About One World Action

One World Action works to improve the lives of people in less developed countries through partner organisations on the ground, and policy makers in government.

Initiatives aimed at strengthening local level democracy are at the heart of all its partners' work, which includes large health, water, education and human rights programmes.

In Europe One World Action works to make sure its partners' voices are heard at EU and UK government level and thereby influence policy to help defeat poverty and promote democracy and respect for human rights.

One World Action works with partners in Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua), Africa (Angola, Cape Verde, Namibia, South Africa) and Asia (Bangladesh, Philippines).

Below are some examples of the work the charity is involved in.

- Nearly 300,000 people in Angola being given access to clean water through the work of a One World Action partner, the Development Workshop.

- The rural poor in Bangladesh have limited, if any, access to courts to settle disputes. Through mediation a One World Action partner, Nagorik Uddyog, has settled nearly 1000 separate cases of conflict in the last 18 months.

- In Nicaragua a One World Action partner, Movimiento Maria Elena Cuadra, provides training to women factory workers in the Export Processing Zones about labour rights and health & safety. Facilitated by One World Action they have also fed valuable information back to the UK and EU and influenced policy officials on trade & aid in this region.

Our history

Glenys Kinnock MEP, One World Action's President, founded a trust in December 1989 on the first anniversary of the Lockerbie air disaster, in memory of Bernt Carlsson, the UN Commissioner for Namibia, who was killed en route to New York for the agreement of the Namibia Peace Accords.

That small trust became One World Action, was joined by the Nicaragua Health Fund in 1993, and now has an annual turnover of more than £4million.

There are now 18 staff in London and 23 partnerships in Central America, Asia and Africa.