ActionAid International Annual Report 2006

Overview of our work in 2006

This annual report does not provide a comprehensive account of all our work in 2006, but rather some key highlights of our work during the year. Detailed reports for each of the countries we work in, our affiliates, our key themes and organisational functions are available on request at mail.jhb@actionaid.org.

A year of improving our rights-based approach

ActionAid embraced the rights-based approach to development over five years ago, and our understanding of what this means in practice continues to deepen. Rights-based work aims to empower poor people to claim their rights and hold the state accountable for their duties and promises. This is a vision of long-term change, not just in people’s daily lives, but in their own confidence and ability to turn around the injustices they face.

In 2006, we applied this approach more systematically than ever before and we were even more actively engaged in empowering poor women to claim their rights. Year on year we witness changes and breakthroughs, as cycles of poverty are broken once and for all. We see communities that we have supported overcome emergency situations to build stronger communities, or rebuild peace and understanding in their villages after years of war. We see women apply new confidence and skills in negotiating the best for themselves and their daughters. This gives us the inspiration and energy to continue our work.

A year of strengthening our work on women’s rights

Women’s rights are our priority because poor women suffer more inequality and injustice than any other group in the world, and yet women are best placed to end poverty, both in their families and communities.

In 2006 this emphasis on women’s rights delivered strong results. The needs and rights of women are now much more integrated into our understanding of poverty, and all elements of our work. Our growing women’s rights team is working closely with women’s groups and feminist movements across the world to increase the visibility and appreciation of women’s rights issues. They have had particular success in making governments and international bodies recognise the problem of violence against women and girls. For example, in Malawi, our colleagues and partners worked directly with the government to draft laws, expected to be implemented, outlawing violence against girls in school.

A year of becoming more international

We work to bring lasting change at all levels - locally, in villages and communities, nationally and regionally influencing governments and institutions, and also internationally, in the global corridors of power. We are building an organisation in which ideas, relationships and activities can be developed across geographical boundaries. We are linking the conversations we have with poor and excluded people on the ground to the work we do to influence decision makers in capital cities and international summits. This has meant changes to the way we plan and work, which started to come into effect during 2006.

While we made good progress during the year in strengthening our international presence and influence, we need to work harder to make clearer and stronger links between our local and global work. When you live in a village with no food or money, it can be hard to see, let alone challenge, the causes of poverty that operate beyond local level: how rich countries’ unbridled carbon emissions are linked to the devastating droughts and floods that your community has been suffering; or how the market price for the tomatoes you grow has fallen through the floor because the global trading system allows rich countries to dump artificially cheap produce in your country. Likewise it can be easy for campaigners who rub shoulders with powerful elites to lose touch with the real needs and concerns of those on the ground. Yet, unless these linkages are strong, we will not make a lasting impact on the causes of poverty at either community or international level.

A year of building our effectiveness

In 2006, we started to see that the composite effect of working internationally, when done well, makes us more effective. One of the key challenges was creating systems and structures whereby our colleagues and partners in different areas could share information, combine their efforts and see the results. Above all, we worked to try to ensure that we remained close and accountable to the poor people we worked with.

2006 was a year in which we reorganised many of our management and financial systems to better support our staff. This made us more effective in our anti-poverty work, and more accountable to the communities where we work. We are now more accountable to poor people because we respond more thoroughly to their feedback to our work.

Lessons learnt

In 2006, we learnt that we need to work far harder on a number of levels to link the work we do on the ground to work we are doing at a global policy level.

Our work on women’s rights taught us that there was a far closer link between violence against women and girls and HIV and AIDS and education. It also became clear that most large donors do not have a clear strategy about the link between violence against women and girls and HIV and AIDS.

We also leant that we need to be more creative in generating platforms for poor people to voice their issues and express themselves. For instance, we found that using new digital methods such as ‘advocasting’, which allows people to advocate directly to others over the internet, proved to be of great value in connecting people living with HIV and AIDS in India, Nigeria and Bangladesh to international AIDS conferences in Toronto and New York. Not only did it allow them to voice their opinions directly to international decision-makers, but it also helped start a dialogue.

Organisationally, we learnt that building a new, flatter, international structure where all country programmes become independent affiliates within a fixed time, requires a lot more support to countries than we first envisaged. We also learnt that despite being named the most transparent and accountable of ten international NGOs, we still have some distance to go to translate our policies and principles of open information into practice. We also need to go further in our efforts to share information more effectively, monitor the impact we have on the environment as an organisation and remove any barriers that might still exist to advancing women’s leadership within the organisaiton.

In Memoriam

Mrs. Mary Boro Bacho – Ghana – June 2006
Ms. Benafisha - Afghanistan - 30 May 2006
Mrs. Nasreen Parvin Huq – Bangladesh - 24 April 2006
Mrs. Karima – Afghanistan - 30 May 2006
Mrs. Beatrice Medo – Sierra Leone - 19 July 2006
Mr. Oluwatomi Adepoju – Nigeria - October 2006
Ms. Anita Bassey Okedi – Nigeria - July 2006
Mr. Soth Rathana – Cambodia - 20 October 2006
Mrs. Sadat – Afghanistan - 30 May 2006
Mr. Ahmad Shah – Afghanistan - 30 May 2006
Mr. Jayaprakash Soans - India – July 2006
Mr. Stansfield Talo – Malawi - 13 December 2006

