fighting poverty together actionaid’s strategy 1999-2005 · the strategy is about change. change...

fighting poverty togetherActionAid’s strategy 1999-2005

fighting poverty together

www.actionaid.org

ContentsSummary 2

Part I Introduction 6

Part II The foundation 7ActionAid’s vision, mission and values 7The context of ActionAid’s work 8ActionAid’s approach 11

Part III Poverty eradication strategy 14GOAL 1Poor and marginalised people will increasingly be able to realise their potential 14

GOAL 2

The anti-poverty movement will be strengthened 16

GOAL 3

International constraints to poverty eradication will be mitigated 18

GOAL 4Gender equity will be enhanced 20

Part IV Organisation strategy 22Organisation implications 22Organisation strategies 24

Strategic objective 1 Strengthening our identity 24

Strategic objective 2 Achieving gender equity 24

Strategic objective 3 Devolving decision-making 25

Strategic objective 4 Enhancing innovation and learning 26

Strategic objective 5 Securing appropriate income and ensuring cost-effectiveness 26

Strategic objective 6 Internationalising governance 27

Part V Conclusion 28

Glossary 29

Join us in the fight against poverty

fighting poverty together 1

actionaid’s strategy 1999-2005

As ActionAid enters its third decade of ceaseless effort to combat poverty in some of the mostdisadvantaged parts of the world, the need to review our achievements and failures becomesobvious. Not least because the external context in which we are working has changeddramatically.

The outcome of this exercise of reflection and analysis is shown in the following pages. Thisdocument will be our guiding force for the coming period: articulating not just our understandingof the causes of poverty but, more importantly, spelling out our strategic priorities for action.

The agenda is deliberately ambitious and can only be achieved by working with many of you inthe South and North: poor communities with whom we interact every day, our donors, other civicorganisations, government and inter-governmental organisations concerned with aid and trade,etc. After all, ActionAid’s main strength has been in bringing together the individuals andorganisations who are concerned about poverty in the South and North and it is this linking ofhearts and minds that has made such a difference to the lives of poor people.

All power to our staff, many of whom operate under extremely difficult circumstances – oftenputting themselves at considerable risk – to translate this strategy to action. We know the taskis formidable but we have to press forward with the courage of our convictions. As we begin thenext millennium, with global prosperity hitting unprecedented heights, we have to fundamentallyreject the morally and politically outrageous situation that allows over two billion people to bedenied their basic needs.

Ken Burnett Salil ShettyChairman, Board of Trustees Chief Executive

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Originally set for five years (1999 - 2003), fighting poverty togetherhas been extended by two years and now runs until December 2005. Visit www.actionaid.org to see how we are progressing.

fighting poverty together2

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SummaryWhy this strategy?

There is enough evidence that over thelast three decades ActionAid hasmade a tangible difference to the livesof thousands of poor people in around30 of the poorest countries in Africa,Asia and Latin America. The moststriking successes have been insecuring improved access to qualityeducation for children and adults. Thelong-term nature of our partnershipwith poor communities in the Southand child sponsors in the North, ourparticipatory and holistic approach atthe grassroots level, and our work instrengthening the capacity of ourSouthern partner organisations hashelped us earn the respect of ourpartners, development thinkers,governments and donors. However,the fact is that at the turn of thecentury, in aggregate terms, povertyand inequality have only increased. Atthe same time, our understanding ofthe causes of poverty andmarginalisation has deepened. Thepossibility of making a difference byworking with strategic alliances atlocal, national and international levelsto bring about lasting change isgreater than ever before. The distinctiverole of international NGOs has been asubject of intense debate in recenttimes. As the organisation has grownin size and diversity, the need fororganisational cohesion is also beingfelt. For all these reasons, articulatingan organisation-wide statement ofstrategic intent is seen as vital.

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ActionAid’s vision is a world without poverty in whichevery person can exercise their right to a life of dignity

What is our world-view?

In all our work we will be guided byour core values of mutual respect,equity and justice, honesty andtransparency, solidarity with poorand marginalised people, courage ofconviction and humility.

Three decades of experience ofworking closely with the poorconvinces us that poverty and thedenial of basic needs such aseducation, food, healthcare, water,livelihood, information andparticipation, security and protection, is indeed a violation of fundamentalhuman rights. Our focus will thereforecontinue to be on those living inabsolute poverty.

But the importance of people’s ownperceptions of their well-being and thelimitations of externally defined povertylines has become obvious. This isparticularly relevant as we recognisehow, even within the poor, gender,caste, ethnicity, generation and beliefsenhance vulnerability.

More broadly, from the local to theinternational, it is evident that thecauses of poverty are very muchrooted in the unjust distribution ofresources. Eradicating poverty withoutunderstanding inequality and itsrelative nature will not yield durablesolutions. Our analysis and actions willtherefore take much greatercognisance of not just the symptomsbut also the causes of poverty. In

doing this we will seek to integrate ourinterventions at different levels. Theprogressive realisation of all basicrights for the poor is seen as theprimary responsibility of the state withactive support from all other sectionsof society. Organised collective actionby poor people and their allies isessential to ensure that the better-endowed sections of society fulfil theirresponsibilities. In our crusade forpoverty eradication, we will seek toexploit ActionAid’s comparativeadvantage of working closely with thepoor and marginalised in arepresentative mix of developingcountries across the globe, whilemaintaining strong links with Northernpublics, governments and institutions.

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ActionAid’s mission is to work with poor and marginalised people toeradicate poverty by overcoming the injustice and inequity that cause it

What do we want to achieve?

Our mission (above) translates intofour poverty eradication goals:

■ Poor and marginalised people willincreasingly be able to realise theirpotential.

■ The anti-poverty movement will bestrengthened.

■ International constraints to povertyeradication will be mitigated.

■ Gender equity will be enhanced.

The four goals identified in the strategyare not a list of mutually exclusiveoptions: each creates new levers andadds momentum that reinforces theother areas of work. Indeed, sustainedand fundamental change at one levelwill be difficult or impossible to achievewithout progress on the other three. Itis only by applying pressure from all ofthese angles that we will shift the underlying forces that cause andmaintain poverty.

First we must empower poor andmarginalised people to find ways ofmeeting their basic needs, freeing theirpotential, and exerting their basic rightsto live a more fulfilled and dignified life.Working in partnership with poorcommunities will remain the hard coreof our work – where the bulk of ourresources will be invested. Throughpractical interventions which meetmore immediate needs, we will workclosely with poor and marginalisedpeople and with organisations to buildtheir confidence and enable them toorganise themselves to stand up fortheir rights. It is the understanding and credibility that we gain from ourgrassroots-level work that will give us the strength to work with the poor to influence local and nationalgovernments and internationalinstitutions to respond to theirdemands.

Second we will help generate andsustain positive linkages betweenpeople and organisations within civilsociety dedicated to povertyeradication. Indeed, we believe thatour mission cannot be achieved unlessit is shared by a broad swathe ofsociety, both North and South,powerful and powerless, non-poorand poor alike. We will seek to play a critical role in supporting a globalmovement for the eradication ofpoverty and creating a popular base of support for development. This willinclude developing our relationshipwith existing and new donors in theNorth so that they can play a part instrengthening initiatives that benefitpoor and marginalised people.

Third we will seek to break down the barriers to poverty eradication byinfluencing those powerful Northernand international actors and institutionsthat constrain or undermine povertyeradication efforts. We will work inalliance to persuade and challengepowerful governments, internationalinstitutions and private corporations todevelop and promote policies andpractices – including the redistributionof power and resources – that favourpoor and marginalised people. And wewill seek to make these players moreexposed and accountable to thepressure of public opinion in order togenerate the will to act. This is wherewe get the largest leverage with limitedinvestment.

Fourth we will work with both menand women to change the forces thatcause and perpetuate gender inequityat every level. Increasing women’scontrol over their own development, in both our project and policy work, will be a key goal. This will be furtherenhanced by supporting other civilsociety organisations working onpoverty and gender, as well as thewider women’s movement.

