ActionAid

ActionAid
Formation 1972
Legal status Non-profit organization
Purpose ActionAid is a global movement of people working together to further human rights for all and defeat poverty
Location
  • Johannesburg (Headquarters)
Region served
Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Americas
Membership
Child sponsors
Chief Executive
 Adriano Campolina
Website ActionAid

ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide.[1]

ActionAid 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 on providing children with an education. Today its head office is located in South Africa with hubs in Asia, The Americas and Europe. The charity has received negative attention for its fundraising practices.

Supporting social causes through the mass media

ActionAid made India's first Bollywood film focusing on AIDS, Ek Alag Mausam, a love story involving HIV positive people, based on a script by playwright Mahesh Dattani.[2]

ActionAid also supported Shyam Benegal's film, Samar, which is based on the book Unheard Voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives by Harsh Mander.[3] The film raises issues about Dalits.[2]

Criticism

Charity Navigator recorded that in 2012 ActionAid USA had a high cost of fund raising (24%), with 53% of income spent on projects.[4] This was also reported in an International Business Times article in October 2014, which noted that the "accounting processes the charity uses resulted in its administrative costs appearing to be 'particularly high' in the fiscal year ending 2012, the timeframe Charity Navigator relied on when calculating its current Charity Navigator score."[5] Charity Navigator reports that for 2013 the cost of fundraising for ActionAid USA was much lower (9.4%), with 82.4% of income spent on projects.[4]

ActionAid has been criticized for spreading unsupported claims about adverse effects from consumption of some genetically engineered crops in Africa, in particular the unsupported claim of genetically engineered crops causing tumors and cancer. The organization apologized for their actions after publication in the media.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Who we are - ActionAid".
  2. 1 2 "'Ek Alag Mausam' based on AIDS". Smashits.com. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  3. ↑ http://www.hindu.com/2001/05/20/stories/1320017c.htm
  4. 1 2 "Charity Navigator Rating - ActionAid USA". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Connor Adams Sheets (10 October 2014). "Ebola Relief Charities: 5 Aid Groups To Avoid Donating To". International Business Times. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "ActionAid: The charity spreading 'groundless' fears over GM - World - News - The Independent". 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Ongu, Isaac (30 March 2015). "ActionAid in Africa ensnared by its own ugly GMO cancer scare tactics".

Further reading

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