2023-03-31-accounts

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Annual Report and Accounts 2022–2023

BBC Media Action is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 1076235) and a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales (no 3521587) at Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA

The Negat drama team records an episode in Addis Ababa. / Credit: BBC Media Action

Forewords	4
About us, our vision and mission	8
Where we work	9
Highlights from our year	10
How we serve our stakeholders	14
Our strategic review	17
How we are funded	18
Our impact in 2022/23: Media and communication for good	22
Our work in media development and media freedom	23
Our work in tackling information disorder	28
Our work in climate action	30
Our work in health	33
Our work in equity, diversity and inclusion	38
Our work in governance, civic participation and bridging divides	43
Our work in humanitarian response	46
Looking ahead	49
Thanks and acknowledgements	50
Our organisation and fnances	52
Our employees	53
Our organisation	55
Managing risk	59
Managing our fnances	64
Statement of trustees’ responsibilities	67
Auditors’ report	69
Accounts	74

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F O R E W O R D S

A note from our chief executive

This is the last foreword from me in a BBC Media Action annual report. As I write, I am preparing to retire in July 2023, after 14 years with the BBC’s international charity.

The work we do is even more important than when I joined in 2009. Media and communication have become ever more central to development in an age of mis- and disinformation and in the middle of a climate crisis.

I am grateful to have worked with such committed and creative colleagues across the world to grow BBC Media Action into the respected international non-governmental organisation it is today. And I am proud that we are working to a strategy that strives to contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on poverty reduction, gender equality, climate action and others while remaining faithful to the BBC values of trust and impartiality. We have reached hundreds of millions of people with media and communication that has informed them, connected them with others and encouraged them towards positive change in their own lives.

Caroline Nursey OBE Chief Executive Officer

This year, we have found ways to deliver amid political turmoil and crackdowns on civil

rights in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Ethiopia, continued to support our media partners in Ukraine through wartime, and broken new ground with our first Pacific programme in Solomon Islands. We continue to deliver important support to public interest local broadcasters, fostering peaceful discussion and debate while enabling audiences to have a better understanding of each other and the events happening around them.

We demonstrated the importance of media and communication in climate action during sessions at COP27. We joined the first in-person Social and Behaviour Change Communication Summit since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, delivering more than a dozen sessions showcasing our learning in behaviour change communication that saves lives, improves health, and helps people to adapt and cope with climate change. We also forged a high-profile partnership with Google Jigsaw and Cambridge University on a guide to inoculation theory, an approach for tackling mis- and disinformation among newly digital audiences.

We know that information saves lives and this year we have even more proof, following a randomised controlled trial that found that our mobile health communication work in

India has saved nearly 14,000 lives. Published in the journal BMJ Global Health, these exciting findings demonstrate the power of communication that reaches audiences where they are – in this case, in rural communities in Bihar, India.

These continue to be difficult times for those working in international development. Space for civil society is shrinking, and false and misleading information poses a direct threat to democracy, development, health and wellbeing. The reduction in the UK government’s aid funding makes it challenging to find funding for our work. BBC Media Action must change along with this shifting landscape – diversifying our income, and adapting to the needs and media habits of our audiences. This process is well underway. I have no doubt that my colleagues will see it through.

As our new Chief Executive Simon Bishop steps into this tremendous role, I wish him – and our entire BBC Media Action family – success and joy in the coming years.

Caroline Nursey OBE Chief Executive Officer (to July 2023)

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F O R E W O R D S

A note from our chair and vice chair

To be effective with media and communication for development, you need to understand people.

Audiences are central to BBC values, and they are at the heart of BBC Media Action’s work too. All our work is rooted in deep research and understanding of the communities with which we work. Our learning helps us tackle poverty and inequality, and bridge divides in increasingly fractured societies.

Francesca Unsworth Chair

In many of the places where we work, the space for civil society is closing. Governments are becoming more authoritarian, public interest media are under financial, political and legal pressure, and false and misleading information abounds. This makes our work more important, and more challenging, than ever before.

BBC Media Action continues to focus on health, governance and humanitarian response, but we are adapting within those three pillars to meet the fast-changing needs of the societies in which we work.

Awo Ablo Vice Chair

Our work on health this year has included tackling misinformation around vaccines, overcoming gender barriers in talking about

mental health, addressing sexual health rumours and taboos, and tips for maximising nutrition with limited resources – reflecting the vastly different needs and contexts in which we work.

We have continued our work in media development in some of the most difficult contexts imaginable – including wartime Ukraine and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan – while continuing important work to end gender-based violence and support at-risk girls in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Zambia and conflict-affected communities in South Sudan.

The erosion of overseas development aid, economic recession and slow recovery of events-based fundraising after the COVID-19 pandemic have continued to pose serious financial challenges for us. We have drawn on reserves to invest in business development to mitigate these difficult realities. Under our current plan, our conservative forecast is that we expect to return to a balanced budget by 2026 and a surplus shortly after, to replenish our reserves and ensure BBC Media Action is fit for the future.

We have welcomed three new trustees to the board this year – Freshta Karim,

Reeta Chakrabarti and Phil Harrold – and said goodbye to Zeinab Badawi and Richard Dawkins after six and seven years, respectively. We are grateful to all our trustees.

On behalf of the whole board of trustees, we thank Caroline Nursey OBE, who led BBC Media Action so effectively with courage and pragmatism for 14 years. She began her wellearned retirement in July 2023.

And we welcome our new CEO Simon Bishop, whose leadership credentials span nongovernmental organisations, government, policy and journalism. We look forward to working with him as we usher BBC Media Action into this next critical chapter, adapting to the fast-changing media and international development environment while reaching our audiences effectively, wherever they are.

Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to all the people who carry out BBC Media Action’s work, and to those who support us and make it all possible.

Francesca Unsworth, Chair Awo Ablo, Vice Chair

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

About us, our vision and mission

We are the BBC’s international charity, and we believe in the power of media and communication for good.

Our vision

BBC Media Action is the BBC’s international charity, registered in the UK and working in international development.

A world where informed and empowered people live in healthy, resilient and inclusive communities.

Working to the BBC’s values and editorial principles, we support the independent media essential to democracy and development, and we inform, connect and inspire change in our audiences — by sharing trusted information and stories that generate debate and discussion, and challenge prejudice.

Our mission

With our partners we reach millions through creative communication and trusted media, helping people have their say, understand their rights, responsibilities and each other, and take action to transform their lives.

Public benefit

We work from 18 offices in 23 countries, serving some of the most fragile and divided societies in the world. Our projects and programmes reached over 110 million people last year, helping to save lives and improve health, protect livelihoods and our planet, counter misinformation, and build more peaceful and democratic societies.

The trustees approved BBC Media Action’s Strategic Plan in January 2018, and have extended it until 2024. When reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities, the trustees confirm that they have given due regard to the public benefit guidance as published by the Charity Commission, as required under the Charities Act 2011.

While we benefit from strong partnerships with the World Service and other parts of the BBC, we rely on the generous support of donors to continue our vital work.

Our charitable objectives include education and training, advancing health, preventing or relieving poverty, and overseas aid.

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Where we work
Boston, USA office
Moldova Ukraine Georgia
London
Armenia
Tunisia
Afghanistan
Tunis office
Kabul office
India
Delhi office
Algeria
Libya Nepal
Kathmandu office
Myanmar
Yangon office
Cambodia
Ethiopia Phnom Penh office
Addis Ababa office
Solomon Islands
Bangladesh
Dhaka office
Somalia
Hargeisa,
Sierra Leone Somaliland office Indonesia
Freetown office Jakarta office
Nigeria Zambia
Abuja office Lusaka office Tanzania
Dar es Salaam office
South Sudan Kenya
Juba office Nairobi office
BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023 9
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BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

H I G H L I G H T S F R O M O U R Y E A R

Highlights from our year

In India our mobile phone health service Kilkari (A Baby’s Gurgle), launched in 2015 and scaled up with the Indian government in 2019, was declared to have saved nearly 14,000 lives while contributing to higher reported use of modern, reversible contraceptive methods. The findings of a randomised controlled trial published in a special BMJ Global Health supplement demonstrate that a small amount of powerful media content – delivered directly to mobile phones – can have a significant impact on the health and future of poorer families, including in rural areas

In South Sudan we celebrated 10 years of Life in Lulu , our radio drama whose characters have become beloved household names. The drama, which began by addressing high rates of maternal and infant mortality in the country, has covered issues of governance, ethnic divides and peaceful co-existence in its eight seasons.

In Ukraine we conducted our largestever research study to examine how women and gender-diverse people are affected by conflict, and to identify their information needs. We captured the needs and understandings of 1,700 women - including 200 in occupied and front-line areas. Results will be released later in 2023 and will help our media partners to inform their programmes.

In December 2022 we marked three years of Ma Shet Ne (Don’t Be Shy), our Myanmar social media project on sexual and reproductive health. This has become a popular space for service providers and young people to discuss sexual health and rights, to share trusted information and to challenge taboos – our top post on Facebook reached over 25 million people, with 22.7 million video views!

We opened our first Pacific islands project in Solomon Islands in November 2022, working with Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation and members of the Media Association of Solomon Islands and conducting a major media survey – the first in a decade. We held a series of workshops and training on editorial and production techniques, as well as thematic training covering broadcasting during emergencies, financial reporting and trafficking of women and girls. Our partners were delighted to welcome UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly for a visit in April 2023.

Our El Kul (For Everyone) digital platform for Libyan audiences was named Best Trust Initiative in the 2022 WAN-IFRA African Digital Media Awards. El Kul , which is run by Tunisbased BBC Media Action content producers and a team of Libya-based freelance reporters, has over 1.2 million followers who watch its content promoting inclusion, diversity and tolerance.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

H I G H L I G H T S F R O M O U R Y E A R

Our global research festival INSIGHTFUL in February 2022 attracted more than 750 people online and in-person. The festival featured webinars promoting our research into reaching diverse audiences, working in regions affected by conflict and crisis, supporting

We launched our first podcasts , including Brave New Media , an exploration of challenges faced by independent media around the world and potential solutions; Living Climate Change Africa , a five-part series featuring voices from the frontlines of climate change, and Tanzania Adapts , a Swahili-language podcast exploring the impact of a changing climate on everyday life, and how to cope.

public interest media and attracting digital audiences – demonstrating how audiences remain at the heart of everything we do.

Our public service announcements on the dangers of explosive ordnance in Afghanistan went viral, with millions of views on Facebook. The series includes stunning drone shots of herds of sheep, a real baby camel in a classroom and a one-take, single-shot film taken in a Kabul market. Our content reached 5.4 million Afghans and research found our audiences were more able to identify risks from explosive ordnance, knew more about how to keep safe, and shared their learning with others.

In India we launched our seven-episode web series Life Navrangi (A Colourful Life) on YouTube, which received over eight million views! The series was the follow-up to our ground-breaking and successful Navrangi Re! (Nine to a Shade) – possibly the world’s first social impact series focused on sanitation. Life Navrangi built on the themes of everyday life and love in a local neighbourhood facing ever-present sanitation issues. An independent randomised controlled trial showed that viewers knew more about the sanitation chain, and were more likely to look up information and report illegal dumping of waste – showing the power of digital storytelling for a previously invisible problem.