These goals are far-reaching and willbroaden our role in tackling poverty ona number of fronts, whether it is in responding to complex or naturalemergencies or long-termdevelopment interventions.Implementing strategies to achievethese goals presents considerablechallenges to the organisation and theway we work.

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Summary



Our inspiration and our resolve in achieving ourmission is drawn from witnessing the dailystruggle, creativity and energy of poor and

marginalised people to overcome abject poverty

We need to work with the same degree ofcommitment and determination to secure

freedom from poverty for future generations

What’s new?

The major shifts in emphasis are thatwe will now actively seek to:

■ address the root causes of poverty at all levels, from local to global,based on learning from field reality

■ promote basic rights as the focus in all our work

■ work increasingly in partnership and alliance

■ tackle constraints imposed by various national and internationalinstitutions

■ connect more closely withgovernments at local and nationallevels

■ engage donors to influence attitudes, policies and practices for poverty eradication.

What are the organisational implications?

In order to achieve our povertyeradication goals, we have identifiedsix organisation objectives:

■ strengthening our identity

■ achieving gender equity

■ devolving decision-making

■ enhancing innovation and learning

■ securing appropriate income andensuring cost-effectiveness

■ internationalising governance.

At the heart of our organisationobjectives is the need to work togetheraround a core culture and identitywhile promoting innovation andcreativity. We will build an effectivecentre and empowering organisationalculture as we continue to devolvedecision-making. Moreover, movingahead in the way envisaged inActionAid’s strategy will require us to generate new and appropriatesources of funds to support our workwhile improving our cost-effectiveness.

The way forward

The strategy is about change. Changewithin ActionAid to increase oureffectiveness and impact. Change inthe structures that cause poverty. And,most importantly, change in the livesof poor and marginalised people.

ActionAid’s strategy is ambitious.However, it builds on our record ofachievement over the last threedecades. It reflects some of theexciting innovations in our approach topoverty eradication developed aroundthe globe, and will help to guide ourfuture work and maximise our lastingimpact. ActionAid is resolute in itsconviction that poverty must becomepart of history and that its existence inthe meantime is morally indefensible.

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Part I: IntroductionBackground to the strategy

This strategy renews our commitmentto fight the outrage of poverty, and our determination to join with poorand marginalised people and theirallies in effective action. It brings newand distinct momentum into a processof continuous change, both in terms of bringing change to the lives ofpoor and marginalised people, andaligning the way we organiseourselves and our work.

ActionAid’s first strategy wasdeveloped in 1995 to frame thepriorities of the organisation over afive-year period. The document had its roots in Moving Forward in theNineties (1992) and Giving PeopleChoices (1994), statements thataddressed the challenges of thedecade and the major adjustmentsthat ActionAid was making to itsmanagement and programme workto meet these challenges.

As the decade – and the century –drew to a close, discussion across the organisation suggested that wehad made much progress in terms of our thinking and action since thefirst strategy was written. Ourunderstanding of the causes ofpoverty and marginalisation haddeepened, we were developingstrategies for wider impact andinfluencing, and our partnership andsolidarity with poor and marginalisedpeople was stronger than ever.

However, as our understanding of thecauses of poverty grew, it becameclear that we needed to furtherenhance our effectiveness if we wereto combat the unprecedented levels ofpoverty and inequality that were theprevious century’s legacy to the 21st.The International Staff Conference in1998 reached clear consensus on theneed for further, far-reaching changesin order to achieve greater leverageover the causes of poverty. Thisstrategy is part of our action towardsputting that consensus into practice.

Aims of the strategy

More detailed than a vision, but not awork-plan, this paper should be readas a statement of strategic intent. First,it puts our work into context andarticulates our position by describingActionAid’s understanding of povertyand our basic approaches to tacklingthe causes of poverty. Second, itidentifies a number of strategicobjectives and strategies towardsachieving our longer-term goals andmission. Third, it identifies organisationstrategies to manage the process ofchange. It provides specificrecommendations and milestoneswhich will guide the development ofsubsidiary strategies and policiesthroughout ActionAid. Overall, byarticulating a clear way forward, thisstrategy aims to focus all parts of theorganisation in a unified direction.

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Part II: The foundation



ActionAid’s vision, mission and values

Vision

ActionAid’s vision is a world withoutpoverty in which every person canexercise their right to a life of dignity.

Mission

ActionAid’s mission is to work withpoor and marginalised people toeradicate poverty by overcoming theinjustice and inequity that cause it.

Values

ActionAid lives by the following values:

Mutual respect recognising the innatedignity and worth of all people and thevalue of diversity.

Equity and justice requiring us to work to ensure that everyone –irrespective of sex, age, race, colour,class and religion – has equalopportunity for expressing and utilisingtheir potential.

Honesty and transparency requiringus to be accountable for theeffectiveness of our actions and openin our judgements andcommunications with others.

Solidarity with poor andmarginalised people so that our onlybias will be a commitment to theinterests of the poor and powerless.

Courage of conviction requiring us to be creative and radical, withoutfear of failure, in pursuit of the highestpossible impact on the causes ofpoverty.

Humility recognising that we are a part of a bigger alliance againstpoverty and requiring our presentationand behaviour to be modest.

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The context of ActionAid’s work

At the beginning of the21st century more than 1.3 billion people – a fifth of the world’spopulation – struggle tolive on less than theequivalent of $1 a day But even this fact cannot begin to capture the injustice andmarginalisation that is the reality ofpoverty today. Across the world, boththe incidence and intensity ofpoverty are increasing. Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor, within and between nations, has never been greater.

ActionAid believes that this is notthe way the world has to be. It isfundamentally a result of choices made over time about how to organisesocieties. It follows that we can choosedifferently. By acting together we canchange societies – and the political,economic and social structures thatmake them – to create a fair and just world.

Eradicating poverty is not a distantdream. It is well within the reach ofhumankind. In recent decades adultilliteracy has been halved, and morethan three-quarters of the population ofdeveloping countries now live beyondthe age of 40. These gains, althoughuneven, show that progress is morethan a possibility: it is a reality.

The advances that have been madeare testimony to the creativity andcourage of poor and marginalisedpeople and their determination toovercome their own deprivation. Andthey bear witness to the power of

concerted action against poverty,whether by mass movements, bysocial reformers or by the targetedactions of national governments andinternational actors.

ActionAid’s understanding ofpoverty and its causes

Defining poverty: moral absolute, relative tactics

While economic inequality iseverywhere on the rise, leading someto speak of a ‘global South’ whichencompasses growing pockets ofdeprivation and exclusion in the North,by far the widest and deepest povertyis still found in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia andLatin America.

ActionAid faces an ethical imperativeto direct its limited resources to themillions of people – women andchildren above all – who lack the most essential resources. In thatsense, our work is founded on anabsolute definition of poverty. Ourunderstanding of poverty is ‘absolute’,too, in the sense that we believe thatthe denial of these basic needs isalways and everywhere a violation offundamental human rights, becausewithout these resources people simplycannot realise a life of dignity.

However, taking practical actionagainst poverty is invariably morecomplicated than simply trying to push people over a standardisedpoverty line. Effective and appropriateinterventions need to be based on local perceptions of well-being and poverty, particularly those of poorand marginalised people themselves.Therefore, our working definitions ofpoverty will vary from one place andone social group to the next.

Moreover, we believe that inequalitiesin power and resources are the majorcause of poverty. This means that ifwe are to make a deep and lastingimprovement in the well-being of poorand marginalised people, we need towork towards more equitable sharingof power and resources between richand poor, men and women, and Northand South. In many ways, the answerto eradicating poverty lies in issuesrelated to distribution, and this, ineffect, means tackling relative poverty.

When people do not have food, water,medical assistance or a roof over theirheads, then the ordeal of poverty isvisible and compelling. Few poor andmarginalised people would disagreethat these are important indicators ofdeprivation and need to be tackled intheir own right. But the real outrage of poverty lies beneath the surface.Our experience demonstrates that thevicious circle of deprivation andmarginalisation cannot be ended byaddressing only the visible symptomsof material need, or by expandingparticipation in existing structures and institutions. Poverty andmarginalisation are more stubborn thanthat. From one generation to the next,privilege and prejudice are maintainedand reproduced by a fabric of powerthat weaves the threads of gender,generation, class, ethnicity, caste andbelief into all our institutions andpractices.

