PRESS RELEASE:

www.actalliance.org

Global Launch of ACT Alliance in India : One of the largest Humanitarian Aid and Development International Organisation in the world.

Today, on the  24^th March,  ACT Alliance  is being launched globally in more than 65 countries, including India.   The  ACT Alliance was officially launched in India by Sri Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, Chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities, at a National event attended by   various dignitaries from the Civil Society Organisations and  Political leaders, at the PHD House, New Delhi, organized by the ACT Alliance India Forum. The Moderator of ACT Alliance, who also happens to be the Director of one of the member organizations of ACT Alliance -  CASA, was present at the Launching ceremony and introduced the ACT Alliance to the gathering.

Later on a Panel Discussion was held on the theme : “ Globalised world and inclusive Development: Challenges” .  Several eminent panelists  from the CSOs and the Political leaders across the party affiliation spectrum spoke at the panel discussion. The panelists brought in various dimensions to the issue of Inclusive development from the perspective of Excluded communities, women and CSO’s participation. The Panelists comprised of members from the CSOs, namely Dr. Rajesh Tandon, Ms. Annie Raja – NFIW, Prof. T.K.Oomen, Sri Amitabh Behar- WNTA and among the  Political leaders were present Sri Atul Anjan, National Secretary, CPI and Smt. Reeta Bahuguna Joshi, President, UP State Congress Committee.  The Panel discussion was  moderated by Dr.(Ms.) Belinda Bennet.     There was overall appreciation from the Civil Society Organisations, the Minority Commission, Government and various political parties present, who congratulated the members on the global launch of the ACT Alliance and hoped  that with the formation of this new global alliance, the ACT member organizations in India will be able to respond to emergencies and sustainable development issues more effectively.  They also emphasized on the need of increase participation of the CSOs with the government for effective service delivery mechanism in the state.  More than 200 prominent members from the CSOs and government organizations participated in the event.

ACT Alliance is one of the world’s largest humanitarian organization  - the ACT Alliance, working in 125 countries with a combined annual  budget of $US1.5 billion.  The  ACT Alliance of over 100 International organisations provides emergency food aid, shelter, water and sanitation facilities, and poverty reduction programmes in the world’s poorest countries.  The ACT India Forum, consisting of 25 International Resource Agencies and National development organizations  have  joined  the ACT Alliance.

Through ACT,  several of its member organizations around the world  have been at the forefront of life-saving work in Haiti since January 12, the day the massive earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince. On that day, nine ACT organisations were operating in Haiti and were able to swing into relief efforts immediately. As a global giant, ACT was able to assist survivors of the Chile earthquake six weeks later.

ACT Alliance already supports the 25 member organizations, which constitutes the ACT India Forum in Humanitarian Aid assistance and long term development programmes.  ACT Alliance has extensively supported the relief and rehabilitation work of the recent past, including the  Gujarat earthquake, Tsunami, Kashmir earthquake, Kosi Floods, and the most recent Andhra and Karnataka floods in India.  Besides, ACT has supported its member organizations to counter HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Kalazar, Lymphatic Filariasis and other health problems.  There has been stronger support of ACT Alliance on long term development interventions through the member organizations in India, emphasizing on livelihood issues, Natural Resource Management, local self governance with dignity and rights based approach as the fulcrum of ACT. 

 The ACT Alliance was born on 1 January 2010 by merging together two existing global alliances (ACT International and ACT Development specialized bodies in humanitarian aid assistance and long term development , respectively).  With the creation of ACT, the effectiveness of the member Organisations in India  is enhanced to respond the natural disasters and to ensure sustainable development  in our country.

The  Moderator of the ACT Alliance, Dr. Sushant Agrawal said that “the new ACT Alliance will give the ACT a stronger visibility, greater advocacy for the poor, larger pool of specialist knowledge, effective sharing of knowledge and improved access to funding.  Thereby, the member organizations can more effectively carry out their work in serving the poor, marginalized and excluded communities”. 

ACT Alliance General Secretary, Dr. John Nduna, based at its secretariat in Geneva,  says “The membership of the ACT Alliance is wide. We find ACT members in every part of the world. ACT members are grounded in local civil society of all parts of the world. We are big and we make an impact on the lives of the poorest in societies around the world.”

Earlier,  a thanksgiving service was organized at the venue, prior to the Launching of the ACT Alliance.