2021 marked 35 years since a group of advocates gathered in Canberra under the umbrella of Results International Australia with a shared vision of a world without poverty. Advocates who believed that no matter where people are born, everyone should have equal opportunities to fulfil their potential in life. Since this time a number of advocacy groups have been established throughout Australia all with the same vision that was central to the founding of the organisation all those years ago. Group meeting, in Adelaide, 1989. Group meeting, in Adelaide, 1989 Results has spent 35 years advocating on global poverty issues with a particular focus on nutrition, education and global health.
Over the years, Results has become well known among policy makers, civil society and academia. We are known for our strong campaigning, research and policy influencing skills. In our early years, Results worked with civil society organisations and partners across the world to achieve the following:
Increasing Australia’s assistance for womens and children’s health; Maintaining and increasing Australian Government support for the International Fund for Agricultural Development, a United Nations agency specialising in reducing rural poverty
Having the Australian aid program recognise as a priority and devote increased funding to microfinance (financial services which meet the needs of the poorest people).
Obtaining commitment and follow-up action to the goals set at the World Summit for Children in 1990, which were a predecessor to the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Promoting relief on loans by the multilateral development banks such as the World Bank as part of debt relief for the poorest countries.
From 1997, Results very own Policy & Advocacy Manager, Mark Rice, He sits with Nobel Laureate & founder of The Grameen Bank, Dr Muhammad Yunus, at an engagement (National Press Club) in Canberra Results played a lead role on these issues and was often the only organisation with grassroots advocates who were writing to their Members of Parliament and the media on these issues.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development acknowledged that Results was the one organisation which ensured continued funding from Australia in the late 1980s.
Our role in leading advocacy campaigns and introducing new issues to Parliamentarians remains important. For example, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria congratulated Results on its leadership in advocacy for Australia’s contribution to the Global Fund at its 2016 replenishment.
In the future, Results will continue to work in partnership with other civil society organisations and subject matter experts to help build a world without poverty, but we also have the capacity to develop and promote issues and actions in our own right, thanks to our relationships with elected representatives and officials, and the enthusiasm and dedication of our advocates who continue to sit at the heart of our organisation.
As one of those "advocates {who} gathered in Canberra under the umbrella of Results International Australia with a shared vision of a world without poverty." this is a welcome summary of now 38 years of commitment and energy of so many RESULTS members.
When we started in 1986, we were asked by more than few politicians "are you religious with those commitments ?". There was also some slight suspicions along the lines of "what was in it for us" to be advocating on behalf of the invisible poor of our world. It required powerful presentation and advocacy skills to convince the doubters. Sam Daley-Harris remains a source of much inspiration.
Peter Graves
President 1990.
June 2024.