Changing the lot of poor andmarginalised people, therefore, meanschanging society. A just system ofrights needs to be established,recognised in law and policy, andenforced in practice. Changingsociety’s system of entitlements andobligations is a long, hard struggle. Itdemands the active empowermentand mobilisation of a wide spectrum of



actors – above all, poor andmarginalised people themselves. Andthis will only come about through aseries of smaller steps: throughpartnership on concrete actions whichmake a real and immediate differencein people’s lives, and which begin tobreak down the practical barriers anddeprivations that they face.

The causes of poverty:local to global

The historical causes of poverty suchas colonisation and misrule have leftdeep scars in many parts of the world.Even over the past decade, changes inthe political and economic order havemade it impossible to ignore the many ways in which all of us – NGOworkers, Northern sponsors and poorand marginalised people – are caughtup in wider forces and trends that havea decisive impact on our lives. It is nolonger possible to speak of ‘local’causes of poverty without reference to the larger processes; by the sametoken, ‘global’ forces explain little aboutthe perpetuation of poverty unless weunderstand how their impact is shapedby local and national actions andinstitutions.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic, the spreadand adaptation of ideologies and ideasacross national boundaries, theinteraction between people andecosystems in long-term environmentaltrends all show how ‘macro’ and‘micro’ pressures interact to shapedaily lives and circumstances. Anexample of particular relevance to thecauses of poverty is the escalatingnumber of conflicts and armedinsurrections throughout the world,which push hundreds of millions ofpeople – women and children above all – into insecurity and destitution.These struggles are driven by power

scrambles between rival states, arising from the collapse of nationalsovereignty, and by the geopolitics ofcommercial and military interest.However, they are often triggered byethnic or regional factions who playthese larger actors off against oneanother. The trail of devastation theyblaze is often determined by localhierarchies of power, patronage andvulnerability. Poor women and childrenin particular are left homeless anddispossessed, while poor men andboys become the battle fodder ofwarlords.

Entitlements and powerat local level

Throughout this strategy we speak of‘poor and marginalised people’.However, our close engagement withpoor and marginalised communitiesmakes us acutely aware that thesepeople are not homogeneous. Theinequalities that perpetuate povertyand powerlessness within society as awhole also create internal stratificationamongst poor and marginalised people themselves. Vulnerability is notdetermined by income alone: socialdivisions such as gender, generation,class, ethnicity, caste and beliefdetermine the different kinds ofresources that individuals can claim.

While poor people are collectivelymarginalised within national andinternational structures, they also facemore immediate and invidious forms ofdependence and stratification. Cooperation and reciprocity inhouseholds and at the local level areessential and forthcoming but cannotbe expected to flow indefinitely withoutbeing replenished and supported.Moreover, networks of support andmutual help are not always benign.Men and women, adults and children,the poorest and the less poor mustnegotiate who eats more; whetherhousehold funds will be spent onlivestock or on education; who serveson the committee that will managedevelopment funds; or whether thelandowner keeps half or two-thirds ofthe sharecropper’s produce, forexample. Such ‘cooperative conflicts’can easily shade into outrightexploitation. The potential for thegeneration of inequalities must berecognised when people rely on theirown and customary resources forsurvival at the local level.

National forces for and againstpoor and marginalised people

In every nation, unequal access toresources and entitlements isentrenched in and protected byinterlocking institutions: the legalsystem, the education system, thepolitical system, the tax system and soon. It is at this level that the biggestobstacles to poverty eradication arefound. Correspondingly, the biggestvictories over poverty in recent historyhave been made by local and nationalmovements and efforts.

Corrupt, ineffective or unaccountableforms of rule are prevalent in manycountries. Repressive and ineffective

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states are usually weakly rooted in civilsociety and lack the political capitaland social base to overcome powerfulvested interests. Even where flagrantabuse is lacking, the political system is often captured by elites, who turndevelopment into a synonym for ethnicor factional patronage.

Where a larger part of the population iswithout a voice, the introduction ofmulti-party democracy does notautomatically neutralise, and can evensometimes entrench, the powerrelations that prevent individuals –adults and children – from effectivelyexercising their rights. Nevertheless, atthe national level, states (individually orcollectively as members of regional and international bodies) are the onlystructures that can create mechanismsof obligation and redress to enforcerights universally. They also have theauthority to redistribute resourcesthrough taxes and subsidies in orderto guarantee the rights of poor andmarginalised people.

Unfortunately, quite often the actions ofstates in allocating resources, enforcingrights and setting incentives tend to favour those who already havepower and wealth. This will remain thecase unless poor and marginalisedpeople and their organisations gain a countervailing stake in the system. To do this they need allies andintermediaries who also havesomething to gain from reform. Historyshows that activating such alliancescan also improve governance andstrengthen the state’s social base by creating stable, effectivemechanisms through which populardemands can be channelled andaccountability established.

Global integration: threat and opportunity

The slender asset base of poor andmarginalised people makes themparticularly vulnerable to thevicissitudes of world markets. And thedomination of poor countries by richcountries and private corporationsmassively reduces their ability topursue policies that favour the poor. In this way, global integration isincreasing the global divide betweenrich and poor.

Though greater access to globalmarkets is potentially of benefit to poorproducers, recent trends towardseconomic liberalisation and ‘free’markets force them to engage onincreasingly unfavourable terms.Evidence shows that, on the whole,poor countries and poor people havebeen net losers in the most recentdrive towards global ‘free’ trade. At thesame time, structural adjustmentprogrammes contrive to severelyrestrict the ability of governments toinvest in sectors that benefit poor andmarginalised people, such as healthand education. Unregulated financialliberalisation has been shown to haveserious consequences, increasing theinstability of foreign investment andhampering the ability of governmentsto manage their economies coherently.In severe cases this has debilitatedentire economies.

One of the most serious aspects of thegrowing global divide is that controlover knowledge – like control overwealth – is increasingly concentratedin the hands of a few. In a globaleconomy based on unequal access toknowledge, skills and information, poor and marginalised people aredenied opportunities to exploit new

resources, and their control over theirown knowledge inheritance isthreatened. This is because privatecorporations seek to establishownership of ‘intellectual capital’: forexample, seed varieties that have beennurtured and cultivated for generationsby poor and marginalised people.

However, the breakdown of older formsof control over production and tradedoes not always and everywhere actagainst poor and marginalised people.Globalisation and liberalisation mayundermine entrenched structures ofoppression and give rise to newopportunities for emancipation, thoughthey may produce new constellationsof power in their wake.

Increasing global integration ofcommunications and new informationtechnology makes it possible forgroups that are committed to poorand marginalised people to coordinatetheir efforts and exchange informationquickly and effectively. However,access to this technology and theknowledge to manipulate it has beenlimited for many.

Global interdependence also creates a critical role for the internationalcommunity in creating a positiveenvironment for poverty eradication inits aid programmes, in internationaltrade and economic policies, infinancial issues such as debt andinvestment, and in the area of rightsand governance. However, when theimperatives of development contradictthe interests of rich nations andpowerful corporations, all too oftendevelopment loses. This results ininternational policies with outcomesthat are at best ineffective, at worstactively anti-poor.



ActionAid’s approach

ActionAid’s approach towards povertyeradication is based on our longexperience of working with andlearning from poor and marginalisedpeople across the world. Strengtheningtheir already considerable abilities tocope with and overcome vulnerabilityand deprivation, and empoweringthem to destroy the barriers thatprevent them from reaching their fullpotential is central to our work. We willbuild on the strengths of ourexperience in order to mobilise thecapacity and the will to change.Furthermore, we will work creativelyand constantly innovate and introducenew ideas and methods in all aspectsof our work and organisation. This isthe core of our approach.

