| Type | Charity |
|---|---|
| Registration No. | 208724 |
| Founded | February 1951 |
| Location | 44-48 Shepherdess Walk, London N1 7JP |
| Motto | Poverty Is Political |
| Formerly called | Association For World Peace |
| Website | www.waronwant.org |
War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while supporting organisations in developing countries. War on Want's slogan is "poverty is political" and its stated focus is on the root causes of poverty rather than its effects, and it places importance on enabling people in poverty to solve their own problems.
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To achieve its goal of poverty eradication, War on Want works with grassroots partner organisations in the developing world, and campaigns in the UK to raise public awareness and change government policy.
In its campaigning and programmes strands of work, War on Want focuses on
Organisations supported include ones that help child labourers in Guatemala, olive farmers in the Palestinian territories and factory workers in China.
War on Want has released a series of 'alternative reports' highlighing issues such as Coca-Cola's overseas activities allegedly causing poverty and environmental damage. They also recently released research on private military and security companies in Iraq and elsewhere being involved in human rights abuses, and a report highlighting how companies such as Tesco, Primark and Asda sell goods made by sweatshop labour in Bangladesh. War on Want's campaigns on corporations call for the British government to regulate these industries as well as the businesses themselves to take responsibility for their actions.
At the 2006 and 2007 Q Awards the magazine named War on Want its official charity.
The organisation was formed in 1951 after a letter from Victor Gollancz to The Guardian was read by the future Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who coined the name. Since then, the organisation has taken part in many campaigns and investigations, including in the 1970s helping to expose baby food companies marketing powdered milk infant formula as a healthier option than breast milk to mothers in the developing world - a dangerous and expensive option for these mothers who had no access to safe drinking water and sterilisation facilities.
In the 1980s, War on Want campaigned on the role of women in the developing world, and supported liberation movements in Eritrea, South Africa and Western Sahara.
From 1983 to 1987, George Galloway was General Secretary of War On Want. The Daily Mirror accused him of living luxuriously at the charity's expense. An independent auditor cleared him of misuse of funds, though he did repay £1,720 in contested expenses. More than two years after Galloway stepped down as General Secretary to serve as a Labour MP, the British Government's Charity Commission investigated War on Want, finding accounting irregularities including that the financial reports were "materially mis-stated"[1] from 1985 to 1989, but little evidence that money was used for non-charitable purposes. Galloway had been general secretary for the first three of those years. The commission said responsibility lay largely with auditors and did not single out individuals for blame. War On Want was found to have been insolvent, and subsequently dismissed all its staff and went into administration. It was rescued and relaunched in 1991.
In the 1990s, it focused on issues that resulted from globalisation, including workers' rights and a call to set up a Tobin Tax on currency speculation. The charity set up the Tobin Tax Network (now a separate charity called Stamp Out Poverty) to develop the proposal and press for its introduction.
In 2006 War on Want launched a campaign for Palestinian human rights, including a report titled Profiting from the Occupation, which looked at European corporations who the charity claim are profiting from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.[2] The campaign was praised by The Guardian at the time, naming the charity "Campaign of the Week".[3] In 2007 complaints that the charity was running politicised campaigns that defamed the state of Israel were investigated by the Charity Commission.[4] In 2007 MP Lee Scott complained to the Commission about an online "guide for boycott, divestment and sanctions" against Israel; War on Want said it already had permission from the Commission to advocate boycotts and sanctions in order to address "the root causes of poverty and human rights abuses".[5] In July 2009 the Commission concluded that no regulatory action was required, declaring itself satisfied that the charity's trustees understood the official guidance on campaigning by charities and that War on Want's campaigns on Palestine were linked to its charitable objects, making them legitimate under charity law.[6]
In 2011, War on Want marked its 60th anniversary[7] with a repeat of the Yes campaign that first formed the charity, asking people to email the word Yes to show their support for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. They delivered the petition to Foreign Secretary William Hague.[8]
In 2010, War on Want's[9] campaign "Help win justice for the Palestinian people this Christmas"[10] accuses Israel of "illegal Occupation," "daily human rights abuses," and "the siege on Gaza and the Apartheid Wall." As in previous years, this NGO calls for holiday donations in the form of "alternative gifts," in order to "launch a sustained campaign against UK companies that are profiting from the Occupation" and to "secure compensation for those who have lost land due to construction of the Apartheid Wall."[10]
Expenditure in 2007/2008 was £2 million, of which £1.1 million went towards international programmes, £500,000 for campaigning and development education, £320,000 towards fundraising, and £59,000 for management and administration.[11]
War on Want has issued numerous statements of solidarity with organisations and movement all over the world. In October 2009, War on Want issued a statement of solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo in response to the ANC affiliated attacks on the Kennedy Road informal settlement and wrote a letter to the South African High Commissioner in London.[12][13] The charity also spearheaded a campaign highlighting the forced displacement of poor South Africans in the lead-up to the 2010 World Cup.
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