War on Want works to challenge the root causes of poverty, inequality and injustice through partnership with social movements in the global South and campaigns in the UK.

[citation needed] The organisation was formed in 1951 after a letter in The Manchester Guardian from Victor Gollancz was read by Harold Wilson, later British Prime Minister, who coined the name.

[4] More than two years after Galloway stepped down as general secretary after being elected as a Labour MP, the British Government's Charity Commission investigated War on Want, finding accounting irregularities including that the financial reports were "materially mis-stated"[4] from 1985 to 1989, but little evidence that money was used for non-charitable purposes.

In 2011, War on Want marked its 60th anniversary[10] with a repeat of the Yes campaign that first formed the charity, asking people to email the word Yes to show their support for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

It argues that TTIP will cost more than one million jobs, lead to the irreversible privatisation of public services, a "race to the bottom" in food, environmental and labour standards and allow US companies to sue the UK government in private courts.

revealed how the Department for International Development (DFID) used hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money with the express purpose of extending the power of agribusiness over the production of food in Africa.

[citation needed] War on Want has released a series of "alternative reports" highlighting issues such as Coca-Cola's overseas activities allegedly causing poverty and environmental damage.

In 2010, War on Want released a report exposing the companies that it describes as "profiting" from Israel's occupation of the West Bank, and calling on ordinary people around the world to take action.

In October 2009, War on Want issued a statement of solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo in response to attacks on the Kennedy Road informal settlement and wrote a letter to the South African High Commissioner in London.

[16] In 2010, War on Want's[17] campaign "Help win justice for the Palestinian people this Christmas"[18] accused Israel of "illegal Occupation," "daily human rights abuses," and "the siege on Gaza and the Apartheid Wall."

As in previous years, War on Want called for holiday donations in the form of "alternative gifts," to "launch a sustained campaign against UK companies that are profiting from the Occupation" and to "secure compensation for those who have lost land due to construction of the Apartheid Wall.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan who formulated the list stated, "Boycott organisations need to know that Israel will act against them and will not allow [them] to enter its territory in order to harm its citizens.

"[20] In response, War on Want stated "For 70 years, Israel has subjected Palestinians to a range of human rights abuses including travel bans... this blacklist is a repressive tactic borrowed from the same playbook used by the apartheid regime in South Africa.