The strengths of our experience

Making a difference to poor people’s lives now

To end poverty, ActionAid works withorganisations, communities, familiesand individuals in some of the poorest parts of the world. Each dayActionAid and its partners achievethousands of small successes whichtogether make a substantial differenceto the daily lives of poor people. These include helping people organiseeffectively to secure access to life-changing basic rights such as food,clean water, basic health services andeducation – not just for children but foradults too. Based on the needs andpriorities of individual communities,ActionAid also works with them toestablish income-generationprogrammes, including food securityprojects and savings and creditschemes, and to develop communityresources such as community centres,school buildings, water pumps andother local infrastructure.

Our task is to build on these small but important victories to change thehabits, practices and expectationswhich keep people poor.

Quality of engagement

ActionAid is characterised by the long-term and intense relationships webuild with poor and marginalisedpeople and the issues that affectthem. Our long-term commitmentallows us to work on the basis ofmutual trust, and so innovate and take risks in meeting the challenge of poverty eradication. We are able tolearn from a valuable diversity ofgrassroots experience from around the world, giving us a distinctivelyrobust perspective on the causes ofpoverty and the opportunities toaddress them at local, national andinternational levels.

The quality of our equally long-termrelationships with our donors is crucialto our approach. Donors want to beinformed of the daily struggles andtriumphs of the children and familiesthat they help, and their communities,and to feel that their financialcontribution adds real value to thedevelopment process. This large andcommitted donor base offers us realopportunities to engage people in theNorth in the fight against the causes

of poverty, and to link them moreactively to networks and issues in theSouth as part of a global movement.

Holistic approach

Our approach to understanding andtackling poverty and injustice isholistic. This means that we seek tounderstand and act on the overallcontext, causes and manifestations of poverty without being driven bytechnical specialisations. We strive toensure that what we do to addresspoverty and injustice is based, as faras possible, on the needs, aspirationsand circumstances of poor andmarginalised people themselves.

Internationalism

ActionAid is an internationalorganisation – although registered inthe UK – working in the North andSouth at all levels to overcome poverty. Our character and identity are based on the values and principlesthat emerge from our long-termengagement with poor andmarginalised people, the energy andcommitment of our staff, our stronglinkages, and our presence and profilein the South. The organisationrepresents many diverse culturesmade up of our staff, volunteers, anddonors, as well as the people in thecountries where we work.

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Drive for sustainability

Our detailed practical experience oftackling poverty at the local level andour commitment to self-sustaining,cost-effective methods give ussignificant credibility with governmentsand donors. In this way, we havescaled up the impact of our operationsthrough work at micro level, carefullydesigned to influence governmentsand donors, whether throughreplication of successful models orthrough wider policy change.Furthermore, in all our work we striveto create self-sustaining localinstitutions that can take overActionAid-supported initiatives at the earliest opportunity.

Participation

Participatory approaches practised inour work with people and communitiesreflect our fundamental commitment tothe innate worth and capacity of allhuman beings and their right to leadtheir lives on their own terms. They alsogive meaning to our conviction thatpoor and marginalised peoplethemselves are the main actors in thestruggle against poverty and injustice.ActionAid’s innovations in this areahave been widely recognised.

Our evolving approach

Integrated attack on the causesof poverty and injustice

We will maintain and deepen thequality and intensity of ourengagement with poor andmarginalised people and with ourdonors. However, our approach will continue to shift towards tacklingthe causes of poverty. By doing this we will maximise the impact andsustainability of our work. We areaccustomed to an integrated trans-

sectoral approach to operational work.The challenge that faces us now is toadopt a similarly holistic approach toaddressing the causes of poverty at alllevels. We will integrate a combinationof methods (for example, capacitybuilding, social mobilisation, advocacy)and a range of relationships (forexample, partnerships, alliances,critical engagement) for sustainableimpact at individual and institutionallevels. All our activities will have clearlinkages to influencing for larger impactand social change. Even in the case ofemergencies, all our work will havedemonstrable relevance to anintegrated effort to eradicate the rootcauses of poverty.

Rights-based approach

Our long-standing commitment toparticipation, and our drive forsustainability lead us to adopt a rights-based approach in all of our work. We will seek lasting solutions topoverty through the establishment andenforcement of rights that entitle poorand marginalised people to a fair shareof society’s resources. We will workalongside poor and marginalisedcommunities to enhance their controlover productive and social resources,their command over developmentinterventions, and their ability to defendtheir interests. This approachrecognises the active role of poor andmarginalised people, whileemphasising the responsibilities ofstate and society towards them.

We support the contemporaryunderstanding of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights, whichrecognises the interdependence ofsocial and economic rights on the onehand and civil and political rights onthe other. Within this framework, we

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will focus on the rights to education,food, healthcare, water, livelihood,information and participation, andsecurity and protection, which areessential for overcoming poverty.

Equity

A rights-based approach demands that we take the analysis of povertyand marginalisation beyondcommunities and households toindividual women, men, boys and girlsas well as to the most vulnerable andmarginalised groups.

We will give priority to redressinggender inequity. This is not onlybecause the poor are predominantlyfemale, but because the power ofmen over women is central to otheroppressive power relations that keeppoor and marginalised people inpoverty. Ensuring that poor womenand girls in families and communitiesare able to realise their full potential,just as men and boys are, is central to our approach.

Children – both boys and girls – will continue to remain a vital part ofour work. This is important, not only in terms of addressing their particularvulnerability and harnessing theirpotential, but also because childsponsorship is a mechanism ofraising funds and developing links of solidarity.

Depending upon the local context andrealities of our work, our approach isalso to give specialised attention to thepoorest and most marginalised groups– such as minority ethnic groups,people with disability, those living withHIV/AIDS – in the communities wherewe work.

Building partnershipsand alliances

Relationships of inequality may be soentrenched in everyday ways ofthinking and acting that they appear‘natural’ and even necessary.ActionAid’s contribution to the struggleagainst poverty is about changing howpeople – poor and non-poor, Southand North – are able to act together.This may happen in a number of ways.For example, through the formation ofa village committee or a women’sassociation to organise action onurgent local needs; through trainingwhich exposes provincial officials tothe flexibility and effectiveness ofparticipatory approaches for the firsttime; or through campaigning workto bring together progressiveorganisations from across the country– or the world – to influence high-level policy decisions.

All of these strategies help to build the ‘social capital’ – the organisation,linkages, skills and flows of informationand ideas – needed for poor andmarginalised people and their allies toarticulate their demands, challengeinjustice, and secure lasting change.

We will continue to assist people indeveloping local institutions andprocesses that overcome poverty in a sustainable way. At the same time, we will continue to promote andstrengthen intermediary processes,organisations and institutions, includingthose led by poor and marginalisedpeople themselves. We will use ourresources and influence as aninternational organisation to contributetowards creating and expanding, not

occupying, the space available to themfor influencing and action. None of theoutcomes we hope to achieve will be possible without working inpartnership with other key actors.

Critical engagement

Playing our role in helping to create aworld without poverty requires us toengage with a range of stakeholders at all levels, poor and non-poor. Thosewith power and resources must bechallenged in a way that encouragesthem to redistribute these assets. Thisapproach of critical engagement willguide our relationship with people and organisations who may not becommitted to poor and marginalisedpeople but whose actions affect them.

We recognise the responsibilities ofthe state towards all its citizens, and itsrole in international organisations andinternational orders. We will workclosely with institutions of bureaucracyand government from local to nationallevel as appropriate. We welcome therecent shift towards a more open andpartner based approach in some ofthese institutions.

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Part III: Poverty eradication strategy

Poverty eradication goals

GOAL 1

Poor and marginalisedpeople will increasinglybe able to realise theirpotential We will work with poor andmarginalised people, enabling themto gain control over material andsocial resources and secure theirbasic rights, leading to lives ofdignity.

ActionAid’s contribution to povertyeradication is based on our belief thatpoor and marginalised peoplethemselves are the main actors in thefight against poverty and injustice, and on our belief in the capacity ofthese people.

However, poor and marginalisedpeople face many obstacles. They aredenied the basic rights to food, water,livelihood, education, healthcare,security and protection, andinformation and participation. Throughpartnership in practical action toaddress these needs, poor andmarginalised people will secureconcrete improvements in theirlivelihoods. In the long term, they willbe able to build local structures andgain the knowledge, confidence andresources they need to organise around shared interests and make their voices heard.

