Page 4 - Aidlink Financial Statement 2023

Aidlink Financial Statements 2023
DIRECTORS’ REPORT
For the financial year ended 31 December 2023
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
2023 was both a challenging and rewarding year for Aidlink as we continued to navigate the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic and severe drought in Kenya. Our new strategic plan (2023 -2027) is guiding Aidlink’s work, responding to lessons learned during previous phases of work and our understanding of the context we work in. It involves several new areas of focus and ways of working:
• Strengthen and deepen engagement on drivers of gender equality
• Ensure that all programs will be adaptive to the challenges of climate change
• Grow our public engagement and global citizenship network
• Expand, test, and share our experience of partnership and localisation
We have identified four strategic priorities that form the pillars of this strategy, against which we will work to deliver impact through our programmes and partnerships.
• Disadvantaged communities’ essential needs are met
• Women and girls can exercise agency and live free
from harm
• Communities are more resilient to deal with shocks
and setbacks
• Informed citizens committed to action on poverty and
inequality
Aidlink’s primary focus in 2023 was on the poorest and most excluded communities in Kenya, particularly girls and women from the nomadic pastoralist Masai and Turkana communities. The Girl Child Network remains our key partner in the implementation of core programmes in Kenya. The ‘Every Girl in School’ (EGIS) project supported by Irish Aid’s Civil Society Fund was delivered in 20 new schools in Kajiado and Turkana Counties, among the worst affected by the severe drought. Irish Aid funding carries significant restrictions and conditions. These include the requirement to contribute 30% to the EGIS project from Aidlink’s own resources. Irish Aid recognises that the EGIS project entails significant inputs from the Dublin office and these costs are considered to be part of Aidlink’s EGIS contribution. 4
The ‘Let Girls Learn’ programme, funded by Bank of Ireland Staff Charitable fund, also delivered in partnership with the Girl Child Network, has improved basic school infrastructure, with the addition of classrooms and dormitories for girls, one each in the hardest to reach areas of Kajiado and Turkana counties, providing a safe space for girls during both school term and holiday period, protecting them from negative cultural traditions including FGM and early marriage. The project drew to a close in 2023 culminating with the formal opening of the dormitory block in Lotorie Primary school, Ilbissil, Kajiado county attended by members of staff of the Bank of Ireland.
In Uganda, with funding support from Foundations, Trusts, and Corporate Groups, Aidlink was able to expand our engagement with communities in Masaka district with our partners Caritas MADDO and ARUWE, working together to improve access to WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) for targeted communities. A new initiative, ‘WASH a Vehicle for Better Education’, supported by the Association of Secondary School Teachers (ASTI) in Ireland saw 7 Universal Primary Education schools benefit from improved WASH infrastructure.
2023 saw the relaunch of the immersion programme after a 2-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 35 students and their teachers from Blackrock College attending school at Holy Ghosts Schools, Sultan Hamud and visiting projects supported by Aidlink and the Girl Child Network in Kenya. This programme is core to our mission to create informed citizens committed to action on poverty and inequality.
In October, seven members of the Board of Aidlink travelled to Kenya. This self-funded trip allowed board members to meet with partners and communities supported by Aidlink and key stakeholders and Government officials, to monitor and evaluate the impact of Aidlink’s work, and to further strengthen our stakeholder relationships in the region.
In Ireland, the support and loyalty of our donors throughout 2023 resulted in an increase in overall income. As a result, core programme objectives were met, and we were able to reach new communities in Kenya and Uganda.