What we do

Our international programmes

Practical Action works with poor communities to help them choose and use technology to improve their lives for today and generations to come.

Our work in Africa, Asia and Latin America is in partnership with poor people and their communities, building on their own knowledge and skills to come up with innovative, sustainable and practical solutions. Our work is people focused, locally relevant, environmentally sensitive and offers tangible ways out to poverty. Through our work we demonstrate alternatives, share knowledge and influence change.

Practical Action aims to help eradicate poverty in developing countries by developing and using technologies, and by demonstrating results, sharing knowledge and influencing others.  To achieve this, Practical Action focuses its efforts, skills and resources around four international programmes:

Through our international work, we demonstrate alternatives, share knowledge and influence change.

• We aim to tackle the underlying causes of poverty by campaigning to influence policies, institutions and processes. Through our campaigning and advocacy, Practical Action aims to achieve greater and more lasting impact from its work.
• Our Technical Information Service aims to provide a means of accessing the wealth of technical information held by Practical Action, through technical briefs or the resource centre.
• Our Education unit offers a range of support services for teachers and young people in the UK looking to address sustainable development within their teaching and learning.
• Lessons from Practical Action's grassroots experience are also spread through consultancy services and publishing activities.

In everything we do, Practical Action is about bringing positive, lasting change to people's lives. Read more about how we aim to change lives in our Group Strategy, or read about our most recent work in our annual highlights.

Practical Action has locally-staffed offices and full-scale regional programmes in East and Southern Africa, Latin America and South Asia, and country programmes in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sudan.

Practical Action's vision is of 'a world free of poverty and injustice, in which technology is used to the benefit of all'.  We believe poor people should be able to access, secure and use technologies that are vital to their livelihoods.