As a teenager in the 1980s I experienced three exhilarating moments which shaped my view of activism. I was one of thousands who responded to the call to fight apartheid and enjoy the Free Mandela concert - and then Mandela was freed. We were asked to buy a piece of...

Ten years ago today, at a small press conference in New York, Bono and Bill Gates launched an activist entity called DATA, with start-up funds from Mr Gates, George Soros and Ed Scott.

I was one of the founders, along with Bobby Shriver...

A life and death debate will rage this week over the crucial - but excruciatingly technical - issue of aid effectiveness.

This issue is too important for the public not to know what's at stake, because after all it's how their money is being used to save...

While Bono and Bob Geldof have long been banging away, pressing world leaders for progress to help the poorest with debt cancellation, more money and better policies to fight hunger and disease, there is a tough new activist in town: Seattle's finest, Bill Gates Jnr.

In a remarkable...

"There is more in the news this morning about shaving foam than about nutritional supplies for children who need their lives saved." This was the impassioned plea of David Bull, Executive Director of UNICEF UK, on Radio 4. His frustration is understandable. Relief agencies have seen the...

Last week, Ian Birrell wrote a piece in the Daily Mail supposedly busting the 10 "myths" that he claims are used to justify the UK's outstanding commitment to help the world's poorest people.

I profoundly disagree with his analysis - an analysis which will only hurt and...