Annual Report 2020

Equal partnership

We consider international development collaboration that honours equal partnership, as the only way to eradicate extreme poverty.

Message from the CEO

The year 2020 has been an amazing year for HR&S and we are grateful for every achievement and every challenge to learn from. HR&S is blessed with a team of 50 ambitious, intelligent, professional, loving, and caring team members! Imagine! Please allow me to deeply appreciate EVERYONE. On behalf of our partners, let me THANK EACH and EVERYONE for your achievements during 2020. HR&S is doing well, and we are really so very grateful to be able to state this, what we need to do now is only one thing, we need to… SCALE!

During the year we have strengthened the RISE Centres and our team of coaches and auditors in Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Togo, and Uganda. We have also negotiated a new Centre in Burkina Faso. We have also strengthened the relationship between HR&S and Action10 by streamlining. The HR&S ambition is, as we all know, to empower researchers, innovators, and social entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In line with our own ambition and core-values are we happy to acknowledge the successful conclusion of the negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the launching trade deal on 1 January 2021. The trading phase under the AfCFTA was signed by 54 of the 55 countries in Africa; Eritrea has not yet joined. Thirty-four of those countries have ratified it as of early December 2020. “We want to move Africa away from this colonial economic model of perpetually being an exporter of primary commodities for processing elsewhere,” the trade bloc’s secretariat Wamkele Mene told the Financial Times. “We want to stop approaching tariffs as a tool for revenue. We want tariffs to be a tool for industrial development.” Africa has historically had low internal trade. In 2017, intra-African exports were 16.6% of total exports, compared with 68% in Europe, and 59% in Asia. In brief, AfCFTA will create a single market for goods and services. The trade agreement, which will cover a market consisting of 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of $3 trillion. The largest free trade area since the development of the World Trade Organization, by a number of participating countries. The deal could help to realise more than $84 billion in untapped intra-African exports, according to a new report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). AfCFTA has the potential to increase intra-African trade by over 50%, according to the UN Economic Commission for Africa. HR&S acknowledges the challenges mentioned by the member states;  including lack of modern and efficient infrastructure, unclear information about processes, barriers for women-led businesses, the economic destruction brought on by Covid19, and that some fear that large economic gains made in the diverse economies will be unequally distributed. In HR&S we recognise the need and benefits of moving away from a colonial economic model, the obvious opportunities that will be released as well as the challenges pointed out by the African leaders. These are the same frame-work within which HR&S is operating.

The HR&S activities to address the outcome challenges has during 2020 included in-depth reflections of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). HR&S acknowledges how the regulation guides towards a fair and equal partnership. Even though the GDPR concerns EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, HR&S states that it is fair to let the protection of personal information concern partners in all continents. The GDPR restricts, among other activities, the exploitation of people in photos and videos on websites, social media, and on public transportation posters, especially, where the photo and/or video is combined with a statement by for example an aid organisation or a charity. The 2020 pandemic has challenged us and we share the pain of everyone that has suffered. Amen. With full respect, the pandemic has also strengthened HR&S, being a flexible institution ready to adapt to the circumstances. HR&S has among during 2020 strengthened our on-line communication with our partners.

As a conclusion from 2020, HR&S is content with what we are doing and how we are doing it. The frame of operations is laid down and the aim from now on is scaling. Ahead, in 2021, will HR&S empower the work with and being strengthened by customer surveys. The goal is to scale by attracting more researchers, innovators, social entrepreneurs, and supporters that agree with our ambition and core-values. Likewise, will HR&S empower the work with and being strengthened by the Strategy for Change. HR&S will target motivation, milestones, progress markers, and evidence-based outcomes, in order to fine-tune our operations. More, during 2021, will Action10 create its own crowd-funding platform.

1 January 2021

Assoc. Prof. Cecilia ÖMAN
Founder and CEO of HR&S,  Founder and President of Action10

Financial Analysis

2015 – 2019

Financially the period 2015 – 2020 has been characterized by bootstrapping and volunteer work. The founder has contributed with capital when income was low.  The income consisted of three consultancy assignments and one Major Giver donation.  One Major Giver donation created the foundation ActionInvest capital, which was invested and regained. The expenses were limited to fees for co-working space, bank, website, telephone and insurance. Investment capital for business loans through ActionInvest has been kept at the EUR 10,000 level every year.

2020

Also 2020 has been characterized by bootstrapping and volunteer work. The founder has contributed with capital to manage the company costs. The expenses were limited to fees for co-working space, bank, website, telephone and insurance.
ActionInvest raised SEK 96,498. Funds were distributed according to the Table ActionInvest below.

