ACTIONAID’s mission is to alleviate poverty and deprivation in developing countries by starting and supporting programmes and projects which will enable local communities to break out of the cycle of poverty. Thus, ACTIONAID helps communities create the means to increase wealth and opportunities, and to do so in ways which are sustainable by the community and genuinely meet its needs.



• Second, ACTIONAID Ireland works entirely through local people.



The ACTIONAID organisation in each developing country researches, studies, initiates and carries out development programmes in conjunction with local communities.

The international connection



ACTIONAID is an independent Third World charity and development organisation.



It consists of five independent European funding partners, located in Ireland, Spain, France, Italy and Britain. These support ACTIONAID organisations in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.



Being staffed and run by locals and integrated fully into local communities and the larger society means that the ACTIONAID organisation is in a better position to influence the policy of its own government to combat deprivation through distributive justice.



The principle of partnership

The European groups such as ACTIONAID Ireland, which was established in 1983, act as partners to local ACTIONAID groups, not as visiting firemen bringing assistance from one culture to another.



They facilitate the local organisation, sending consultants where needed and providing funding - but the local organisation is in control.



ACTIONAID Ireland is a major partner to ACTIONAID Kenya, and its other operational partners in the east African region include ACTIONAID Ethiopia, ACTIONAID Rwanda, and ACTIONAID Uganda.



ACTIONAID Ireland’s aim is to alleviate poverty in poor communities in these countries in particular, and help create conditions where poverty is less likely to exist in the future.