In 1983, Salil Shetty was hired from IIM-A by
Azim Premji and began working for the Indian IT company
Wipro.
ActionAid Following this, Shetty joined the international NGO
ActionAid, rising up to head ActionAid's operations in India and later Kenya in East Africa. Shetty was the first person from the global south to be appointed as the Chief Executive of
ActionAid, 1998- 2003. Salil Shetty is credited with not just transforming
ActionAid into a Southern-led International organisation, moving its global headquarters from
London to
Johannesburg in South Africa, but set off an important new trend in global development organisations to become more participatory and bottom up in their approach. The most recent major global organisation to move in this direction is
Oxfam which has moved its headquarters to
Nairobi, with an African woman CEO. The move initiated by Salil Shetty enabled
ActionAid to work towards giving all its different country programmes a more equal say in how the organisation works. The new structure made
ActionAid's commitment to accountability to the people, communities and countries it worked with a reality, and therefore making it more effective in fighting and eradicating poverty. In line with Shetty's commitment to making
ActionAid a truly international organisation, during his tenure as Chief Executive regional programmes and policy advocacy offices were established in
Bangkok,
Harare,
Brussels and
Washington DC.
UN Millennium Campaign Given his significant achievements at ActionAid, Shetty was then appointed the Director of the
United Nations Millennium Campaign from 2003 till 2010. The
UN Millennium Campaign was established by UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan in 2002. The Campaign supported citizens' efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG's). Under Salil Shetty's leadership the campaign for the MDGs reached over a hundred countries across the globe and the MDGs gained a great deal of traction among decision makers and citizens alike. In 2005, citizens groups, including NGOs, faith groups, trade unions, supported by the Millennium Campaign, mobilised for the MDGS/‘
Make Poverty History’ campaign to increase awareness and pressuring governments into taking actions towards relieving absolute poverty. The campaign focused on the responsibility of developed countries, especially the
G8 and
European Union. The three focus areas for change were trade, debt and aid. Mass mobilisations were seen in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Norway and other developed countries. The UN Millennium Campaign, under the leadership of Salil Shetty, also helped aggregate the various national campaigns into The
Global Call to Action Against Poverty GCAP). GCAP is an alliance that brings together trade unions, international non-governmental organisations, the women's and youth movements, community and faith groups and others to call for action from world leaders in the global North and South to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality. GCAP added to existing campaigning on poverty by forming diverse, inclusive national platforms that are able to open up civil society space and advocate more effectively than individual organisations would be able to do on their own. It also organised global mass mobilisations that expressed solidarity between the global North and South, allowing tens of millions of ordinary people to make their voices heard. An innovative mass action launched by the UN Millennium Campaign was the
Stand Up initiative. On 16 October 2006, millions of people around the world joined together to 'Stand Up against Poverty' – an effort to remind governments that they must keep their promises to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and eradicate extreme poverty. Stand Up against Poverty, is also officially recognized in the
Guinness World Record for the "greatest number of people to stand up for a given cause, at multiple locations, within 24 hours." Stand Up campaigns were held around the world by people of all ages, races and religions. Since 2006, the UN Millennium Campaign organized record breaking Stand Up events annually around the world, to campaign for the MDGs. == Amnesty International ==