BRIGHTON, United Kingdom – ActionAid is an international organization whose mission is to support women and girls living in poverty around the world. The charity works in 35 countries in Africa, South America and Asia. ActionAid’s work tackles poverty related to gender inequality in a number of ways. For example, the organization promotes women’s education by running girls’ clubs and distributing period products so girls don’t have to miss school because they’re menstruating. She also promotes women’s health by campaigning to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. ActionAid works with many celebrities who share their goal of alleviating the difficulties faced by women in poverty. Here are five celebrities who are official Ambassadors for ActionAid.
Phoebe Dynevor
Phoebe Dynevor, actress and star of the hit historical romance series Bridgeton, became an ActionAid Ambassador in 2021. The charity stated that Dynevor “has supported ActionAid since she was a child” and is a “longtime supporter and strong advocate for women’s rights”. Dynevor’s initial collaboration with the charity included supporting their fundraiser, She is the answer, which aimed to help women in Cambodia cope with a climate catastrophe caused by flooding and rising sea levels.
Dynevor later promoted ActionAid’s “Let Her Learn” campaign on her social media. The aim of the campaign was to raise money for ActionAid which would allow her to continue her work to get girls into school. Dynevor gave ActionAid control of their Instagram account for 24 hours, allowing it to share stories of girls who had benefited from ActionAid’s education centers in Kenya. She also spoke directly to the girls about their experiences via video call.
Emma Thompson
Actress Emma Thompson became an ActionAid ambassador in 2001. That same year she visited Uganda to witness the important work ActionAid is doing to support AIDS victims and their families. Over the past 22 years, Thompson has visited many of the countries where ActionAid operates, including Ethiopia, Mozambique and Liberia, to oversee and promote the charity’s work in providing health care to those affected by AIDS.
In 2020, Thompson created a video urging the public to support ActionAid’s Christmas appeal by making a donation to the charity. The donations were aimed at supporting victims of domestic violence in Uganda as rates of domestic violence have skyrocketed this year. Speaking of her role as one of many ActionAid ambassadors, Thompson said, “Honestly, working with ActionAid has been one of the most inspiring and exciting gifts of my life.”
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon, singer and former Britain’s Got Talent judge, joined ActionAid in 2016. Her involvement with the charity began when she took part in the #BrutalCut campaign, a video campaign aimed at raising public awareness of the dangers of FGM. ActionAid commissioned Dixon and other celebrities to film videos of themselves engaged in everyday activities.
The campaign was a huge success and helped ActionAid raise £2.6m to fund community centers and develop anti-violence policies to support women and girls affected by FGM in Kenya.
Dixon also traveled to Ghana in 2017 to support the charity’s campaign to end child marriage. There she met several girls who had been kidnapped and forced into marriage, but who managed to escape. Dixon wrote about her experiences for ActionAid to shed light on the issue and to encourage the public to support the charity in its efforts to end child marriage.
Hugh Dennis
Actor and comedian Hugh Dennis has been a longtime supporter of ActionAid. His work with the charity began when he sponsored children from Kenya and Myanmar. In 2014, Dennis traveled to Myanmar with ActionAid to meet Lae Yi Soe, one of the girls he sponsored. During his trip, he visited their schools and met with local ActionAid grantees who are responsible for planning how ActionAid funds are used to best serve their communities. Dennis also wrote about his experiences for ActionAid to encourage other people to consider sponsoring children.
Hugh Dennis is one of several ActionAid ambassadors who raise money for the charity by attending a sponsored sporting event. In 2016 he completed the Ride London cycle race, cycling 100 miles on closed roads in the City of London. The money raised through donations has been instrumental in funding ActionAid’s life-changing work.
Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker, the actress best known for portraying the first female Doctor Who, has been an ActionAid Ambassador since 2013. Like Hugh Dennis, Whittaker’s work with ActionAid began with a child sponsorship. She used her public platforms to educate the public about how sponsorships help children and encouraged them to sponsor children themselves. She also personally supports children in Afghanistan.
Whittaker has since focused on helping ActionAid end violence against women and girls. She is a flagship of the organization’s Safe Cities For Women campaign. This campaign helps women in 20 different nations reach out to governments and influencers and encourage them to make the streets safer for women through laws and public safety initiatives. Whittaker has also attended ActionAid’s fashion show to raise money for survivors of street violence and harassment.
To quote ActionAid, “There is no country in the world where women and girls as a group are not disadvantaged compared to men and boys.” By becoming ActionAid Ambassadors, these celebrities are fighting global gender inequality and improving the lives of women and girls living in poverty.
-Mohsina Alam
Photo: Flickr
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