In Tanzania our focus on digital in our projects on parenting, gender and rights has paid off with significantly increased reach and engagement – with nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and over 350,000 on Facebook. A compelling video poem about child marriage reached nearly one million views, and a short Facebook Reel drama on sexual harassment hit 1.2 million views.

In Nigeria our work to address vaccine hesitancy included supporting 24 media partners across 12 states and co-producing over 350 programmes. Some 30% of adults across our 12 focal states reported having listened to our radio programmes and public service announcements, and/ or having seen social media content on the issue.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

H O W W E S E R V E O U R S TA K E H O L D E R S

How we serve our stakeholders

BBC Media Action complies with section 172 of the Companies Act 2006. Our board of trustees acts in the way it considers, in good faith, is most likely to enhance BBC Media Action’s impact for the people we work with, while considering the long-term effect of decisions on our organisation and our stakeholders. Our mission sets out our need to work with partners to reach our audiences.

Internal stakeholders

Our internal stakeholders are our employees. Employee engagement is essential to delivering our work successfully. Our employees enjoy opportunities for learning and development through the BBC and beyond. All our employees have access to an employee assistance programme, with enhanced support in times of crisis in the countries where we work.

We have competitive employee salaries. UK-contracted employees are paid according to charity bands set within the BBC salary framework, reflecting the difference in salaries between the charity sector and media organisations. Salaries for employees in other countries remain competitive with local nongovernmental organisation rates of pay.

External stakeholders

Our external stakeholders include:

Our audiences

Reached directly and through our partners, these are the people who most benefit from our work. Our research into what viewers and listeners need helps inform our work, while our project evaluations ensure we learn from our work and achieve positive impact. We continue to expand and deepen our digital platform work as our audiences’ media habits change, while ensuring that we include people who still live in media-dark or media-poor communities. We follow BBC and sector best practice in obtaining consent from anyone who participates in, or features on, our media outputs, and we maintain a strict code of conduct and safeguarding protocol for our staff and partners.

Journalists, media workers

and media houses

Working to the BBC’s Editorial Values, the heart of our work is mentoring and training journalists and media workers, and work with media organisations on business planning, marketing and economic viability. We work in a variety of countries and contexts – from helping partners remain on air during the war in Ukraine, to assisting resource-poor media practitioners in Solomon Islands to adapt to growing internet access.

The BBC

We enjoy strong support from across the BBC, and work closely with the World Service and other parts of the BBC. The BBC World Service founded us. Many of our trustees come from the BBC – our Chair, Fran Unsworth, was the BBC’s Director of News and Current Affairs until her retirement in January 2022. Senior BBC correspondents and personalities help us with fundraising and publicising our work.

Our partners in project delivery and sector learning

Partnerships are critical to our success. We work in several project consortia, we participate in sector collaborations and events, and we are members of Bond, the umbrella group for UK-based international NGOs. Most of our partners around the world are local NGOs.

Our suppliers

Our trustees have established procedures to ensure that external suppliers are individually verified to ensure they meet our required health and safety, regulatory and financial security standards.

Our donors

Our largest donors include the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Global Affairs Canada, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), among other institutional donors, alongside UN bodies, private foundations and corporate partners. We are working to diversify our donors and remain committed to delivering high-quality work and reporting on our impact, through events and sector engagement, our website and our social media channels.

Our wider communities and our planet

Responding to the climate emergency is a growing priority in our programme work, reflecting the urgent need for action among the communities we serve, our partners and donors. We also recognise our responsibility to examine the impact of our operations on the environment. With support from the BBC’s Sustainability team, we have implemented a process to measure the carbon footprint of all our offices each year. The results of this exercise and our initial baseline measure will inform a decarbonisation plan to be developed in 2023, in line with our Environmental Policy.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

A woman responds to a question in a town hall discussion as part of our Tuyajenge (Let Us Build) radio show in Tanzania, which addresses a wide range of themes including sexual and reproductive health and services, and women and girls in leadership and political participation. / Credit: BBC Media Action Tanzania

Our strategic review

In 2022/23, BBC Media Action pledged to:

and achievable goals towards achieving a more diverse and inclusive organisation. Our internal Project Thrive has also given employees throughout our organisation a chance to voice their visions, and has set specific actions to ensure a more inclusive and welcoming work culture for everyone.

Deliver our programming in support of our strategy to the value of at least £27 million, and diversify and scale up our donor funding through a renewed focus on business development, with an ambitious development plan.

Continue to adapt and expand our programming to meet the needs of audiences in countries in conflict.

This year we delivered programming to the value of £27.1 million, following a significant investment in our global partnerships team to support business development. We have achieved measurable progress in diversifying our donor base and scaling up our work despite a funding environment that remains extremely challenging.

In 2022/23 we continued to work through challenging circumstances with partners in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Ukraine and South Sudan. Our work in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus considers the wider impacts of the war in Ukraine, including the information needs of refugees and host communities. We continue to innovate to deliver critical, life-saving information tailored to audience members’ needs and circumstances – ranging from supporting partners to deliver content through social media and messaging apps in Ukraine, to showing short films about the lifethreatening risks of unexploded ordnance on public buses in Afghanistan.

Put into action our new global policy on equity, diversity and inclusion, and measure our progress.

