Crisis Action is a non-profit international organization established in the UK. The legal entity – Crisis Action Limited – was registered in 2003. Under the guise of charity, human rights and peace advocacy, the non-profit is engaged in creating informal influence networks in various countries worldwide. Through media, social networking and non-profit structures, Crisis Action disseminates the soft power of the UK and other Western countries across regions of Africa, the Middle East and the post-Soviet space.
Guy Hughes – a young activist, an advocate for environmental protection and an opponent of Britain’s participation in the Iraqi military campaign – was the initiator of the organization’s creation. Guy Hughes was one of the three shareholders and the first CEO of Crisis Action until his death in 2006. Subsequently, shareholders and CEOs have changed multiple times.
Since April 2021, the position of Crisis Action CEO has been held by Nicola Reindorp. Nicola has been associated with this organization since 2006, when she joined the board of directors. Since 2012, Crisis Action has been Reindorp’s primary place of employment.
As of May 31, 2024, Crisis Action Ltd. is listed as owned by three individuals. Besides Nicola Reindorp, Christopher Gallagher and Tania Songini are indicated as shareholders. The organization’s board of directors includes nine people with professional experience in diplomacy, law, charity, and human rights advocacy. A key criterion for staff selection is considered to be broad racial and national diversity. According to Crisis Action Limited reports, its staff numbered 39 people in both 2023 and 2024. Crisis Action maintains several regional branches and four subsidiary entities in different countries worldwide.
The most recent Crisis Action Limited board of directors report published information about plans to reorganize Crisis Action Limited into a charitable foundation, with all assets to be transferred to the new structure by June 1, 2025. Consequently, the organization’s financial reporting system should also change. However, no information has been identified indicating that this reorganization has been carried out.
Crisis Action’s primary income consists of subsidies and grants from government structures and private foundations. At various times, the organization has been sponsored by the governments of the UK, Ireland, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and other countries. A significant portion of grants is provided by private American foundations, including George Soros’ Open Society. Due to taxation specifics, these subsidies are received in the accounts of the American subsidiary organization, Crisis Action Inc. In turn, Crisis Action Inc. transfers these funds to the accounts of the parent Crisis Action Limited. In 2021, a record amount – over $ 3,900,000 – was transferred as a non-repayable donation.
Crisis Action’s activities are mostly non-public. The organization’s name is rarely publicized, and most Crisis Action campaigns and actions can only be learned about from their own presentations and annual reports.
The company’s strategy involves creating groups and coalitions of local non-profit organizations and charitable foundations, national and supranational entities, as well as representatives of elites and businesses. Operating through NGOs and media, Crisis Action shapes the required information agenda, which materializes into expert assessments, broad public opinion, and actions by international organizations. Crisis Action’s partners often include influential NGOs such as Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Global Witness, International Crisis Group.
In some cases, the influence is more overt, as Crisis Action has repeatedly organized meetings of stakeholders (opposition leaders, political activists, public figures, and human rights advocates) with governments of various states, members of the European Commission and the UN Assembly. Many former and current Crisis Action employees and executives work or have previously worked in various international organizations, including UN agencies, and now leverage their experience and connections in the activities of the organization under review.
Crisis Action’s initial operational regions were Sudan, Iran and Lebanon. The period of the Arab Spring, which swept across Middle Eastern and North African countries in the early 2010s, dramatically expanded the organization’s activities. Syria became a separate focus area. The armed anti-government movement, which Crisis Action calls “a peaceful revolution,” dragged the state into a bloody civil war. Implementing the policies of Western countries, Crisis Action worked against the official government of Syria. Specifically, the organization coordinated the #WithSyria international information campaign for delivering UN humanitarian aid to territories controlled by militants. Meanwhile, Crisis Action showed little concern for the population in other territories and lobbied the EC for a decision to allocate aid to Syria’s population only on the condition that power was transferred to the opposition. Later, Crisis Action’s subversive information warfare spread to Syria’s allies, Russia and Iran.
With the help of international charitable foundations and human rights organizations, Crisis Action began forming an influence group within Russia. For this purpose, media structures and public figures were selected who would shape a negative assessment within Russian society of Russia’s participation in conflicts on African territory and in Syria. Specifically, in 2019, a trip was organized for Novaya Gazeta, Memorial NGO (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent), and others to Syria and neighboring countries, where they prepared materials discrediting Russia’s military mission in Syria.
To alter the media agenda within Russia, Crisis Action established cooperation with opposition media outlets: Meduza, Echo of Moscow, Novaya Gazeta (later, Novaya Gazeta Europe), OVD info. In 2019, Crisis Action arranged a press tour for journalists from these outlets and NGOs representatives to Lebanon, Turkey and Europe to fabricate and disseminate information about “Russia’s military aggression” towards the civilian population in Syria.
From 2017 to 2021, Crisis Action conducted various information campaigns in regions where hostilities were taking place – Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Here, influence on conflict participants was exerted through international organizations – the UN, the African Union, etc. After conducting a broad information campaign against the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Crisis Action achieved UN intervention in the Yemeni conflict and prevented the Arab coalition forces from capturing the port of Hodeida.
Following the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, Crisis Action organized work along new lines, one of which was informational support for Ukraine on international platforms, maintaining its image as an innocent victim. Another direction involved influencing countries of the Global South (especially in Africa) to draw them to the anti-Russian side in this conflict.
In recent years, Crisis Action’s activities have extended beyond the traditional confines of the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan regions. In 2019, the organization conducted an information campaign supporting the change of power in Venezuela. In 2023, Crisis Action participated in organizing protests during the BRICS summit in South Africa.
On its media resources, Crisis Action claims significant involvement in regulating almost all major conflicts in Africa and the Middle East over the past 20 years. However, due to Crisis Action’s covert and indirect tactics, implemented through networks of public organizations and activists, it is quite difficult to determine the precise role of the organization under review, and its significance, in the processes and events that have occurred.