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,[2] and also assist people who face injustice.[1] ActionAid works with over 15 million people in 45 countries to assist those people.[1]
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.[3][4] ActionAid's current strategy aims to "build international momentum for social, economic and
environmental justice, driven by people living in poverty and exclusion".[5] This includes running campaigns and providing training and resources for social movements.[6]
Tax and economic justice
ActionAid has been campaigning for tax justice since 2008, conducting research into the effects of various international tax treaties and supporting local people and organizations to hold their governments to account.[7] It argues that losing tax revenue to avoidance harms the world's poorest and most marginalized people, who depend on tax-funded
public services.[8][9] It is also often the case that the tax revenue lost in these treaties can exceed the amount of
international aid money send to developing countries.[10]
ActionAid integrates
women's rights into all of its programming and project work, but also undertakes campaigns that focus specifically on these issues.
ActionAid's advocacy work on
climate change focuses on
climate justice, guided by the experiences and needs of its country's programmes. Its most prominent engagement comes through the annual
Conference of Parties, where it supports communities
vulnerable to climate change to influence decision-making processes.
It calls for rich countries to live up to pledges of providing
climate adaptation grants[20][21][22] and pushes for agreements to improve the lives of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.[23] 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.[24]
Emergencies and humanitarian aid
ActionAid promotes women's leadership in humanitarian responses, arguing that women are best positioned to identify their needs and those of the communities around them in times of crisis.[25] Strengthening citizens' rights is also a focus, such as campaigning with Haitians for greater transparency and accountability in how aid money was spent after the
2010 Haiti earthquake.[26]
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 2010 in the
Indian ocean,[27] drought in East Africa[28][29] and India,[30] and floods in
Ghana,[31]Rwanda,[32]Sierra Leone,[33]Bangladesh and
Nepal.
On 4 October 2018 ActionAid announced that Pakistan government has ordered 18
international aid groups to leave the country.[34]
Child sponsorship
Child sponsorship is one of ActionAid's primary sources of income. Donors sponsor an individual child[35] from a community in a developing country and receive regular updates about the child's progress and development.
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.[36]
In 2018, ActionAid USA stopped using the child sponsorship method of fundraising, and switched to a monthly giving program.
Alliance-building
As ActionAid has grown in influence, building alliances with like-minded organisations has become a key focus area. Announcing this approach at the
World Social Forum in 2015,[37] ActionAid has played a role in convening civil society and community groups to tackle issues of youth political participation in the Middle East[38] and global
inequality.[39]
ActionAid also supported
Shyam Benegal's film, Samar, which is based on the book Unheard Voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives by
Harsh Mander.[41] The film raises issues about
Dalits.[40]