Following the January 2022 launch of our new equity, diversity and inclusion policy and approach, covering who we are and how we work, every employee and team across BBC Media Action set specific, measurable

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

How we are funded

BBC Media Action is grateful to the wide range of funders who make our work possible. This includes national governments, the UN and other international organisations, foundations, corporate partners and private individuals. Together , our donors funded our work to the value of £27.1 million (£27.5 million in 2021/22). As of 31 March 2023, we had 120 (2022: 120) active projects around the world.

For example:

Accenture provided specialist consultancy services to our finance, IT and leadership teams
Access Bookings provided us with credits for hotel accommodation for our annual leadership residential week
Adobe provided free software and Creative Cloud licences for our whole organisation

The FCDO remained our largest donor in 2022/23, providing nearly £5.7 million towards our work. Sida was our secondlargest donor, providing £2.9 million, and USAID was our third largest donor, providing nearly £1.9 million.

Atos provided IT support to our London office, and specialist consultancy
Currys provided us with refurbished laptop support

Corporate donors, events and individual giving

BBC Media Action benefits from a range of corporate partnerships. Our corporate partners in 2022/23 helped us in valuable ways, donating income and gifts in kind in the form of IT support, technical equipment, software and professional advice. We are grateful to all our corporate partners for their various forms of support during the year.

Getty Images provided access to its professional image library for our publications
Imagen provided us with an audio-visual archive for all our production materials, and consultancy to develop bespoke pages of our content.
The Langham London supported our BBC Correspondents’ Charity Dinner fundraising event

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H O W W E A R E F U N D E D
Rebecca Sankoh (right) interviews a girl who has left school in Pujehun district, Sierra Leone, as part of our
EAGER (Every Adolescent Girl Empowered and Resilient) project. / Credit: BBC Media Action Sierra Leone
—
Meta provided free advertising credits Fundraising governance and
through Facebook to help us reach our compliance
audiences and publicise our work At BBC Media Action, we ensure that
our donors are protected by using well-
—
Rizzello Creative contributed pro-bono established, reputable platforms that display
creative consultancy to our Cambodia clear terms and conditions, including on UK
country office General Data Protection Legislation (GDPR)
compliance. JustGiving adheres to the Code
—
Sophos provided us with cyber-security of Fundraising Practice and subscribes to
protection across our entire network the Fundraising Regulator. Our prize draws
with Givergy.com are subject to review from
— Twitter provided technical training and the BBC Interactive Technical Advice and
support for our social media accounts Contracts Unit (ITACU).
— Universal Music Publishing provided Our Communications team monitors and
access to its music library for our moderates our social media accounts
production teams according to BBC Editorial Policy. There have
been no formal complaints regarding our
We were thrilled to see the return of our fundraising activity but any future complaints
BBC Correspondents’ Charity Dinner in July or concerns about our fundraising activities
2022, after missing our 2021 event due to will be investigated and responded to. We
COVID-19. We extend our thanks to our voluntarily subscribe to and comply with the
Dinner Committee for their ongoing support. Fundraising Regulator and follow its Code
of Practice, which ensures we treat people
In 2022/23 we also benefitted from support fairly and with respect, explain our cause in a
from individual donors via BBC payroll giving, way which does not mislead people, and are
and through our JustGiving page that can sensitive to people who may be in vulnerable
be accessed from our website through a circumstances.
Donate button, and through our social media
accounts.
BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023 19
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BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

H O W W E A R E F U N D E D

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Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs £1,079k UNOPS £877k
International Rescue
Committee £1,088k UK Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office £5,670k
Swiss Agency for
Development
Cooperation Top 10 donors Swedish International
£1,347k 2022-23 Development Cooperation
Agency £2,915k
Norwegian Agency
for Development United States Agency for
Cooperation £1,547k International Development
£1,897k
Global Affairs Canada
£1,775k Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation £1,864k
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UN Development Programme
(UNDP) £722k
International Rescue Committee
£1,058k
BMB Mott MacDonald £683k
Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs £1,134k
UK Foreign, Commonwealth and
Development Office £7,741k
European
Commission
£1,148k Top 10 donors
2021/22
Norwegian Agency
for Development
Cooperation £1,763k
Swedish International Development
Global Affairs Canada Cooperation Agency £2,866k
£1,854k
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation £1,881k
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NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS £11,534K

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UK GOVERNMENT £5,670k
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Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency £2,915k United States Agency for International Development £1,897k Global Affairs Canada £1,775k Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation £1,547k Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation £1,347k Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs £1,079k GIZ (Germany) £333k Irish Aid £286k Dutch Embassy in Tunisia £222k Government of Belgium £133k

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office £5,670k

INTERNATIONAL AND NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS £3,359k

International Rescue Committee £1,088k Sightsavers £476k International Foundation for Electoral Systems £424k National Democratic Institute (NDI) £279k Terre Des Hommes £270k Deutsche Welle £214k Counterpart £183k American Jewish World Service £140k Halo Trust £93k Diakonia £84k IGAD Climate Predictions and Applications Centre £58k Action Contre La Faim £42k British Council £8k

PRIVATE AND CORPORATE FOUNDATIONS £2,466k

Gates Foundation £1,864k H&M Foundation £466k Packard Foundation £136k

UNITED NATIONS £2,179k

UNOPS £877k World Food Programme £710k Unicef £388k

PRIVATE SECTOR &EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS £1,325K

International Labour Organization £126k UNHCR £37k Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT) £22k UN Development Programme £19k

Unilever £542k UNHCR £37k Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICAN) £237k Livelihoods and Food Security Fund DAI £200k (LIFT) £22k Durham University £133k UN Development Programme £19k Auxilium £95k DT Global £89k EUROPEAN UNION £566k University of Bristol £24k European Commission £526k Stockholm International Peace Research European Union £40k Institute (SIPRI) £7k £27,073k HEALTH £5,638k GOVERNANCE AND RIGHTS RESILIENCE £14,855k £6,580k

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Our areas of work
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BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

Our impact in 2022/23

Media and communication for good

Our work in media development and media freedom

“ I love my role – that of a local news reporter – and would quit a comfortable job in any other organisation, because I want to tell stories that will bring real change. For me, this newspaper has been a turning point, because I know while I report, I’m talking about not just social issues and injustices but also about values that our audiences will relate to and act upon.”

