Halima Begum, the chief executive of race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust is to take the same role at Action Aid UK, the International development charity that supports women and girls living in poverty.

The move marks a return to Action Aid for Begum, who was its education campaign officer for a year until 2000.

She has also spent more than eight years at the Department for International Development and has held senior roles at the British Council and the Lego Foundation, where she was its global vice president before joining the Runnymede Trust in 2020.

The last permanent CEO at the charity was Frances Longley who left in June 2022. The role has been covered on an interim basis by the charity's chief operating officer John Good.

Dr @Halima_Begum, CEO of @RunnymedeTrust, has been appointed as new CEO of ActionAid UK.

Halima says: "I look forward to using my experience to support ActionAid’s vital work responding to humanitarian disasters, fighting poverty and ending violence against women and girls.” pic.twitter.com/AP5wgfzBa4

— ActionAid UK (@ActionAidUK) April 13, 2023

“It is a great privilege to be re-joining the wonderful team at Action Aid, an organisation that works on exceptionally important causes and that has always remained close to my heart,” said Begum.

“Right now, there is such enormous complexity in the world, and an overwhelming number of crises affecting some of the most vulnerable members of our global community.

“From the Turkey-Syria earthquakes and ongoing war in Ukraine, to the food crisis in East Africa and beyond; humanitarian needs are growing alarmingly and by the day – and we know that women and girls will typically suffer the most.

“While the challenges across the sector are numerous, significant and immediate, not least in terms of charitable funding during the cost-of-living crisis, this is a pivotal moment for me to be returning to ActionAid.

“I look forward to working for the entire AA team and our stakeholders, and to using my experience to support ActionAid’s vital work responding to humanitarian disasters, fighting poverty and ending violence against women and girls.” 

Action Aid UK chair Kendi Guantai added: “We are thrilled that Halima has chosen to return to ActionAid and lead us forward.

“Her vast experience in challenging and overcoming inequality, combined with her strong grounding in and passion for humanitarian response, human rights and gender equality, will be invaluable in helping

ActionAid realise its vision of creating a just, equitable and sustainable world in which every person enjoys the right to a life of dignity, freedom from poverty and all forms of oppression.” 

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