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Annual Report & Accounts 2007-8

Annual Report & Accounts 2007-8Annual report and accounts

Practical Action's annual report and accounts for 2007-8 are available to download as a PDF file. They include a review of our international programmes against strategic objectives, the report of the independent auditors and a detailed financial statement.

Annual Report & Accounts 2007-8 (PDF, 1.2Mb)

You may also like to view our most recent Annual Report & Accounts.

You can also download our Annual Highlights 2007-8, a shorter document outlining our progress over the last year.

The following reports from our regional offices are also available:

Practical Action Sudan
Practical Action Sudan's annual report for 2007-2008 is available to download as a PDF file, in English or Arabic.

Practical Action Nepal
Practical Action Nepal's annual report for 2007-2008 is available to download as a PDF file, or can be read online as web pages.

Practical Action Southern Africa
Practical Action Southern Africa's annual report for 2007-2008, covering our work in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Zambia, is available to download as a PDF file.

Practical Action Bangladesh
Practical Action Bangladesh's annual report for 2007-2008, including programme reports, organisational detail and financial statement, is available to download as a PDF file.

Message from the Chair

2007-8 was another turbulent year for the countries where Practical Action operates. Nepal, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Sudan all suffered dramatic political upheaval, with significant consequences for poor and vulnerable communities. In spite of this, Practical Action continues to deliver invaluable projects and programmes which have directly tackled the poverty faced by over 800,000 people in the last twelve months.

For Practical Action 2007-8 was the first year of our Group Strategy which takes us through to 2012. As a result we have additional ways of measuring our impact on the ground, our strengths and indeed our weaknesses. Understanding this big picture is critical for us as trustees, because it enables us effectively to manage resources, take decisions strategically and ensure that the return on our investment is maximised. Above all we can have confidence that we are on track to hit one of our strategic targets of working directly with three million people in the five years to 2012.

But at the same time as studying the overall impact of our work, it is critical to remain people-focussed, which is at the foundation of Practical Action's work. This struck me forcefully when I met beneficiaries of our work on my recent visit to Nepal. The migrant communities who had been helped by our support in irrigation and in the construction of a rhino-proof fence on the borders of the Chitwan National Park were so happy with the improvements in their lives, and wanted to thank me warmly. I felt privileged to be representing what the Practical Action family has achieved with them. Likewise, the young lads I met in Dhading District were delighted with the gravity ropeway which allowed them to sell horticultural produce from their village high in the mountains to passing traffic on the road from the Indian plains to Kathmandu, without a three hour descent on foot carrying huge loads on their backs. This once again reminded me how people can be given hope by the introduction of a simple technological solution to the challenges of their daily life.

At least two of our other projects have received international recognition during the year. The Disappearing Lands project, which helps people affected by river erosion in Bangladesh received the 2007 Ryutaro Hashimoto Gold Award from APFED (The Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development) and our micro-hydro work in Peru was awarded the prestigious United Nations Environment Programme Sasakawa Prize, 2008 worth $100,000. We are rightfully proud of these projects, the support and commitment of our staff and the openness and active involvement of the communities we work with. I would like to add my congratulations. These awards are enormously valuable in helping us to spread the lessons of our project work to other development practitioners. We seek to inspire others to learn from our experience and always very much welcome and encourage others to take up and use our ideas.

As trustees inevitably we concern ourselves with matters of financial management, and we are pleased to report steady growth again this year in line with our forecasts and ambitions.

We hope that the next year will bring more peace and stability to our countries of operation. The international community will reach the half way point in its 15 year mission to reduce world poverty by 50% by 2015. Undoubtedly its track record will be found wanting. For Practical Action we will be looking to expand on our success in programme work and influence more and more partners to take on the lessons of our work and implement them on a much greater scale. Although we still very much believe in "Small is Beautiful" we are delighted whenever our work is replicated by others, increasing our own impact.

Stephen Watson
Chair, Practical Action

Summary of income and expenditure 2007-8

Financially it is has been good year for Practical Action with income again above £20m and spending on operational charity programmes increasing by 5%. Detailed figures can be download, above.

Summary of income and expenditure, 2007-8

Previous years

The following editions of our annual highlights are still available:

Please note that prior to 2005, Practical Action was known as ITDG (Intermediate Technology Development Group).

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