Sopna Debnath was the only female journalist at Gramer Kagoj (Village Paper), a leading local daily newspaper in south-east Bangladesh and one of two local partners supported through our Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development (PRIMED) project.

Through PRIMED, we have worked with Gramer Kagoj to develop gender-sensitive editorial guidelines and policies. These aim to ensure more gender equality and better protection for its female staff while also improving the gender balance and representation in content. This makes Sopna feel more confident in her work, and better reflects her experiences and perspectives in the newspaper’s content.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

O U R W O R K I N M E D I A D E V E L O P M E N T A N D M E D I A F R E E D O M

The belief that independent, public interest media is essential to democracy and development is at the core of all BBC Media Action’s work. Amid closing civic spaces and a rise in authoritarian governments, media development has become more challenging yet more important than ever. Countering mis- and disinformation has become an increasingly important part of this work (see page 28).

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our three-year Eastern Partnerships project funded by the FCDO received additional funding to ensure our local media partners’ news operations could continue to serve vulnerable audiences in Ukraine. We provided emergency grants, training and support to produce specialised Lifeline humanitarian programming, training on safety and security in the field, and guidance on trauma-sensitive reporting. A follow-up project focused on media development work in Ukraine and neighbouring countries is expected to run until August 2025.

In Armenia we have been working with international and local partners on an EUfunded project to support independent media organisations to become more professional and financially sustainable. We held more than 30 consultations with regional media representatives to improve the technical and editorial skills of 10 partner organisations, and supported the development of editorial principles and journalistic standards.

We also organised a three-day study tour to the BBC in London for journalists representing two of the most trusted independent media organisation in Armenia, so they could see the BBC’s approach to operations, high-quality news and investigations up close.

Our Protecting Independent Media for

Effective Development (PRIMED) project, funded by UK Aid, entered its third year in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone.

In Bangladesh, we supported the national online news portal Bangla Tribune and regional newspaper Gramer Kagoj (Village Paper) with training, mentoring and technical support to improve their editorial and reporting skills, digital operations, economic viability and their resilience. Ultimately, this aims to support the production of more independent, quality content that reflects people’s opinions and helps them to hold relevant authorities accountable.

Also in Bangladesh through PRIMED, we worked with the Broadcast Journalist Centre, providing technical guidance on building coalitions, rights-based documentation and training in some areas of journalism. The BJC’s work has included a survey revealing the difficult working conditions faced by media workers, to support advocacy calling for the government and media owners to improve their labour policies.

In Ethiopia, our work through PRIMED focuses on building technical expertise, professional editorial standards, and stronger institutional and financial foundations to help develop our local media partners into public interest models while working in polarised environments and narrowed civic space.

In Sierra Leone, our PRIMED work achieved a breakthrough. We worked with local partners to hold a successful National Media Viability and Investment Forum, and secured a subsequent government pledge to develop a National Action Plan to ensure the viability of public interest media in the country.

With support from PRIMED, a contract for a pilot National Fund for Public Interest Media was signed between Sierra Leone’s

We have conducted remote and in-person training with public interest media in Armenia, including Factor TV. / Photo courtesy of Factor TV

Media Reform Coordinating Group and the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM). IFPIM will fund successful applications from local media outlets with strong track records of public interest journalism, while the government has committed to matching IFPIM’s seed grant for the national fund. PRIMED is supporting the establishment of the technical secretariat and its first call for proposals.

developed by the country’s Independent Media Commission, after an extensive consultation process supported by PRIMED.

Also in Sierra Leone, we began work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners on the UN-hosted iVerify platform, which launched ahead of June 2023 elections. This automated factchecking tool is run by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists to identify false information, and prevent or mitigate its spread.

Sierra Leone’s parliament has also approved a new Independent Media Code of Practice,

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

O U R W O R K I N M E D I A D E V E L O P M E N T A N D M E D I A F R E E D O M

Journalist Ennie Kishiki was part of our training project in Zambia to help strengthen trusted, impartial media coverage of key election issues. / Credit: BBC Media Action Zambia

In Tanzania our Rural Radio Support project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, is building a supportive network for rural radio. We have conducted audience surveys and are working with 12 partners to strengthen their commercial viability, their production and editorial processes, and their ability to respond to audience needs – especially those of women and young people. For example, our research found that while three partners were targeting an urban audience, most of their listeners were in rural areas; they have now restructured their programmes to report more news and stories from villages.

editorial guide; the broadcaster has now moved away from just covering government stories to more human interest content, featuring more diverse perspectives and analysis.

Also in Zambia, through our partner the Media Institute of Southern Africa, we facilitated the development of a media code of ethics and a constitution for a proposed new media self-regulatory mechanism. Media owners and key media stakeholders developed and agreed this code of ethics, which will support professionalism while helping to safeguard media freedom and independence.

