Scarlett Johansson

Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson is in India visiting projects to help the country's poor, the international aid agency Oxfam said Thursday.

The actress arrived in the country Monday and met children in slums and schools in New Delhi, Oxfam spokeswoman Aditi Kapoor told AFP.

"We are delighted that Scarlett is supporting Oxfam and our work to help end global poverty," the agency's South Asia director Ashvin Dayal said.

"High-profile support helps us to raise awareness of these issues and urge governments and leaders worldwide to act."

According to Oxfam, more than a third of Indians live on less than a dollar a day and almost half of all Indian girls and a quarter of its boys will not complete primary school.