Progress on our Strategic Priorities
We entered 2023 with a renewed 5 year strategy. There were no significant changes to our programmes as a result, simply an emphasis on delivering activities we know to be more effective for families to become self-reliant. Following a series of meetings with a variety of community members including: parents, local council, police, support workers, counsellors etc. we reviewed successes and challenges over the past decade, as well as opportunities for the future, in order to develop a strategy that would take us forward.
This process highlighted the need for our three strategic priorities. These are areas we identified to improve as an organisation to better provide services for those we work with in Katanga.
We solidified our budget focusing on effective activities, whilst raising funds to provide more security for our programmes moving forward. We built on an external evaluation by improving our processes and programme monitoring. And we invested in staff training to provide a solid foundation for the coming years.
Focus on Sustainability
Target: Agree a balanced budget for 2023 that increases staff salaries and maintains delivery of our core programmes.
We did produce a balanced budget, after spending surplus funds in 2022. Francis (Country Director) opted to stop being paid as we invested in Dorcus to oversee the programmes. We stopped Covid related spending (food packages for every family) and reduced the amount we gave to families for school fees as we managed rising costs due to inflation (Covid and Ukraine related) and worsening exchange rates (mostly due to UK government decisions leading to market instability from Sep 2022).
We weren’t able to increase staff salaries as we hoped inline with growing inflation in Uganda, as early fundraising did not provide the assurance we needed. Fundraising later in 2023, and improved exchange rates, have allowed us to begin increasing salaries from Jan 2024.
Target: Generate £10,000 of additional income in 2023, 50% generated from our Uganda team.
We were able to generate additional income through a variety of sources additional to our regular income. Notably through Francis speaking in the UK in January and June, our 10th birthday celebration in June, corporate donations (including a donation of profits from Peregrine Clothing) and individual donations through the year, including those visiting Katanga.
Our income through 2023 allows us to take on an additional 10 young women in vocational training and sets us up well to increase staff salaries, increase vocational training fees and offer additional support to families, particularly in health.
Improve our Monitoring & Evaluation
Target: To have an updated system that monitors and evaluates our success towards strategic and operational targets.
Following an external evaluation, we were given a number of recommendations in key areas to improve the efficiency of our work. We were fortunate that Joe met Francis in January 2023 and offered his expertise as a Business Analyst. Joe stayed in Uganda for a month to work alongside our team to improve our processes. Jo was able to map our processes and identify where they require certain staff input and the use of different systems, before identifying areas for improvement. Joe then worked with the team to improve and refine these areas, providing the relevant training where needed.
We are pleased that following Joe’s work, we have clear processes, new digital system are set up, and an upgraded monitoring system to ensure we can better measure and analyse progress of those we work with. We will share insights from this monitoring system through 2024 when we have enough comparative data.
Invest in our Team
Target: All staff to receive additional development training in relevant areas.
Our five staff members each completed a certified project management course through the year. One of our team also completed a course on mentoring & coaching. We are excited for the ways this training complements the improvement of our process and programme efficiency.
Target: Agree a process for improving our governance and complete recommended actions.
Our two Ugandan Directors completed an intensive course on Corporate Governance, increasing our local governance resilience.
We are in the planning stages for developing our governance further and expect to bring on new trustees in 2024, providing oversight in key areas.
We have made good progress on these priorities over the year and hope to see more in 2024.
👉 Read more about our progress on our Strategic Objectives: A Year in Review 2023