In North Africa our media platform El Kul (For Everyone) for Libyan audiences continues to grow, produced entirely by BBC Media Action trainees. Our team of Libya-based freelance reporters and Tunis-based content producers make content that advances diversity and

In Zambia our Sida-funded project Kudziwa (To Know) included a nine-month training and mentoring process to transform newsgathering by the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation. We also worked with them to develop a detailed newsroom

tolerance amid conflict and distrust, and

have expressed interest in learning from the negotiations around, and drafting of, this publishers’ rights initiative.

helps counter misinformation; the platform has 1.2 million followers on Facebook and in the first quarter of 2023 alone, it reached over 6 million unique users and generated 1.3 million engagements (comments, shares and clicks). We were thrilled that El Kul won Best Trust Initiative in the 2022 WAN-IFRA African Digital Media Awards.

In Cambodia our Klahan9 (Brave 9) SPACE project, which focuses on civic engagement around climate, included a media support component. We worked with a local media organisation which recruited and trained 15 young people in documentary film-making. The trainees then produced 12 documentaries on everyday life and climate-related issues along the Mekong River. These films were screened across the country at events attended by influential provincial and local policymakers, donors, project partners local NGOs and others. Our midline report showed that the programme had inspired viewers – for example, 83% of panellists reported taking actions such as attending a local meeting or working as a volunteer.

In Algeria we continue to work with state broadcasters in their transition to public service broadcasting, by sharing audience research, conducting in-person and virtual training, and linking them with local civil society organisations.

In Indonesia, we have been providing advice to the Ministry of Communication and Information and to a media task force and to a media task force, as they develop a bargaining code, a collective approach to tackling social media platforms’ disruption of journalistic business models and financial sustainability. President Joko Widodo is expected to sign a presidential decree on this code later in 2023.

In Afghanistan, we have been providing training and mentoring to radio stations, journalists and civil society organisations on a range of issues, including digital safety, basic rights, and the production of content focused on the needs of young people and of women and girls. We have worked with five radio stations this year and expect the number to increase.

As part of this process we organised a study tour to the UK for officials from Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Informatics and senior Indonesian journalists. Media communities in neighbouring countries

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A woman is shown in a market in Kabul. Over 20 million people in Afghanistan are facing food insecurity; we are working with the World Food Programme to help families improve their nutrition with limited resources. / Credit: Getty Images

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

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Our work in tackling information disorder

“ As a radio and TV presenter and media trainer, I have witnessed the profound impact of misinformation in modern-day Tunisia. Through BBC Media Action’s training, I learned about the strategies used by those who produce false and misleading information, and of the ways that we can help our audiences spot manipulation. I have been able to practice stronger verification in my journalism and enhance our fact-checking. And I have been able to raise awareness of false and misleading information campaigns with my radio audiences, and, using this influential reach, empower them with the essential tools to navigate the complex landscape of media manipulation.”

Khouloud Mabrouk is a Tunisian media personality with a large national following, and a BBC Media Action mentor. After joining our training, which drew on the latest behavioural psychology insights to build audience resilience to mis- and disinformation, she discussed these issues on her own radio show, with an estimated audience of nearly 500,000.

Advances in technology, and increasing access to both traditional and social media, are propelling the spread of false information at a dizzying speed and scale. BBC Media Action’s work to address information disorder combines our expertise in research, media capacity-strengthening and multimedia content production. In specific contexts around the world, we work to understand what drives trust in, and engagement with, information, which then informs our training approaches and our content production so that it understands and reflects - rather than fuels - the fears, concerns, values and motivations of diverse audiences.

This year we were proud to collaborate with Google Jigsaw and the University of Cambridge on A Practical Guide to Prebunking Misinformation – a manual that covers the hows and whys of ‘inoculation theory’ to stop the spread of information by making people more resistant before they encounter it. We are testing these theories in our work in North Africa, following our surveys on this issue in Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.

Our Responding to COVID-19 Information Disorder in Tunisia (RIDIT) project was aimed at countering false and misleading media content. Funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in partnership with the German development agency (GiZ), we worked with around 50 members of media and civil society, incorporating insights from research and an Inoculation Theory ‘approach to production of media content to counter the

spread of mis- and disinformation. A smaller group of trainees then took part in a creative bootcamp to develop and produce content based on this theory. We are conducting further research and evaluation to measure what works best with our target audiences to inform our future work.

In Ethiopia we have begun work on an EUfunded project with research that will enable us to address issues of hate speech, misand disinformation in media, with a focus on young people’s digital literacy. Through PRIMED, we also trained specialists in the Ethiopian Media Authority in how to recognise information disorder and hate speech.

In Zambia, our Moto (Fire) initiative funded by Sida and run in partnership with the Free Press Initiative, trained eight women working in broadcasting. Over nine months, these journalists strengthened their news and current affairs reporting, fact-checking and investigative journalism skills. They then produced and broadcast a number of factchecked packages and investigative pieces, two of which won media awards.

In Somalia we began a two-year project on mis- and disinformation, working with Free Press Unlimited with funding from the EU. We will train Somali journalists through an online course and long-term mentoring in how to identify and stop the spread of mis- and disinformation. This aims to support them to make content to help audience members spot false and misleading information and avoid sharing or spreading it.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

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Our work in climate action

“ Before the drought I had 50 cows. Now I have only three and a calf. I decided to start maize farming but it didn’t do well. I resorted to planting vegetables since I could manage this with irrigation with water bottles. I have planted tomatoes, kale and cabbages. I learned this from a radio programme … which talked about how to start and manage a kitchen garden. Now I am able to feed my family.”

Supuko Lempirikani is a pastoralist herder in the Turkana region of Kenya. His local radio station, Serian FM, was part of a BBC Media Action project to mentor and train broadcasters in programming and connect them with climate scientists. Radio stations like Serian FM are now better able to focus on topics relating to climate, weather and livelihoods in their broadcasts. They also feature more climate experts and inspiring examples of local action, to help people adapt their livelihoods and cope with the impacts of climate change.

