Economic development remains favourable

Despite cuts in development funding, 2015 was the best year so far for FCA in terms of economic resources. Government cuts in funding will take effect in 2016, and development continued favourable in terms of all other economic resources. Cooperation with international donors continued and was expanded.

The deficit for 2015 was €109,000, and equity at the end of the year was €5.9 million*. Current receivables totalled €1.5 million and current liabilities €15.4 million. Of this total sum, €3.9 million were targeted donations for disaster and reconstruction work and for Women’s Bank, while €9.3 million were advance payments from different donors.

Revenue

Total revenue for the financial period stood at €42.7 million (€33.9 million in the previous financial period), which represents a 16.4 per cent increase from the previous year. Revenue from fundraising activities was €47.3 million.

Expenses

In 2015, Finn Church Aid spent €42.6 million in international aid and domestic operations. Operational expenses rose by 15 per cent from the previous year. Expenses for aid activities totalled €36.4 million, including €3.4 million for the planning and monitoring of programmes. Expenses for support functions for aid activities, general administration and fundraising were €6.2 million.

Internal auditing improves transparency

Internal auditing is independent and objective evaluation, monitoring and consultation that adds value to Finn Church Aid and improves its operation.

Internal auditing supports FCA and its higher executives to achieve their goals by providing a systematic approach to evaluating and developing the organisation’s monitoring, management and administrative processes as well as the effectiveness of risk management.

Future development

Changes in global development architecture will greatly affect operations in the coming years. New forms of operating and new financing instruments must be found. For example, strong prioritisation of private sector funding in certain countries will continue and be expanded.

Through its operation FCA must be able to express its clear added value and its experience of operating in developing countries, particularly in fragile contexts.

In 2015, FCA carried out a periodical evaluation of its current strategy and launched the design process of its new strategy. The new strategy will be put into effect in 2017. Both the periodical evaluation and the ongoing design process have shown that thematic specialisation of FCA will continue.

In addition to permanent programme countries, FCA must be able to adjust to changes thematically, geographically and organisationally.

Right to Education

In 2015, FCA’s theme was refined into Right to quality education. FCA has developed and implemented policies that allow us to ensure that the quality of education is developed while access to education is secured.

Teacher training is one of the most important ways of improving the quality of education. The training given to teachers in a crisis focused mainly on psychosocial support as part of school work and on the use of learner-centred teaching methods.

FCA has also continued to develop vocational training. The primary target groups have been the youth and women. Career counselling and practical training at work are included in the projects. Cooperation with employers is deepened and employment opportunities are actively sought.

A pilot project mapping the possibilities of business cooperation was started in 2015 in Uganda. Support to the education sector of fragile states was continued, particularly in Eritrea, Central African Republic, Cambodia and Haiti.

There is an obvious need to develop vocational education alongside primary education. FCA works increasingly in cooperation with education ministries in the countries of operation and supports the development of education sectors on a national level. For example in Eritrea our work focused on developing teacher training with three Finnish universities. Education sector development moved ahead also in Haiti, Cambodia, Nepal and Central African Republic.

Dozens of volunteers from the Teachers Without Borders network participated in humanitarian and development projects.

Opening temporary schools and designing and building disaster resilient schools in disaster prone regions continues to be a central element of FCA’s humanitarian work in Central African Republic and Nepal.

Right to Peace

In 2015, FCA’s peacework achieved good results on the global level, but also on the local and national levels. Concrete results in the form of peace agreements and reconciliation processes were achieved particularly in South Sudan, Kenya, Somaliland, Puntland and the Central African Republic. For example, FCA facilitated the formation of a federal state in the Central regions of Somalia.

Cooperation with the Somali diaspora and success in employing staff members with various backgrounds has been essential in achieving these successes.

The Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers that was founded on the UN’s initiative, expanded its operations in 2015. Finn Church Aid operates as the secretariat of the network.

Key actors in the field have joined the network and subsequently expectations for it are beginning to rise. Both the Finnish Foreign Minister and the UN Secretary-General emphasised the positive significance of the network.

The secretariat is working mostly on the challenges of violent extremism and supporting peacework on the field. The secretariat also strengthens the role of women and youth on religion- and peace-related issues.

In December 2015, the secretariat of the network teamed with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to organise the first Religions and peace mediation training, exclusively intended for UN personnel. The training was extremely well received and the concept will be developed further in 2016.

In addition, cooperation with the Finnish Ministry of the Interior to prevent violent extremism continued.

Right to Livelihood

Emphasis of the work is shifting towards cooperatives and promotion of youth and female entrepreneurship. In the Asian countries of Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal we invested heavily in developing livelihood and small-scale entrepreneurship in rural areas. Key tools were cooperatives, and the work primarily targeted women.  The youth are also becoming important targets for livelihood projects.

Supporting employment and small scale entrepreneurship after vocational education is an effective way to link learning to earning. In 2015, this kind of support was developed for example in Uganda and the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Investment in female entrepreneurship continued and took new forms; a Skills Donation and mentoring project designed with the Women’s Bank development team will start in 2016.

FCA operates in regions that are vulnerable to natural disasters and conflicts, which became evident again in 2015.

Ebola epidemic in West Africa, unrest in South Sudan and the earthquake in Nepal among others caused human suffering and/or material damage, eroded people’s basic livelihood and interrupted the implementation of projects. This manifests as an increased need to combine aspects of humanitarian and development work, to secure livelihoods and rapid recovery even in crises.

Back to school after the Nepal earthquakes

FCA’s rapid and efficient construction of temporary learning spaces was praised in Nepal.

The earthquakes, strongest in history, that took place in Nepal in April and May resulted not only in the destruction of almost one million homes, but also of four thousand school buildings. Since it is important for children to return to school as quickly as possible after a major disaster, FCA set out to construct temporary learning spaces to disaster-affected regions.

The material of choice was locally available bamboo. FCA constructed safe, bamboo-framed learning spaces for nearly 20,000 children in Nepal within a couple of months after the earthquakes. The schools were complemented, where needed, with latrines and hand-washing facilities.

The temporary learning spaces were designed in a way that allowed the students and teachers, still in fear of new earthquakes, to feel safe while working in them.

The construction had its share of challenges. Aftershocks regularly shook Nepal. Landslides affected traffic and the transportation of building materials. Since most of the schools were located in remote, mountainous regions the only way to transport building materials was by carriers.

Psychosocial support is just as important to earthquake survivors as a safe learning environment. Local teachers were given training on the use of UNICEF teaching materials and on how to provide initial stage psychosocial support. In cooperation with Nepalese education officials, FCA also organised refresher training for teachers to help them handle the post-earthquake situation.

Livelihood resilience through farmer field schools in South Sudan

Baba Korok Logidang

Finn Church Aid built livelihood resilience of returnees and local residents in the severely affected conflict area of Pibor County in Jonglei State, South Sudan. In the first phase, emergency food supplies, non-food items, seeds and agricultural tools were provided with limited agricultural training.

In the second phase, twenty farmer field schools were established. 300 farmers were provided with on-the-job training in good agricultural techniques to strengthen their capacity to produce food and ensure sustainability even during drought or floods.

Assistance to refugees in Europe

Finn Church Aid provided humanitarian assistance to refugees in Hungary, Serbia and Greece. Donations allowed us to build latrines and showers, and distribute blankets, dry goods, water, milk for children, underwear packages, winter clothing and winter shoes.

Refugees in Europe were assisted through three partner organisations: Hungarian Interchurch Aid in Hungary, Philanthropy in Serbia, and Apostoli in Greece.