Annual report 2008-9

Annual report and accounts

Practical Action's annual report and accounts for 2008-9 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 2008-9 (PDF, 2.4Mb)

2008

A shorter Annual Highlights document is currently in preparation. The previous edition, Annual Highlights 2007-8, outlines our progress over 2007-8, and 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

Last year the world watched on, seemingly helpless, as we lurched from one crisis to another. The food crisis set to devastate the lives of millions across the world was replaced with the economic slow down of unprecedented proportions.

The biggest financial crisis the world has suffered in modern history was largely brought about by the irresponsible lending practices of the banks. This economic meltdown is touching the lives of everyone. However the stark reality is this will hit the world’s poorest the hardest. The injustice of global poverty is highlighted again – where those who have least to do with causing the problem are affected the most.

And in some of Practical Action’s countries of operation further political turbulence has also increased the need for our efforts. In Sri Lanka in particular we stand ready to help the people who are emerging from the conflict in the north. Devastation has torn through the country leaving more than a quarter of a million people living in Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps. Yet we are left with an opportunity to rebuild with the real hope of reconciliation, peace and development. We are now looking to help provide an environment which is secure and harmonious while putting in place vital infrastructure. Whether it is through helping people rebuild livelihoods or helping to provide essential services, shelter or schools, we are ready to work with local partners to help put communities back on their feet.

Following the international arrest warrant for President Bashir in Sudan, a number of development charities were asked to leave the country. Practical Action was not amongst them and continues to work in the country in challenging areas such as Darfur, Kassala and the Blue Nile. As one of the few remaining agencies working on long term development (rather than humanitarian relief) in Darfur, our resources are needed now more than ever. And in Zimbabwe and Nepal periods of relative stability seem to have emerged, allowing us to continue with vital poverty eradication work.

While 2008 presented the world with many new challenges and conflicts, the work of Practical Action and its local partners continues to offer hope and practical assistance for many in their struggle for a better life. We have now reached the end of the second year of our strategy and I am delighted to report that already have directly assisted over 1,300,000 people in their efforts to defeat poverty.

The success of our work is, as always, best measured by the impact we have in the lives of marginalised and poor people around the world. Some of whose stories you will read about in this report. Numbers can only ever be a proxy indicator for this individual impact but even so I hope they give a feel for our work and the scale of the impact we are making.

111 Projects managed in 13 countries, 522,000 new direct beneficiaries reached (this is on top of the 792,000 people directly helped in Year 1 of our strategy, many of whom we are still working with).
618,445 downloads of technical briefs from our websites – helping people replicate our technology and learn from our experience. Users themselves estimate this will help a further million people.
6,292 detailed technical enquiries answered (up 80% on last year).
104 consultancy contracts completed in 46 countries.
250 new titles added to our publications catalogue with the acquisition of Oxfam Publishing.
Our organisational carbon footprint reduced by 25% compared to 2006/07.
Income up by 6% (at £22.3 million).

Our work continues to win international recognition. For example, our office in Peru was presented with a National Energy Globe Award in recognition of reaching more than 50,000 people in rural areas with a combination of micro hydro electricity and wind power.

As trustees we focus on the real impact of our work on the ground, the individuals, families and communities empowered by our work. We have access to extensive monitoring and evaluation of the individual projects, but this year we have also been able to look at some longer term evaluations. These focused on food security projects from up to a decade ago. It is extremely heartening to see how work carried out ten years ago is still having long lasting positive impact on people’s lives.

A final positive note has been our work on climate change. As the world faces a major deadline in December 2009 to come up with a new global agreement, Practical Action has been focusing our efforts on the need to support adaptation in developing countries. Such adaptation will be necessary even if the world ceases all emissions, and it needs to be based on the needs of the community and properly funded. This year we have published a book on the subject, held a major conference focusing on food and climate change, and we have participated extensively in the international climate change talks. Finally I am very proud to say that we have made our own contribution to tackling climate change, by cutting our own carbon footprint by more than 25% in two years. This was not an easy achievement and has necessitated extensive new ways of working, but does prove that real cuts can be achieved, even for an organisation where international work is core to our mission.

In the year ahead we will continue our work with poor communities, alongside this we will also focus on scaling up our work so that we can reach even more beneficiaries and have yet greater impact. We will continue to work with others and seek ways to share our experience so that collectively we can be effective in our work to combat global poverty.

Stephen Watson
Chair, Practical Action

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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