BBC Media Action’s work in climate and climate resilience spanned the globe this year, from the drylands of East Africa to the rainforests of Indonesia.

In Kenya, our EU-funded Down2Earth project involved mentoring radio stations to produce useful, timely and relevant information for their audiences on water scarcity, food insecurity and climate change adaptation. Our qualitative evaluation showed that the resulting content helped listeners learn how to secure their finances, such as by diversifying their income with beekeeping, growing more weather-resilient crops and timely selling of livestock. Listeners reported long-term impact on their time management, health and family and social relationships.

Our teams in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Kenya worked together to produce a fivepart podcast series, Living Climate Change Africa, funded by IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre. This series brought the voices of people from across East Africa on the frontlines of climate change to an audience of policymakers at COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh. Our films highlighting these voices were also played at a COP27 launch event.

In Nigeria we began working in the Niger Basin on the role of communication in a transboundary integrated water resource management project. We are working to identify the role of media in supporting climate change adaptation and building communities’ resilience – such as through sharing climate-smart agricultural practices -

in this region, ahead of further programmatic work.

In Tanzania our A National Conversation governance and accountability project includes a focus on climate change. As part of this initiative we produced the national radio show Itika (Answer the Call), and local spin-off shows with five local station partners, along with mentoring and training. In addition, we produced our new Swahili language podcast, Tanzania Adapts, which interviews experts and examines climate-related challenges including health, livelihoods, water scarcity and food insecurity.

In Cambodia, our six-month Not Waiting for Rain project included a full-length film, public service announcements and social media shared on Facebook and YouTube, and community outreach activities, to support local adaptation to climate change. We focused on sharing simple techniques that other people have successfully used. Our Facebook content had over 4 million views and engaged over 60,000 people, exceeding our targets. Our evaluation showed that this project had a positive impact on awareness of the risks of climate change, and how to adapt in response to them.

Our four-year project on governance and sustainable growth in Indonesia, Kembali Ke Hutan (Return to the Forest) – including a TV drama series, discussion programme, digital content and capacity strengthening for local media – finished in December. The heart of the project was our 20-episode soap

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

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A farmer in Turkana county, Kenya holds a sweet potato grown using information he learned on the radio. Our work in Kenya with local radio broadcasters supports better weather and climate information to help listeners adapt to changing weather patterns. / Credit: BBC Media Action Kenya

opera, #CeritaKita (Our Stories), created in partnership with Indonesian broadcaster SCTV. After each episode, a live discussion show featured online influencers, senior government ministers, experts and role models #CeritaKita was viewed by 24.5 million people, or 17% of the adult population, and won a Bandung Film Festival award.

presented at the International SBCC Summit in Marrakech in December.

We are continuing our environment and climate work in Indonesia with For the People, engaging young people on issues of deforestation and green growth. Working with a local civil society organisation, we are developing discussion clubs in 30 villages, based around 39 episodes of content, while continuing our social media content on the Aksi Kita (Our Action) platforms.

Our rigorous mixed method evaluation included a randomised control trial by Columbia University to isolate whether being exposed to project content led to impact on public attitudes and behaviour. We also conducted a representative survey, qualitative research, social media analytics and interviews with climate and forestry experts. The survey found that people exposed to our content were significantly more likely to take individual action to protect the natural environment than others, even when controlling for other factors. And the Columbia University experiment found that exposure to #CeritaKita content created more support for media coverage of climate and environmental issues (61% versus 52% in the control group). These results and more were

And in Bangladesh, our response to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar included producing content on cyclone and monsoon preparedness, and fire prevention and response. In addition, we conducted capacity-strengthening work with aid workers to ensure the concerns of both refugee and host communities are properly considered and addressed. We continue to work closely with humanitarian agencies, working groups and technical forums, and the government of Bangladesh in our Rohingya response (see page 48).

Our work in health

“ I am encouraging every woman to refrain from offering their daughters for early marriage. Even if the girl has made a mistake, forgive her…. The forced marriages that our grandparents used to practise should be stopped because we are putting our young girls into difficulty.”

Mama Karama Jade Baga is a village elder in South Sudan, and a listener of our radio programme Let’s Talk About Us. This programme covers sexual and reproductive health and rights including early forced marriage and family planning – issues that are otherwise rarely discussed in South Sudan. The programme has reached 1.9 million listeners. In areas where there is no access to radio, we have pre-loaded solar powered radios with content to play to community listening groups, who can then discuss and reflect on the information together.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

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With the global pandemic entering its third year, BBC Media Action’s work continued to address COVID-19 and a wide variety of other health issues that, left unaddressed, claim lives and limit potential. These topics include sexual and reproductive health and rights, maternal, newborn and child health, and parenting.

COVID-19 continued to be a focus for our work in Ethiopia, Somalia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and North Africa, as well as in our work with refugee and host communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. In Ethiopia and Somalia, we carried out a second Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition project funded by Unilever, delivering drama and discussion programmes, social media content and public service announcements on prevention behaviour and vaccine uptake.

In Ethiopia we worked with Ethiopia Civil Service University community radio to coproduce segments highlighting ongoing issues around COVID-19. In Somalia we continued producing our popular Captain

A social media visual encouraging Ethiopians to protect others during COVID-19. / Credit: BBC Media Action Ethiopia

Suleiman series, featuring a radio DJ agony uncle who uses humour to answer fictional callers’ questions. Our content in Somalia was carried by local broadcasters and the BBC Somali service. And in Zambia we launched a Unicef project covering COVID-19 prevention and vaccination and child and maternal health. This involved working with eight FM stations and state broadcaster Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation to produce radio drama and discussion programmes, social media content and public service announcements on preventing the virus and the benefits of vaccination.

