In our fight to end poverty and injustice, promoting just and democratic governance lies right at the heart of our work.
We put people in control of their own lives: to ask questions, make decisions and hold their governments and institutions to account.
We do this because we know it is the most effective way to end poverty for good. History shows us that when people have control over their own lives and the decisions that affect them, they have more freedom and experience greater equality.
Power tends to be concentrated in the hands of a few. Powerful groups and people can and do control economies, cultures and political processes. This concentration hits poor people the hardest.
More poor and excluded people are being denied their human rights and basic freedoms. Whether in the slums of Kenya, the forests of Brazil or the factories of Thailand: inequality and injustice is getting worse.
Locally and globally in villages, cities and the corridors of power, ActionAid works to deliver significant change and to ensure citizens shape the state in which they live.
At the international level
Our International Financial Institutions team includes members from Africa, Asia, North and South America and Europe. Members in different countries use ActionAid's international perspective and research to influence the policy and practice of institutions like the IMF and the World Bank within their country.
At the national level
India - ActionAid has supported surveys and studies in many parts of India to help the Indian government assess whether families have enough food. The information was used to help draft an Act that guarantees every rural household has 100 days of employment a year.
Nigeria - Through a Public Finance Analysis project in Nigeria, ActionAid is helping poor communities in six states analyse their local state budgets and hold their local officials accountable.
Kenya - ActionAid's support of the Women's Agenda Network has played a vital role in providing a voice for Kenyan women in national politics.
At a local level
Ethiopia - we support a network of women who are training and improving the chances of women candidates to be elected into parliament. This has played a role in more than doubling the number of women representatives at the last elections from 42 to 117.
Brazil, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, the Gambia, and Cambodia - ActionAid provides training on monitoring and tracking budgets. This helps local people hold a range of organisations accountable, which have a direct impact on their lives, from schools, to health authorities, to national governments.
Killer facts
- The 45 sub-Saharan countries that are members of the International Monetary Fund share 4.4 percent of an IMF vote. The USA alone has over 16 per cent of the vote.
- According to the United Nations, of the 140 countries that hold multiparty elections, only 80 are 'fully' democratic.
- Close to half the world's population live in countries that are not fully democratic.