For example, lack of access to wateris a barrier to meeting an immediatepractical need. However, it is also astructural problem of entitlements.

Women who have to spend hoursevery day collecting water, or peasantswho are dependent on a wealthylandowner to divert a trickle from theirrigation canal can do little to fight theunderlying inequities that put them inthis predicament. But coming togetherto solve the immediate problem shouldbe only the start of the empowermentprocess; a way of building skills,organisation and linkages to enablepoor and marginalised people to take on bigger issues and win bigger victories.

Empowerment of people to demandtheir rights in an effective way needs to be reinforced by work to promotenational and international policies andstructures that are responsive andaccountable to poor and marginalisedpeople. Despite a commitment tobasic rights and freedoms in manynational constitutions, spending onsocial services in most countries doesnot always benefit the poor.Furthermore, access to public goodsby poor and marginalised people hasbeen eroded in recent years.

More fundamentally, poor andmarginalised people have been largelyexcluded from shaping social priorities.For this reason, the participation andinfluence of poor and marginalisedpeople in governance must bestrengthened. This is essentialbecause the state is the only institutionthat can enforce a universal mandateto improve the standard of living ofpoor and marginalised people bycreating a fairer distribution ofresources and power.

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Strategic objective 1.1

Empowering poor andmarginalised people

To strengthen the capacity andpower of poor women, men, girls andboys at grassroots level to claim andachieve their basic rights.

Strategies■ Work with poor and marginalised

people to find creative andsustainable solutions that addressthe immediate conditions of povertywithin a broader causal analysis.

■ Build and strengthen organisations and groups of poor and marginalisedpeople to demand and meet basicneeds as basic rights.

■ Enable poor and marginalisedpeople to reflect critically on theirsituation and help them obtain theinformation needed to interact withintermediary organisations anddecision-makers.

■ Maximise opportunities for theparticipation of poor andmarginalised people in institutions oflocal government.

■ Promote and support communities’preparedness and copingmechanisms to enable them torespond to emergencies moreeffectively, and to claim their rights to livelihood in emergency situations, whether due to human or natural causes.

■ Develop a distinctive approach toemergency response thatemphasises the primacy of long-term sustainable recovery.

Expected outcomes■ The increased well-being of families

and communities, particularlywomen and children, with whom wework.

■ Poor and marginalised peopleeffectively recognise and demand their rights.

■ Increase in quality, range andnumber of poor people’sorganisations supported byActionAid.

■ Increased and better representation of poor and marginalised people inlocal government and otherdecision-making structures.

■ Local community organisations andlocal government are moreresponsive and accountable to theneeds and rights of poor andmarginalised people.

■ People and communities with whomActionAid works demonstrate thecapacity to respond to and recoverfrom emergencies.


Promoting basic rights

To promote the accountability andresponsibility of nationalgovernments in the South forproviding equitable access to basiceconomic and social resources.

Strategies■ Work constructively and critically

with national governments, as wellas with local organisations, to pilot innovative, cost-effective,accountable and scaleable methodsof delivering and managing basicresources and services for poor andmarginalised people.

■ Research and share results related tothe effects of government action (or lack of it) particularly in terms ofsecuring the basic rights of poorand marginalised people.

■ Engage in advocacy activitiesdesigned to influence the widercauses of emergencies and theextent of their impact at a variety of levels.

Expected outcomes■ Governments make basic rights and

services more accessible andresponsive to poor and marginalisedpeople.

■ Increased research, information andlearning on policy-related issues thatpromote basic rights.

■ Changes in policies and practices toaddress the wider causes of conflictand emergencies.

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GOAL 2

The anti-povertymovement will bestrengthenedWe will work to strengthen a globalmovement against the injustice andcauses of poverty by linking togetherpeople who represent groups ofpoor and marginalised people in theSouth and individuals andorganisations in the North who aretheir allies.

The increasingly sophisticated natureof structures that cause and maintainpoverty require intermediaryorganisations to engage moreeffectively in tackling them. We mustsupport organisations that arecommitted to poor and marginalisedpeople to develop operationalcapacities and credibility and themeans to build this into effectiveadvocacy, research and networking.

Increasing the influence and reach ofalliances in the South should be a keyfocus of our regional and countryoperations. Horizontal ties (for sharingideas and co-ordinating action) andvertical linkages (to gain lastinginfluence over powerful institutions)need to be developed. However, wemust be careful not to undermine thelegitimate role, responsibilities andinfluence of local or nationalorganisations.

The anti-poverty movement will notbe successful without determinedpressure from voters, consumers,shareholders and pressure groups,North and South, for change in thepolicies of powerful governments andprivate corporations. Therefore,ActionAid will seek to build broad-based linkages betweenindividuals, organisations and networksin the South and in the North that arecommitted to poor and marginalisedpeople.

We have maintained and motivated the exceptional commitment of donorsto our work by showing them thegrassroots realities of poverty, anddemonstrating that they can make adifference to people’s lives. This givesus scope to build wider engagementwith issues and actions beyond giving money by broadening theunderstanding and action of thesepeople. We will pursue a variety ofpopular campaigning, educational andfundraising strategies to engagedonors and the public in general asglobal citizens in a movement againstthe injustice of poverty.

Overall, the aim of initiatives to buildcivil society is not to find ways roundthe state, but to increase thedemocratic stake and influence of poorand marginalised people, and promotean accountable state. By helping tocreate stable, effective mechanismsthrough which popular demands canbe channelled, such alliance-buildingwork will also respond to the needs of governments.

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Building alliances in civil society in the South

To strengthen civil societyorganisations concerned withpoverty and marginalisation in the South.

Strategies■ Ensure that all area and issue-based

ActionAid-supported programmesbuild the capacity of formal and/orinformal civil society organisations to fight poverty.

■ Strengthen the quality of ourpartnerships through mutualaccountability and transparency.

■ Support South-South linkages oforganisations committed to poor andmarginalised people for advocacy onissues of poverty and injustice.

■ Work to increase the space availablefor civil society organisationscommitted to poor and marginalisedpeople to engage in policy andadvocacy work.

Expected outcomes■ A significantly increased proportion

of our work is undertaken inpartnerships of improved quality with civil society organisations.

■ Improved policy and regulatoryframework for civil societyorganisations.

■ Effective influencing and advocacy by partner organisations in the South.


Linking North and South

To bring together people andorganisations in the North and South to fight the injustice of povertywherever its causes can be mosteffectively tackled.

Strategies■ Develop activities that link the

concerns and interests of people inthe North with anti-poverty campaignissues in the South.

■ Work to build up public pressure foranti-poverty policy change by linkingcivil society organisations, activists,academics, donors, consumers, themedia, and other key influencers and agents of change in the Northand South.

■ Shift the emphasis of communicationto develop the understanding andsupport of regular-giving donors for the global fight against thecauses of poverty.

■ Support education for sustainabledevelopment and citizenshiptargeted at youth and adults in theNorth and South.

Expected outcomes■ Awareness and understanding of the

causes of poverty built amongdonors, and public support for ouractivities to address them.

■ Growing public support for policyreforms advocated for internationalcampaigns carried out by ActionAidand/or allies.

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GOAL 3

International constraintsto poverty eradication will be mitigatedWe will advocate for reform ofinternational institutions, Northerngovernments and the private sector to change the policies andstructures that undermine the rightsand potential of poor andmarginalised people.

Some of the most powerful forceshindering the efforts of poor andmarginalised people to overcomepoverty result from inequalitiesassociated with international trade,finance and governance. Globalisationand the growing power of privatecorporations make it imperative

for organisations dedicated to theeradication of poverty to tackle the constraints imposed by theseinstitutions and processes, andoptimise any potential benefits.

The regulation of the global economy,the restructuring of the Bretton Woodsinstitutions, and the strengthening ofregional blocs in the South are on theinternational community’s agendafollowing the financial crises of the1990s. But key multilateral institutionsremain unaccountable and largelyineffective in eradicating poverty.Indeed, some initiatives would increasethe freedom and rights of privatecorporations to move capital,production and profit around the worldwithout any corresponding recognitionof the demands of global citizenshipand its responsibilities. Moreover, poor

and marginalised people, organisationsand governments often lack the power,capacity and knowledge to mounteffective challenges in the internationalfora where decisions are made.