Accontability

Working at locations were corruption is social norm, rule of law is not efficient and social support structures does not include foreigners requires special accountability attention. We work with agency for change, volunteer approach and direct and longterm benefit motivation.

Lessons learened & Informed decisions

Funds are raised on a continuous basis by Action1o. The purpose with the fundraising is to create a platform for cross-cultural awareness as well as generatting a capital for business loans. The ActionInvest is also used to reimburs external and professional auditors and can be used occasionally to reimburse coaches small, in case the local HR&S branch cannot afford. Ove the years, sinces the launching of Action10 in 2009 a number of programmes have been supported.

Villages in Togo. The first and one of our flagships is the support to villagers in Togo. The focus is on local small scale businesses, and local partners requesting collaborations are ususally female farmers selling crop and value added products from the farm; food, drinks and grinded crop,  but also other businesses run by women mainly hairdressing, medical drugs, animal husbandry and small villages shops. A few men is also requesting collaboration, maybe support to sell their cotton. The programme has included also other components such as education and health care, and has changed programme manager two times. The programme supports 200 – 300 parallel businesses with business loans, business management training, keeping funds safe, and weekly consultation.

Reintergration in Liberia. Another flagship programme that started early, our second programme, is reintegration of former child soldiers (FCS) in Liberia. Our partners has always been IDEFOCS and we have supported IDEFOCS to interact with the FCS in ghetto areas in Monrovia and collect their ambitions, we have bought farm land in a fishing village and within the programme IDEFOCS has cleared the farmland, started agriculture,build a water pump, and build a home with five bed-rooms where FCSs can live and farm while becoming drug free and ready to join the society. The next step is to be able to offer trauma counselling.

Teaching English language to adults in Nigeria. We have been supporting various initiatives by SpellAfrica in Nigeria to train adults in the English language and have successfully empowered adults in general. The programme had difficulties to become financially sustainable, as the students were not able to pay for the education, eventhough we tried creative solutions. Thus, this programme is on hold for now.

Chusa saloons in Uganda is a potential flagship where girls from the slum area Kamwoya who had left school were trained to become hair dresseras and are now setting up their own saloons. Dolas Creation in Kenya is opertating withtin the slum area Kibra and is locally producing and selling fashion clothes. Amani Women Group is managing as saving and credit institution in a small village in Kenya with a democratic governance.

The programme LINK-UP empowering early education and PanaPads producing sanitary pads were programmes with potential but which closed themselves down as a result of external and internal challenges.

Action-Invest

              
Year 202020192018201720162015201420132012201120102009
Funds raised             
Monthly Givers 63,57764,17374,51674,49572,18681,29771,1442 50138,95544,92325,97112300
Global Giving 28,64433,63321,396,03312,7477,87132,513N/A    
Targeted Donations 200200016,7934,0020973   
Corporate Donations 00000388 000    
Projects and Events 0015,6144332601,132,4435 275    
Restricted Donations  0067,964040,95318,662500950    
TOTAL 96,49899,806179,48480,961126,146128,75148,59856,72639,92844,923  
              
              
Funds transferred             
IARADTogo         0278019300
S.E.VIETogo-9604-22593-87734-34057-16600-41720-36276-38500-307730  
L&D villagesTogo-73511           
Spell Africa Nigeria-4886-21468-20415-199200-18739-8750     
IDEFOCS Liberia-26290-378-52799-6264-73679-46029-114478-18850-10601-45513  
Creative Arts Uganda-14745-21300          
Dolas Creation Kenya-20773           
LINK-UP Cameron   0-36130-1766     
Amani WomenKenya  0-18977        
BanaPads Uganda   0-1895100-18904    
TOTAL -128709-87038-162986-60241-131820-106488-152521-85004-4137445513  

Management & Operation Report

Persons reached in 2020
0
Persons have been enabled to start an income geneating activity with social impact in 2020
0

Operation Report

Our partners in the target countries are local social enterprises or associations. Our partners are in charge of the tasks and operations on ground. HR&S collaborated with eleven Country partner organisations in six countries during 2020.

Programme management partners

Our collaboration operations were managed by eleven development institutions in six countries in Africa Senexel in Burkina Faso, Amani Woman group and Dolas Creation in Kenya, IDEFOCS and Little Bassa community in Liberia, SpellAfrica and NoveleQ in Nigeria, S.E.VIE and M Yawo community in Togo, and 256 Creative Arts as well as Ubuntu Art House in Uganda. 

