We began our journey in 1998, with ActionAid’s Sponsorship Programme. Since then, more than 100,000 people from Greece and Cyprus have supported our actions, through Child Sponsorship.
In 2000, we launched our educational programme in Greece, which turned out to be one of our most innovative programmes. In 2017, we were awarded the European Innovation Award for our work.
In 2008, we were honoured with an award by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Karolos Papoulias, for our contribution in defending human rights. The award was received by the Kenyan teacher Tobias Nyabola, who spearheaded initiatives for the improvement of living conditions in his community.
In 2010, 88,000 signatures were collected through the 1Goal campaign and the first solidarity trip to Kenya took place.
In 2012, our programmes in the first community to be supported by Greek and Cypriot Sponsors in Ethiopia were completed. Since 1998, we have supported 86 communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Best Workplace award
- In 2013, Antonis Kanakis’ “Immersion” documentary, which was shot in Sierra Leone, aired and was viewed by millions.
-
In 2013 we received an award as the Best Workplace in Greece.
In 2014, jointly with ADIE, a French organisation, we founded the Action Finance Initiative (AFI), that provides financial support to very small enterprises in Greece.
Anti-racist social experiment
Support of refugees on Lesbos and in Attica
- In 2015, we received an award as the Best Workplace in Greece.
- In 2015, our anti-racist social experiment became viral, exceeding 2 million views.
- Between 2015 and 2018, we supported refugees on Lesbos and in Attica and since that time we have been working for the smooth integration of migrant and refugee populations into our society and for the change of mindset with respect to racism in Greece.
In 2016, we were certified as an organisation deploying volunteers in the framework of the EU Aid Volunteers programme, giving the possibility to volunteers from all over Europe to support vulnerable communities in the developing world.
In 2017, we established ActionAid’s Community Centre in Athens to provide services and programmes to our fellow citizens with low income free of charge. We were acclaimed as NGO of the Year for our work in 2020 at the Hellenic Responsible Business Awards.
In 2019, we began our campaign for harassment in the world of work.
In 2020, we began our action in Thessaloniki, reinforcing entrepreneurship among young people and mobilising them through art and volunteering.
In 2022, we founded the Open Community Centre in Northern Evia, in order to improve the daily lives of people stricken by the 2021 devastating forest fires, enhance their income and provide educational programmes. The Centre is funded by an exclusive grant of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.