.
Further reading
External links
|
|