Management Report


RISE Support Centres

The focus of 2020 was to strengthen each RISE Centre with very competent coaches and auditors. Four coaches and one auditor were assigned for each Centre, and a lot of effort was invested in training and team-building. With support from the coaches, all programmes were reviewed and areas requiring strengthening were strengthened. During 2020, HR&S has strengthened the RISE Support Centres and our team of coaches and auditors in Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Togo, and Uganda. HR&S has also negotiated a new Centre in Burkina Faso.

Our collaboration operations were managed by eleven development institutions in six countries in Africa. The implementation of programmes was successful and also challenging; lessons were learned were fed into the organisation by adjusting our tools and strategies.  HR&S has during 2020 strengthened our on-line communication with our partners.

As a conclusion from 2020, HR&S is content with what we are doing and how we are doing it. The frame of operations is laid down and the aim from now on is scaling.

Action10

HR&S has also empowered the relation between HR&S and Action10 through streamlining. Action10 was run by 52 volunteer staff members during 2020.  The financial fundraising result for 2020 was SEK 96,498 and the Action10 administration costs represented 4,2 % of the funds raised.

Ongoing assignments in 2020
0
Total assignments
0

Active assignments during 2020

 During 2020 we worked actively on 20 assignments.
On total has HR&S, over the years, been involved with around 50 different assignments.

 

  • Basic education with sustainable economy & children abuse prevention Togo
  • Community services Kenya
  • Ghetto interventions & survey addressing former child soldiers Liberia
  • Waste management in slum areas Liberia
  • Promoting local handicraft by former child soldiers; knitted items glass-pearl items Liberia
  • Botanical Reintegration Village Liberia
  • Back2Shool Nigeria
  • Promoting local handicraft; Shea butter Togo
  • Promoting local handicraft; West African fabric tailored items Togo
  • Early pregnancies prevention & tailoring training Togo
  • Research management workshops; Zambia, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Togo, Mali
  • An office established ready to create central laboratories with sustainable economy Nigeria
  • Offering light and homework support in rural areas in the evenings Togo
  • Installing sustainable solar-panel businesses in villages Togo
  • Adding value to crop Liberia
  • Improved irrigation Togo            
  • Installing sustainable milling businesses Togo
  • Radio call-in to ask questions to stigmatised citizens Liberia
  • Promoting local handicraft; baskets, jewelleries Rwanda
  • Promoting local handicraft; jewelleries and cards Uganda
  • Promoting local handicraft; tailored clothes in fabric East African style Kenya

Country Partners in 2020

We have been collaborating with eleven different Country partners in seven African sub-Saharan countries during 2020.

Country Partners
11
Target Countries
6
  • Senexel: Boubacar SENOU, CEO and Founder
  • Amani Women Group: Mama SHIRU, CEO and Founder
  • Dolas Creation: Frederick ATING’A, CEO and Founder
  • Initiative for the Development of Former Child Soldiers (IDEFOCS): Morris MATADI, CEO and Founder
  • Little Bassa Community: Chief of the Village
  • SpellAfrica: Erezi EDOREH, CEO
  • NoveleQ: Karniyus GAMANIEL, CEO and Founder
  • Association Solidarité Enfance et Vie (S.E.VIE): Francois KLUTSÉ, CEO and Founder, Délali ADEDJE, CEO Assistant
  • M.Yawo AHIAKPONOU: Yawo AHIAKPONOU, Programme manager, Adjo Martina AHIAWONOU, Programme manager adviser & Business manager, Filomene KOGLO, Programme manager adviser & Business manager
  • 256 Creative Arts: Edward BUTIMBA, CEO and Founder
  • Ubuntu Art House: Bernard OMONY, CEO and Founder

THE YEAR AHEAD

Scaling and strengthened
branding & public realtions

Ahead, in 2021, will HR&S empower the work with customer surveys. The goal is to scale by attract more researchers, innovators, social entrepreneurs and supporters that agrees with our ambition and core-values. HR&S will also empower the work with the Strategy for Change concept. More, during 2021 will Action10 create its own crowd-funding platform.

HR&S acknowledges how the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guides towards a fair and equal partnership. Even though the GDPR concerns EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, HR&S states that it is fair to let the protection of personal information concern partners in all continents. Also, in line with our own ambition and core-values are we happy to acknowledge successful conclusion of the negotiations of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the launching trade deal 1 January 2021.

 

Acknowledgement

We are for ever thankful to all of our coaches, auditors and programme management partners in out Target Countries in Su-Sahara Africa,who fight for development in a professional way, often under challenging conditions. We appreciate you and we admire you. We appreciate our Advisory Board for guidance. We are also grateful to the amazing team of Action10 volunteers that manages the ActionInvest programme on a volunteer basis. We thank the financial contributors of Action10.

We are grateful to out Senior Expert Advisers.