News releases from 2011

The international community must seize the chance to put countries in the driving seat of their own development as the fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness opens in Busan, Korea.

The Trans-African Caravan of Hope is an awareness-raising campaign organised by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) which is travelling across 10 countries on a mission to tell the African story of climate change.

Clive Anderson, Jo Brand, Charles Dance, Nicholas Owen and James Purefoy became the sharpest of wine buffs and wine bluffers last night at ActionAid's celebrity fundraising event, Call My Wine Bluff - the lively wine lover’s adaptation of the classic TV game show.

World's second-richest man joins our calls for a Robin Hood Tax and urges the worlds’ richest leaders to maintain their commitments to international aid.

On Thursday 17 November, celebrities and guests will gather at the Renaissance Five Star Hotel to raise money at ActionAid's fundraising event for ending poverty, ensuring that children in poor countries have the chance to go to school and build a better life for themselves and their families.

ActionAid ambassador Emma Thompson meets Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi against a backdrop of increasing change in the country.

Emma Thompson discusses her visit to Burma (Myanmar) with ActionAid, and tells us how the country is changing, the difference ActionAid supporters are making, and what it was like to meet Aung San Suu Kyi

Enrico Eminae, the man leading ActionAid’s response to the crisis, travelled to five locations in the UK to thank supporters in person for their generosity

We polled 1000 women across Afghanistan to obtain a rare insight into their opinions about living through the last 10 years of war.

The most vulnerable people are the worst affected by the huge floods in India and Pakistan.

As hunger turned to famine in east Africa, ActionAid’s emergency response delivered life-saving food and water. But it is child sponsorship that has created the basis for this vital work.

ActionAid's Real Aid 3 report reveals an increase in good quality aid which is helping to free countries from aid dependency.

Heavy monsoon rains have started to cause havoc across large parts of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India with Nepal now facing severe floods.

To commemorate ActionAid’s tenth anniversary of campaigning against poverty at Reading Festival, Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens visited work run by young people in Kenya. This included a newspaper that combats corruption, and a radio station in the Korogocho slum.

Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor (aka Webster) served up ActionAid's sparkling rose wine, Millione, at a wine-tasting in Manchester

Donations from the UK public to the DEC appeal to help people suffering from severe food shortages in East Africa have topped a milestone £20 million.

DEC agencies prepare to scale up work in Somalia. Member agencies of the Disasters Emergency Committee are preparing to scale up the work they are already doing in Somalia, as thousands continue to flee to Kenya and Ethiopia to escape drought and conflict. Nine of the 14 agencies that make up the DEC are working in the Somalia directly or through partners. The existing humanitarian crisis in the country caused by the conflict has been compounded by the severe drought affecting the region.

Businesses face the risk of seriously damaging their reputation if they do not make tax planning part of their corporate responsibility programmes, says anti-poverty charity ActionAid.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has announced details of the radio and television broadcasts to run today (Friday) to help more than 10 million people in the grip of the worst drought seen in parts of East Africa in over half a century.

In the face of the worst drought in East Africa since the 1950’s, the agencies of the Disasters Emergency Committee said today (Wednesday, 6.7.11) they face a funding shortfall of more than £85m for their emergency response in the region.

The drought has withered crops, killed cattle and led to massive increases in food prices. More than 10 million people are now affected over large areas of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and the rest of the region.

Recurring droughts have taken parts of east Africa to the point of collapse. Hawa Halaile from Kenya tells us of closed waterholes, and children no longer able to go to school.

Our sparkling wine with a heart, Millione, has now raised enough money to start work on two primary schools in Sierra Leone.

18-year-old Eshwaramma Nrayanappa – a quadriplegic former sponsored child – has won a Diana Award in recognition of her contribution to the rights of children living with disability in India.

ActionAid's youth arm are looking for one lucky winner to live the dream of being an intrepid backstage reporter interviewing bands like The Strokes, Muse, Pulp & My Chemical Romance.

Mark witnessed the impact of child sponsorship first-hand on his recent visit to Senegal.

Over 90% of people think supermarkets treat farmers and suppliers "unacceptably"

One of Britain’s favourite Olympic champions, Sally Gunnell, is taking on the Great Ethiopian Run with anti-poverty charity ActionAid and is asking runners to get on their marks and join her on this 10K challenge.

ActionAid today launched an innovative anti biofuels campaign targeting Transport Secretary Philip Hammond by using adverts on buses which stop outside his office.

The Independent Commission for Aid Impact has today published a work plan outlining its intended programme of activity for the next three years.

Tax authorities in five African countries are to investigate giant brewer SABMiller following an ActionAid report which found that the multinational avoided millions of pounds of taxes in Africa every year.

The expanding humanitarian crisis caused by the fighting has created 120,000 refugees in Liberia, nearly half of whom are receiving little or no aid.

Corporate tax reforms to be announced in today’s Budget could cost developing countries up to £4bn, ActionAid warns. The Treasury is relaxing a piece of anti-tax haven abuse legislation which could make it easier for UK companies to avoid tax in poor countries.

ActionAid will be presenting two films at this year's Human Rights Watch Film Festival

ActionAid women are organising events in over 20 countries, and amazing pictures are already flooding in. Have a look at what our activists, supporters and partners are doing to end violence against women.

Habiba Sarobi has faced numerous threats to her life. Now she's in the UK, raising support on the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

ActionAid today welcomed the government’s aid review, particularly the focus on improving the lives of women and girls as well as the emphasis on transparency and accountability in the way aid money is spent.

An investigation by ActionAid reveals that half of all FTSE 100 companies do not appear to fulfil their legal obligations to list all their subsidiaries.

The government wants to treble the amount of biofeuls sold in the UK, despite evidence that they cause harmful emissions and push poor people off their land.

ActionAid’s sponsored children and their families in southern Pakistan are reported safe after the region was hit by an earthquake last night.

"Until the government frees up the land needed, we are forced to spend donations on replacing tents and other piecemeal measures"