Page 35 - Aidlink Annual Report 2020

LOOKING FORWARD
Partnership
Covid-19 has put a spotlight on localisation. Aidlink’s partnership model, ensured that throughout the period of the pandemic, the challenging lockdowns and school closures, that Aidlink programmes were able to continue. Our trust in local knowledge and the relationships and systems where we work not only allowed us to continue our core programme work but also allowed us to quickly respond to the immediate needs of targeted communities when the coronavirus first reached East Africa.
Building on our strong partnership model and our track record in delivering real and lasting change, Aidlink plans to Build Back Better in a post Covid world and will focus on targeting the most vulnerable in society, particularly girls and women from the nomadic pastoralist communities, the Masai and Turkana in Kenya and the Karamojong in Uganda.
▶ Education will remain at the heart of Aidlink’s work. With support from Irish Aid's Civil Society Fund the 'Every Girl in School' project
will work to enable Kenya's nomadic pastoralist Masai and Turkana communities with a particular focus on supporting, safeguarding and empowering girls. Building on the last three years, the project will incorporate targeted interventions in schools and communities that ensure inclusive, quality and safe schools, tackle GBV including early marriage and FGM, and boost local livelihoods. These interventions will build communities' resilience, capabilities and capacity to support their girls and reduce social, cultural and environmental barriers to education, enabling more girls to attend school, learn and thrive.
▶ 2021 will see the development of a new Strategic plan to guide operations for the next 3 to 5 years and will include plans to expand fundraised income to support ongoing operations and to facilitate the ramping up of activity in Uganda, building on existing and
new partnerships with local NGOs who share our vision for a better world, especially for women and girls.
▶ Aidlink will continue to work with partner schools in Ireland. to deliver Development Education programmes and to re-establish the immersion programmes when safe to do so.
Adaptability
Commitment
33 | Aidlink Annual Report 2020