Results UK: celebrating 40 years of making a difference – one person at a time

written by Kitty Arie, CEO of Results UK

Earlier this year, Results Canada wrote a blog for our website congratulating Results UK on its 40th anniversary. Now, as Results Canada celebrates that very same milestone, it’s time for me to return the favour!

I hope you take this opportunity to reflect on the positive impact you have had over the past forty years. Out of those fledgling groups in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal back in 1986, you have built a movement of volunteers across the country, campaigning together to shape decisions that have helped to save millions of lives around the world.

four decades of life-changing advocacy

Over the past four decades you have demonstrated the power of people-led advocacy, highlighting the difference that can be made when citizens speak up for what they believe in.

Here are some of the ways your campaigning has created a fairer, safer world for all in that time:

• In 1998, over 200 letters to the editor and op-eds were published, resulting in reinstatement of Canada’s child immunization program.
• In response to a dedicated Results Canada campaign, Canada reversed cuts to tuberculosis funding in 2006.
• The game-changing 2010 Muskoka Initiative was announced after a dedicated Results Canada effort to make child and maternal health a priority.
• In 2022, Canada invested a record $1.21 billion in the Global Fund after months of advocacy from Results Canada volunteers.
• And just last week Canada announced $300 million to the Global Partnership for Education after concerted effort from Results Canada’s Fellows.

ordinary people, extraordinary change

Maintaining momentum in the fight for a better world over forty years isn’t easy – trust us, we know! Yet as I reflect on our shared journey with Results Canada, it’s clear to see that the values at the core of the Results mission are as strong and vital today as they have ever been.

To celebrate our own 40th anniversary, we held a party in the Houses of Parliament. There we were lucky enough to hear from a Results campaigner, Gill, who has been advocating to end global poverty for over 30 years.

What she said then should inspire us all: that, in giving ordinary people like you and me the tools that they need to make a real change in the world, organisations like Results UK and Results Canada give people hope for a better future.

In these challenging times, when it is easy to lose hope and feel like the progress that we have made together over the last four decades is being eroded, it is so vital to remember that each and every one of us has the capability to make a difference.

together into the future

So, a much-deserved congratulations as you celebrate this milestone! To each campaigner and staff member who has contributed to this journey over the past forty years: well done for your courage and persistence in speaking up for a better world. 

From one side of the Atlantic to the other, each organisation has been made stronger by having the other. Building a movement that spans oceans and continents. We look forward to being there with you as you enter this next chapter. 

Kitty Arie
CEO, Results UK