United Kingdom

Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP) is an international association with 16 national chapters in the global north and south. ASAP seeks to identify important moral and social issues and focus academic attention and intelligence upon them. We draw on the independence and creativity of academics and students to question existing practices, and provide a platform for the community to address important social and moral questions. 

The UK chapter (ASAP UK) was formally launched in 2011 at an inaugural conference at Birmingham University, which was attended by a number of eminent academics. 

What we do

Our mission is to establish a dynamic network of academics and practitioners who are concerned about poverty and inequality and want to use robust evidence to improve policy decisions. ASAP UK also works to strengthen public discourse around poverty and increase government accountability in this area.

What we have achieved so far

ASAP UK is a volunteer-based organisation working on UK-wide projects to highlight the underlying causes of poverty. We maintain a network of over 250 academics and development professionals who are committed to addressing poverty in all its forms. We harness the knowledge and experience of our members to deliver key projects. Since our inception, we have delivered a flagship project each year. 

These include:

• A special edition of Ethics and International Affairs authored by ASAP UK members in 2012. 
• A conference at the University of East London, which brought together academics and practitioners working on poverty in both hemispheres in 2013.
• A roundtable discussion about the way in which academics can contribute to the work of non-governmental organisations, which was attended by Oxfam, Save the Children, ActionAid and leading academics from the ASAP UK network in 2014.
• An Election Manifesto Poverty Audit in the lead-up to the General Election in May 2015 and 2017, which brought together over thirty academics to analyse the impact of proposed policies on poverty, social inequality and sustainability in the UK, which gained mainstream media coverage.
• A round table discussion at the University of Oxford on global systemic change in March 2016, which was attended by representatives from the Department for International Development (DfID), World Bank, NHS Sustainable Development Unit, Finance Innovation Lab as well as think tanks, academics and NGOs.

Our future plans 

We are building on the success of our 2017 UK Election Manifesto Poverty Audit. Moving forward, we aim to meet increasing demand from UK academics and think tanks for ASAP UK to act as a convening, outreach and multidisciplinary platform. Thanks to the encouragement of the Fred Mulder Foundation, we have assessed that we cannot continue as a volunteer-led organisation if we take seriously our response to the demand that has been created by the events we have delivered to date.  

To find out more about ASAP UK activities – please visit http://academicsstand.org/chapters/united-kingdom/