ActionAid will work with organisationsthat are committed to poor andmarginalised people and Southerngovernments towards effectiveinformation-sharing, negotiation, andinfluence over multilateral decision-making processes and fora. In coalitionwith others, we will also engage withinternational institutions, Northerngovernments, and private corporations.Together, we will aim to change thepolicies and structures that underminethe rights and potential of poorand marginalised people, and enhance those that contribute topoverty eradication.

Official donors steadily give less, butincreasingly talk of rights and goodgovernance as the cornerstones ofdevelopment. We must promote newforms of development cooperation and lobby for coherence betweendevelopment policies and otherpolicies (such as trade or foreignpolicies) of donor governments thatundermine the prospects for povertyeradication.

Work related to private sector financialflows – both national and international– and private corporations is relatively new for ActionAid, and theorganisation has taken a variety ofdifferent approaches to the sector. We seek to improve our understandingof how international financial flowsimpact on poverty and development,and achieve a coherent analysis andposition of action towards the privatesector in development.

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Influencing official donors andmultilateral institutions in favourof poor and marginalised people

To work to influence the policies and practices of key multilateralinstitutions and donor governments in favour of the poorest people.

Strategies■ Work for improvements in the quality

and impact of the developmentcooperation policies and practices of members of the Organisation forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD) by promotinga rights-based agenda fordevelopment.

■ Press for increased coherence bothwithin and between all OECDcountries in development polices and other policies such as trade orforeign policy.

■ Support the engagement of civil society organisations and poor andmarginalised people in key multilateral negotiations on trade and international economics.

■ Promote proposals to reformmultilateral institutions and theirpolicies and practices to improveaccountability and responsiveness tothe rights of poor and marginalisedpeople.

Expected outcomes■ The increased effectiveness of

involvement of Southern civil societyorganisations and governments in key multilateral fora.

■ The adoption by key multilateralinstitutions of more accountable andeffective structures and practices forthe eradication of poverty.

■ A demonstrable increase in thequality and impact of identifiedaspects of international developmentco-operation policies of OECDdonors.

■ Improved coherence of developmentcooperation policies demonstratedby positive actions of official donors.


Promoting responsible private investment

To increase our understanding of theimpact of private investment andinternational financial flows and towork to influence the institutions andcorporations that direct and controlthem so that their activities have amore beneficial impact on poor andmarginalised people.

Strategies ■ Build links with groups in the South

and North that are working on privatesector issues in order to exchangeexperience, learn from them, andcooperate in future activities.

■ Develop an analysis of the wayprivate corporations and internationalfinancial flows impact upon poor andmarginalised people, and use thisanalysis to build up a programme ofactivities that encourages corporateaccountability and socialresponsibility and draws on our ownexperience at micro level.

■ Support ethical investment initiativesand seek to utilise shareholderpower to influence privatecorporations.

Expected outcomes■ Increased linkages and partnerships

with other groups and organisationsworking on private corporations andfinancial issues at all levels.

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GOAL 4

Gender equity will be enhanced

We will work to enable poor women,girls, men and boys to exercise equalrights and achieve equal well-being,influence and status.

Gender cuts across all the work thatActionAid does. It is highlighted here because women’s and girls’subordination in relation to men andboys magnifies the vulnerability that allpoor and marginalised peopleexperience.

Gender roles are defined by divisionsof generation and status as well as by sex. These dilemmas cannot beaddressed through interventions thatsimply lump women together andtarget them as the poorest of the poor.Work on gender must address theprivileges and vulnerabilities of men aswell as the rights and aspirations ofwomen. Cultural practices that violatewomen’s rights must be challenged.

We will focus on the empowermentof women and girls – with the supportof men and boys – to organise,mobilise and advocate for genderequity. We will assist women, inparticular, but also men, to scale uplocal forms of organisation andstrategies of empowerment in orderto forge stronger links with other actorsand develop an effective voice ongender issues nationally andinternationally. Capacity-building andlinking work will feed into and bereinforced by advocacy to changepolicies and practices that perpetuategender inequity.

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Strengthening local strategies forgender empowerment

To work with poor women and men –and where appropriate girls and boys– to seek mutually empoweringsolutions to gender imbalance in allof our work.

Strategies■ Build and strengthen organisations

dedicated to gender issues andpromote their role in widerorganisations and alliances that arecommitted to poor and marginalisedpeople.

■ Assist women’s and youth groups tobuild wider horizontal and verticallinkages so that they can translatelocal gains in confidence and skillsinto lasting influence over decisionsin the public sphere.

■ Promote practical and principledguidelines among ActionAidpartners.

■ Ensure that women and girls receiveequal benefit from all ActionAid’swork without absorbing an undueshare of the costs at all stages.

Expected outcomes■ Organisations and alliances

dedicated to gender issues achievegreater influence in policy debatesnationally and internationally.

■ Women’s control over their owndevelopment and their ability tosecure their rights is substantiallyincreased in the areas where we work.

■ Staff, stakeholders and decision-makers recognise ActionAid as agender-responsive agency, playingan important role in the globalmovement for gender equity andwomen’s rights.


Advocating for gender equity

To advocate at all levels to addressthe causes of gender inequity.

Strategies■ Undertake gender analysis of issues

and influencing opportunities to feedinto the strategic planning andimplementation of campaigns andother initiatives.

■ Develop strategic alliances withgender activists and advocacyorganisations at national, regionaland international levels.

■ Actively participate in relevantmajor campaigns on issues related to gender equity, organisedby networks or alliances ofgender activists or advocacyorganisations at national, regionaland international levels.

Expected outcomes■ Focus at least one core objective of

the international food rightscampaign and education campaignon gender equity.

■ Increased partnership with genderactivists and advocacy organisations at national, regional and internationallevels.

■ Methods of integrating gender intocampaigning work and into assessment of campaignsdeveloped and shared internally and externally.

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Part IV: Organisation strategyOrganisation implications

ActionAid’s new strategic directionmakes the following actionsimperative:

■ dealing with powerful and complexexternal institutions and structures

■ working much more incollaborative partnerships andalliances

■ developing our relationship andcommunications with donors forinfluence

■ building a global perspective in ourthinking and action

■ maximising organisationalcoherence and harmony at alllevels

■ raising sufficient funds, especiallynew funds, for work that it may notbe possible to fund from traditionalsources

■ strengthening accountableleadership, innovation andcollaborative structures, systemsand practices at all levels of theorganisation.

This strategy is derived from ourcurrent strengths and experience.However, it will demand concerted and systematic analysis andinvestment to develop theorganisational structure and skills,knowledge and behaviours necessaryfor its successful implementation.

Unity in diversity

As an organisation we have grown inscale and scope and have expandedsignificantly on all fronts – thecountries where we work, the types of work we do, and the donors andpartners we have. In doing so, ourexperience and capacity hasincreased. But so, too, has thecomplexity of the management task.

We need to build further on thediversity of local situations, capitaliseon the creative potential of culturaldiversity throughout the organisation,and extend our learning opportunitiesand influence through strategicpartnerships.

At the same time, we need to developcoherence and harmony around theorganisational core of our vision,mission and values. We need strongand inspiring leadership at all levels of the organisation, and an increasedcost-effectiveness and accountabilitythrough the consistent application ofbest practice and ethical standards. It is only in a united ActionAid thatwe can maximise our profile, influenceand impact.

Devolution and horizontal working

Together with the vertical process ofdevolution to further empower staff andteams to take decisions for learning,innovation, action and review at theappropriate level, we need to promotehorizontal linkages, bringing synergythrough team and group work. Weneed to invest in building capacity,confidence and skills to increase teameffectiveness. The contribution of staffwill be amplified when they can workfor common goals and teamobjectives, instead of being limited by the confines of their functions,structures and geographical domains.There is already an increasing trendtowards such cross-function/locationteam work in various parts of theorganisation, and this strategyproposes extending and strengtheningthis way of working. However, we needto recognise that devolution andhorizontal working have implications for the way we are organised, the way we work together, and the way we are resourced.