Home Introduction Mission, Vision, Values Message from Chair and CE Message from Treasurer Strategic Overview Strategic Objectives Women's Rights Education Rights Food Rights Human Security HIV/AIDS Governance Other Initiatives Organisational Objectives Governance & Audit Financial Review Review Auditors' report Policies Financial Accounts Income statement Balance Sheet Cash Flow Note 1 Notes 2 & 3 Note 4 Note 4c Notes 5 & 6 Note 7 Note 8 & 9 Note 10 Note 11 Note 12 Note 13 Note 14 Note 15 Notes 16 & 17 Board-Trustees/Directors Photo Galleries Get on board 2006 South Asia Earthquake Global Action Week Video Gallery Contact Us		Overview of our work in 2006 This annual report does not provide a comprehensive account of all our work in 2006, but rather some key highlights of our work during the year. Detailed reports for each of the countries we work in, our affiliates, our key themes and organisational functions are available on request at mail.jhb@actionaid.org. A year of improving our rights-based approach ActionAid embraced the rights-based approach to development over five years ago, and our understanding of what this means in practice continues to deepen. Rights-based work aims to empower poor people to claim their rights and hold the state accountable for their duties and promises. This is a vision of long-term change, not just in people’s daily lives, but in their own confidence and ability to turn around the injustices they face. In 2006, we applied this approach more systematically than ever before and we were even more actively engaged in empowering poor women to claim their rights. Year on year we witness changes and breakthroughs, as cycles of poverty are broken once and for all. We see communities that we have supported overcome emergency situations to build stronger communities, or rebuild peace and understanding in their villages after years of war. We see women apply new confidence and skills in negotiating the best for themselves and their daughters. This gives us the inspiration and energy to continue our work. A year of strengthening our work on women’s rights Women’s rights are our priority because poor women suffer more inequality and injustice than any other group in the world, and yet women are best placed to end poverty, both in their families and communities. In 2006 this emphasis on women’s rights delivered strong results. The needs and rights of women are now much more integrated into our understanding of poverty, and all elements of our work. Our growing women’s rights team is working closely with women’s groups and feminist movements across the world to increase the visibility and appreciation of women’s rights issues. They have had particular success in making governments and international bodies recognise the problem of violence against women and girls. For example, in Malawi, our colleagues and partners worked directly with the government to draft laws, expected to be implemented, outlawing violence against girls in school. A year of becoming more international We work to bring lasting change at all levels - locally, in villages and communities, nationally and regionally influencing governments and institutions, and also internationally, in the global corridors of power. We are building an organisation in which ideas, relationships and activities can be developed across geographical boundaries. We are linking the conversations we have with poor and excluded people on the ground to the work we do to influence decision makers in capital cities and international summits. This has meant changes to the way we plan and work, which started to come into effect during 2006. While we made good progress during the year in strengthening our international presence and influence, we need to work harder to make clearer and stronger links between our local and global work. When you live in a village with no food or money, it can be hard to see, let alone challenge, the causes of poverty that operate beyond local level: how rich countries’ unbridled carbon emissions are linked to the devastating droughts and floods that your community has been suffering; or how the market price for the tomatoes you grow has fallen through the floor because the global trading system allows rich countries to dump artificially cheap produce in your country. Likewise it can be easy for campaigners who rub shoulders with powerful elites to lose touch with the real needs and concerns of those on the ground. Yet, unless these linkages are strong, we will not make a lasting impact on the causes of poverty at either community or international level. A year of building our effectiveness In 2006, we started to see that the composite effect of working internationally, when done well, makes us more effective. One of the key challenges was creating systems and structures whereby our colleagues and partners in different areas could share information, combine their efforts and see the results. Above all, we worked to try to ensure that we remained close and accountable to the poor people we worked with. 2006 was a year in which we reorganised many of our management and financial systems to better support our staff. This made us more effective in our anti-poverty work, and more accountable to the communities where we work. We are now more accountable to poor people because we respond more thoroughly to their feedback to our work. Lessons learnt In 2006, we learnt that we need to work far harder on a number of levels to link the work we do on the ground to work we are doing at a global policy level. Our work on women’s rights taught us that there was a far closer link between violence against women and girls and HIV and AIDS and education. It also became clear that most large donors do not have a clear strategy about the link between violence against women and girls and HIV and AIDS. We also leant that we need to be more creative in generating platforms for poor people to voice their issues and express themselves. For instance, we found that using new digital methods such as ‘advocasting’, which allows people to advocate directly to others over the internet, proved to be of great value in connecting people living with HIV and AIDS in India, Nigeria and Bangladesh to international AIDS conferences in Toronto and New York. Not only did it allow them to voice their opinions directly to international decision-makers, but it also helped start a dialogue. Organisationally, we learnt that building a new, flatter, international structure where all country programmes become independent affiliates within a fixed time, requires a lot more support to countries than we first envisaged. We also learnt that despite being named the most transparent and accountable of ten international NGOs, we still have some distance to go to translate our policies and principles of open information into practice. We also need to go further in our efforts to share information more effectively, monitor the impact we have on the environment as an organisation and remove any barriers that might still exist to advancing women’s leadership within the organisaiton. In Memoriam Mrs. Mary Boro Bacho – Ghana – June 2006 Ms. Benafisha - Afghanistan - 30 May 2006 Mrs. Nasreen Parvin Huq – Bangladesh - 24 April 2006 Mrs. Karima – Afghanistan - 30 May 2006 Mrs. Beatrice Medo – Sierra Leone - 19 July 2006 Mr. Oluwatomi Adepoju – Nigeria - October 2006 Ms. Anita Bassey Okedi – Nigeria - July 2006 Mr. Soth Rathana – Cambodia - 20 October 2006 Mrs. Sadat – Afghanistan - 30 May 2006 Mr. Ahmad Shah – Afghanistan - 30 May 2006 Mr. Jayaprakash Soans - India – July 2006 Mr. Stansfield Talo – Malawi - 13 December 2006


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