Learning and innovation

Taking positive action to promote andsustain an organisational culture thatencourages innovation, learning andsharing will be a fundamental successfactor in enabling us to respond to arapidly changing and challengingexternal environment. This will requireinvestment in staff and teams withinregions, countries, divisions anddepartments – to equip them with new skills and tools on the one hand,and the incentives and space to learnand innovate on the other. This meansthat constraints and boundaries ofunnecessary bureaucracy need to be removed.

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Gender equity

Redressing the gender balance isnecessary not only in the compositionof our governance structure but rightacross the policies and practices ofthe whole organisation. Progress onintegrating gender equity in ActionAidhas been slow and unsystematic as aresult of limited organisational will, staffcapacity, resources and, above all, lackof concerted action. We need toredress this situation and prioritise theissue of gender equity, based onrecent gains and momentum.

Transparency and accountability

The increasing scope and spread ofour work requires that we improve andstrengthen our information andaccountability systems. Applyingdonors’ funds most effectively requiresthe use of resources in ways that bothrespect their trust in us and ensureprogress towards our goals andobjectives in a cost-effective manner. In addition, we need to invest inensuring that learning, results andinformation are shared swiftly and

transparently within the organisation,and between partners, donors, andcommunities. This will requireconcerted investment in ourcommunications skills and systems. It is on the basis of accountability and honest communication that we will build solidarity with all ourstakeholders.

Matching funding needs

This strategy involves financial growthto fund work that may not be readilyfunded from traditional sources. It also requires funds for geographicalexpansion of work, to establish anappropriate presence in existing andnew countries and sub-regions.

Child sponsorship will remain themainstay of our funding base duringthis strategy period. It is vital that bothour understanding of sponsor needsand their understanding of our workcontinue to evolve so that we can achieve appropriate flexibility infunding whilst maintaining, if notincreasing, the commitment of

sponsors to ActionAid’s approach toeradicating poverty. We will need tocontinue to test new approaches andexplore new geographical markets, as well as adapt and develop the more conventional income sources. In addition, we need to developstrategies systematically for raisingfunds and generating wider supportfrom within regions and countryprogrammes.

Governance

An important aspect of achieving unitywhile respecting diversity involvesstrengthening the composition andstructure of governance. Our legitimacyand influence as an internationalorganisation can be furtherstrengthened if the governance is alsogender balanced and internationalisedin its composition. The evolutionaryprocess of change in governance willalso need to address enhanced linksand harmonisation with other membersof the ActionAid family in Europe forgreater influence and impact.

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Part IV: Organisation strategy

Organisation strategies

The following strategies for thedevelopment of our organisation aredeliberately broad, in recognition ofthe fact that the implications will varyby location and function. However, the ‘expected outcomes’ describe the organisational changes that arenecessary for achieving progresstowards our poverty eradication goals. Further refinement andelaboration of these strategies andexpected outcomes will be achieved in the subsidiary regional anddivisional strategic plans following the Taking Stock exercise.

Strategic objective 1

Strengthening our identity

To achieve a united ActionAid thatwill also respect and foster diversityaround core organisational cultureand identity.

Strategies■ Systematically communicate our

strategic approach internally toachieve cohesive understanding andresponse.

■ Adopt a consistent and coherentstatement of ActionAid’s core cultureand identity, based on ActionAid’svision, mission and values, toexternal audiences.

■ Promote awareness of ActionAid to all relevant audiences throughsystematic reinforcement of identity in all materials and activities.

■ Align organisational structure, policies, procedures and behaviourswith organisational values andstrategic direction.

Expected outcomes■ Greater and more informed

awareness of the causes of povertyand ActionAid’s role and workamongst all stakeholders, includingstaff, partners and communities withwhom we work, as well as ourdonors.

■ Coherence of policies and practicesin the organisation, and of messagesand symbols communicatedexternally, with our vision, missionand values, and consistent with thestrategic direction.

■ Greater profile of ActionAid incountries in the North and Southwhere we work.


Achieving gender equity

To make rapid progress in buildingthe capacity and environment forensuring gender equity in ActionAid.

Strategies■ Develop and implement an

organisation-wide policy on genderequity.

■ Invest in building staff responsibility,capacity and necessary systems forpromoting, achieving and monitoringgender equity in ActionAid.

■ Establish planning, evaluating andreporting systems, based on analysisbroken down by gender across theorganisation.

■ Develop and implement policies thatenable parents to balance thedemands of work and children at alllevels of the organisation.

■ Implement appropriate procedures for increasing the proportion ofwomen in senior positionsthroughout the organisation.

■ Refocus existing methods, research,strategies and systems forprogramme implementation toaddress gender equity.

Expected outcomes

■ Existence and implementation ofan ActionAid-wide gender policy.

■ Existence of analysis, planning,evaluating and reporting, broken down by gender.

■ A higher proportion of women in senior positions throughoutthe organisation.

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Devolving decision-making

To foster an empoweringorganisational culture for staffmembers and teams foreffective, responsible and flexibledecision-making.

Strategies ■ Promote non-hierarchical and self-

managed structures and workingpractices.

■ Establish a cost-effective centre andcore minimum organisationalstandards, with an appropriate process of development and review.

■ Develop and implement ethicalbusiness policies and practices.

■ Ensure further clarity in structure,roles and accountabilities betweenthe organisation’s centre andUK/Northern functions andstructures.

■ Constitute and strengthen regional and divisional management teams to ensure upward, downward andlateral (e.g. country programme tocountry programme) accountabilityfor work, not only within the confinesof geographical boundaries but forfunctional and issue-based regionaland global work.

■ Enable further decentralisation anddevolution of functions andresponsibilities, for example, financeand marketing, by building capacity at regional level and in countryprogrammes and divisions.

Expected outcomes■ A clear understanding and consistent

implementation of core minimumstandards across the organisation.

■ Appropriate redistribution of centrefunctions, authority and investmentto the regional teams, countryprogrammes and divisions.

■ The development of regional andglobal perspectives andimplementation of regional andglobal programmes of action.

■ Improvement in working relationshipsbetween centre, region andUK/Northern functions andstructures.

■ Demonstrable benefit for keystakeholders of quicker decision-making and greater autonomy,responsiveness and flexibility atthe frontline.

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Part IV: Organisation strategy


Enhancing innovation and learning

To enable ActionAid staff to work creatively with and learn from colleagues, partners and other organisations, and to developthe organisational systemsnecessary to encourage, capture,institutionalise, share and spreadlearning and innovation.

Strategies■ Develop an environment where

individuals take responsibility forlearning and facilitate this learningthrough job design and workingpractices supported by theorganisation.

■ Design organisational systems andpractices, including research anddocumentation, to encourage cross-function/location learning and learning from other organisations.

■ Reform ActionAid’s accountability,planning, and resource allocationsystems to release capacity and

space for innovation and cross-function/location working at all levelsof the organisation.

■ Effectively build and manage ourknowledge by developing and usingappropriate systems, skills andbehaviours.

Expected outcomes■ Systems developed, including staff

appraisal, to encourage and facilitatelearning and innovation.

■ New and innovative methods arepromoted and practised within andbeyond ActionAid.

■ The improved quantity and quality,both in terms of cost-effectivenessand outcomes, of cross-function/location work.

■ Increasing numbers of staff are enabled to lead, coach and influencepeople, processes and products inthe organisation, irrespective of theirplace in the hierarchy.

■ Staff and teams exchangeexperience, information andknowledge freely – within andbeyond ActionAid.


Securing appropriate income andensuring cost-effectiveness

To ensure that appropriate andsufficient funds are available toenable ActionAid to achieve itsmission and that these funds areraised and spent in a cost-effectivemanner.

Strategies■ Develop a framework and

international process for planningand budgeting that sets high-levelpriorities of investment betweenregions and types of activity.

■ Develop a framework for planning,budgeting and reporting at regional,country programme and divisionallevel which details planned progresstowards the mission goals and strategic objectives.

■ Whilst respecting our accountability to communities and donors, improvethe allocation and management ofour resources by:

ii developing a more appropriateallocation of regular donations fromexisting or new donors to meet theobjectives of this strategy (includingthe review of the use of flexible andnational funds).

iiii modernising our reserves policyand reviewing our ‘contract’ withsponsors to ensure that resourcesare used effectively according toneed.

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■ Ensure that our new funds match ourneeds by:

ii exploring and developing newfundraising approaches andmarkets to provide income forbroader purposes.

iiii expanding in-region and in-countryfundraising in a systematic,integrated and planned way.

■ Strengthen accountability andresponsibility across the organisationfor developing skills, systems andpractices of high-quality, transparentreporting and communications todonors, as well as to communities,partners and staff.

■ Ensure cost-effectiveness byestablishing simple and sensitivemethods and standards foranalysing, reporting and practisingcost-effective investment of funds.This will require the building ofassociated capacity of staff acrossthe organisation.

Expected outcomes■ Coherence and clarity in resource

allocation planning across theorganisation, achieved by high-levelsetting of investment priorities inrelation to the strategy.

■ Increased diversity of fundingsources and matching of funds toprogramme needs, in terms of typeand quantity.

■ Reduced occurrence of excessivereserve funds.

■ Existence of minimum standards forcost-effectiveness analysis andreporting.

■ Retention of loyal donor base.


Internationalising governance

To strengthen further the governanceof ActionAid for more effectiveinternational influence and impact.

Strategies■ Recruit new Trustees from among

women and from among nationals ofthe regions and countries where wework so that the composition of theboard is appropriately balanced.

■ Establish conditions of service ofTrustees that ensure balance andcontinuity and yet also encourageregular change through continuallygenerating fresh ideas and inputs.

■ Enable the ActionAid family ofagencies in Europe and elsewhere towork together for a common purposeand greater influence, while buildingon and respecting each other’sstrength and diversity.

■ Explore the feasibility of howActionAid can achieve localgovernance in each country andstrengthen identity and legitimacy forachieving a more representative andaccountable internationalgovernance.

Expected outcomes■ A balanced Board of Trustees with

women members and membersfrom the regions and countrieswhere we work.

■ Establishment of an internationalalliance of ActionAid families inEurope and elsewhere withstructures and agreementsfacilitating joint programmes of work.

■ Decisions taken about whichinternational governance model is appropriate or feasible to create a united and truly international ActionAid.

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Part V: ConclusionThe way forward

ActionAid’s strategy buildsmomentum into a process ofcontinuous change which willcontinue beyond 2005. It seeks to increase organisationalunderstanding, alignment andcommitment towards our newdirection and enable us to movetogether at an appropriate pace ofchange. At the same time, it providessufficient flexibility so that we cancontinue to challenge and extendthe boundaries for innovation and improvement.

The shifts in emphasis

The strategy is emphatic about theposition and direction we should take.However, it recognises that the degreeand rate of change will depend uponthe local context and the capabilitiesthat exist in different parts of theorganisation. But change we must – to enable us to deal with the externalcontext and to fulfil our mission.

The following are key shifts inemphasis related to our focus andapproach:

■ addressing the root causes ofpoverty at all levels from local toglobal

■ promoting basic rights as the focus in all our work

■ working increasingly in partnershipand alliance

■ tackling constraints imposed byvarious national and internationalinstitutions

■ connecting more withgovernments at local and national levels

■ engaging donors to influenceattitudes, policies and practices forpoverty eradication.

Implementation of the strategicdirection and intentions

A comprehensive Taking Stockexercise which ran in parallel with thefinalisation of the strategy, analysedour capabilities to implement the newstrategic direction and intentions.

The strategy is pitched at a levelsufficient to provide clarity oforganisational position, direction andintentions but leaves these to becontextualised, elaborated andoperationalised by regional anddivisional strategic plans. These havedeveloped detailed plans, includingresource allocations foroperationalisation, and set out specificindicators and methods for monitoringand evaluating success.

Finally, an organisation-wide process ofroll-out took place to develop anunderstanding of specific needs andthe implications for various parts of theorganisation, and to develop ways and

means of reviewing progress. This involved dissemination anddiscussion and the internalisation ofthe position, direction and intentions ofActionAid’s strategy.

Looking ahead

ActionAid’s strategy is about change.However, change is not risk free.Over the life of this strategy therewill be occasions when we need totake risks or where we find ourselvesin unfamiliar territory. We will seek todevelop strategies to manage theserisks and accept that this is part andparcel of doing all we can to achieveour mission.

Our inspiration and our resolve inachieving our mission is drawn fromwitnessing the daily struggle,creativity and energy of poor andmarginalised people to overcomeabject poverty. We need to workwith the same degree ofcommitment and determination tosecure freedom from poverty forfuture generations.

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Glossary



Advocacy The process of influencing keydecision makers and opinion formers (individualsand organisations) for changes to policies andpractices that will work in poor people’s favour.

Appropriate income Income that could be used to meet expenditure needs of the organisation.

Basic needs The basic requirements eachperson has in order to live a life of dignity: food;water; education; healthcare; livelihood; security;information; participation.

Basic rights The system of entitlements, ideallyenshrined in law, which enable people to fulfil theirbasic needs. ActionAid believes that every person has the right to: food; water; education; healthcare;livelihood; security; protection; information;participation; and that by securing these rights people will be free from a life of poverty.

Capacity building The process of strengthening an individual or organisation to pursue their goalseffectively, usually through the provision oftechnical, managerial or financial support.

Centre Functions and projects within ActionAid asan organisation which are responsible for setting,monitoring and implementing standards across therest of the organisation. For example, the centrefinance function is responsible for setting,monitoring and implementing the financialaccounting standards of principle and practiceapplied by the finance teams in each countrywhere ActionAid works.

Child sponsorship ActionAid’s biggest singlesource of funding, whereby individual donors arelinked to a particular community in a developingcountry with an individual child from thatcommunity.

Civil society Refers to the segment of society inwhich people come together in groups to expresstheir common aspirations and interests such asmeeting joint needs, sharing their interests, upholding their traditions and asserting their values.Such groups include trades unions, academicgroups, NGOs, grassroots movements andwomen's associations.

Coping mechanisms Methods by which thepoor deal with problems and opportunities that facethem.

Critical engagement The approach used todeal with powerful individuals and organisationswhose policies and practices affect poor peoplethrough an active process of dialogue, co-operationand conflict, as the situation demands.

Cross-sectoral approach Helping poor peopleby recognising that poverty is caused by problemsin a range of sectors – such as provision of food,water, health, education and finance – rather thanany one sector in isolation, and combating theseproblems in an holistic rather than an isolated way.

Devolution The process of handing overresponsibility and authority to the most appropriatelevel.

Donors Individuals and organisations whosupport ActionAid, usually through a financialdonation but also through donations of time,knowledge, skills or equipment.

Empower(ment) The process of enhancing theability of poor people to make choices anddecisions that affect their own lives.

Equity A pragmatic principle of justice whichrecognises and responds to difference (includingphysical and cultural difference), particularly interms of need. For example, an equitabledistribution of a three-metre-length piece of fabricbetween two people who wish to use it for clothing,one of whom is two metres tall and the other onemetre tall, would be two thirds to the taller personand one third to the shorter.

Equality An idealistic principle of justice whichinsists on an identical treatment in terms of quality or quantity for each member of the group underconsideration. For example, an equal distribution ofa three metre length piece of fabric between twopeople who wish to use it for clothing, no matterwhat their respective sizes, would be half each.

Food security The ability of people to feedthemselves a sufficient quantity and quality of foodon a regular basis, which may be hindered byevents both social (for example conflict,bureaucracy, restricted trade) and natural (forexample drought, famine, poor soil).

Gender The roles which society assigns bothmen and women which define, among other things,who does what work, and who has what level ofstatus and access to power.

Generation The roles which society assignspeople according to their age which define, amongother things, who does what work, and who haswhat level of status and access to power.

Governance The structures, policies and levels ofauthority within ActionAid, particularly in relation to its Board of Trustees.

Grassroots Referring to activity at th

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