In Nigeria we trained and helped strengthen the capacity of 24 partner radio stations across 12 states under a Bill and Melinda Gates-funded project on vaccine hesitancy. We worked closely with health experts and key influencers to overcome trainees’ own vaccine hesitancy, and then engage them in producing radio discussion programmes and town hall meetings about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.

We produced more than 350 programmes and pieces of content, and our social media outputs earned 32.3 million views and three million engagements in 12 months. Our endline research found that 30% of adults in the 12 focal states listened to our radio programmes (Talk Your Own and Mu Tattauna (Let’s Talk), public service announcements or saw social media content made by BBC Media Action. The study showed listeners were more likely to be vaccinated and to encourage others follow suit. We also saw immediate impact with town hall meetings and, in one case, 24 participants in Enugu State agreed to be vaccinated immediately following a town hall meeting hosted by Dream FM.

In North Africa our platform for Libyan audiences, El Kul (For Everyone), regularly featured content to boost confidence in vaccines, funded by Unicef. And in Tanzania our Unicef-funded project Responsible

Voice actors at work in our Juba, South Sudan studio on Life in Lulu, our long-running radio drama addressing issues of governance and gender. / Credit: BBC Media Action South Sudan

35% of those interviewed had listened to the programme at least once in the last year and, of those reached, 84% were listening regularly to at least every second episode – equal to roughly 1.6 million listeners.

Parenting and Family Care involved producing a section on COVID-19 vaccine uptake for our national show, Safari ya Malezi (A Parenting Journey), which reaches over two million listeners, and conducting capacitystrengthening on the topic for local radio partners.

In Ethiopia our Engaging Young People Through Media project produced the radio and TV series Negat (Dawn), which included episodes focused on sexual and reproductive health. The series shared information about services available to young people and addressing workplace harassment.

Work on sexual and reproductive health and rights continued to be a growing area, with work this year, notably in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

In South Sudan Amplifying Women’s Voices, our four-year programme funded by Global Affairs Canada, ended in December. This groundbreaking initiative tackled issues that are rarely discussed in communities or families – traditional opposition to using contraception, and acceptance of child marriage and domestic violence. We combined our national radio programme, Let’s Talk About Us, with other media content and community engagement to support women and girls to make their own decisions around sexual and reproductive healthand rights. A midline survey in spring 2021 showed

In Nigeria, we are working with Sightsavers on an Inclusive Family Planning Project, funded by the FCDO. We have conducted formative research to understand the barriers to family planning experienced by people living with disabilities. Our audience segmentation then informed the characters for season 13 of our Hausa-language radio drama, Madubi (Mirror), which began airing in April 2023. Set in the fictional town of Kuka Jeri, the drama will challenge barriers to inclusion in family planning services and help build family and community support through personal stories

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

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produced and broadcast Tikambe (Let’s Talk) on four TV stations including ZNBC, as well as engaging content on our Facebook page, which had over 212,000 unique user engagements over the year. A related Tikambe National Dialogue meeting allowed young people to engage with the minister of health and other stakeholders on sexual and reproductive health services and rights. We also revamped content on a toll-free phone service to help people access information and local health services, which has been accessed over 141,335 times by people aged 24 and under.

and dispelling myths and misconceptions. We have also begun training and mentoring staff at three radio stations to produce related discussion programmes, working with health experts and people with disabilities.

In Tanzania our Niambie (Tell Me) national radio show and accompanying social media content focused on gender and the rights of women and girls, particularly sexual and reproductive health. Our Safari ya Melezi (A Parenting Journey) radio programme also touches on this theme, examining how parents and caregivers can support adolescent children to access health services, and discussing how to share information on menstruation and other aspects of reproductive health.

In Myanmar we marked a three-year anniversary for our online platform Ma Shet Ne (Don’t be Shy) in December. This platform connects providers of sexual and reproductive health and related services with young

In Zambia, with funding from Sida, we

A painted mural ad for our Tikambe! radio programme in Zambia. / Credit: BBC Media Action Zambia

people to provide accurate information while challenging traditional norms and taboos. Ma Shet Ne’s Facebook page maintains strong engagement, with nearly one million unique engagements over the year. This achievement is even more remarkable given the ongoing political turmoil, uncertainty and restricted media access in Myanmar.

And in Bangladesh, with support from UNFPA, we built on the success of their Generation Breakthrough project by producing seven video games for Rohingya adolescents, covering topics including puberty, menstruation and hygiene, child marriage, sexually transmitted infections and family planning.

Sanitation and its implications for people’s health continue to be a major focus of our work in India. Our multimedia campaign Malasur , the demon of defeca, and our short radio drama Shaucha Singh , both formed part of the Sanitation Communications Unit project funded by the Gates Foundation. Through government partnerships, we scaled these campaigns to reach over 500 local media outlets in eight Indian states.

We also produced a sequel to our successful sanitation-focused drama series, Navrangi Re! (Nine to a Shade), Life Navrangi (A Colourful Life). This seven-episode series, broadcast via YouTube and supported by the social media campaign Flush Ke Baad 2.0 , attracted over eight million views. Like its predecessor, Life Navrangi weaves topics related to septic tanks, waste removal and illegal dumping practices into stories of life and love in a traditional neighbourhood. An independent randomised controlled trial found that 99% of viewers found the show appealing and 84% said it reflected real-life issues. Viewers were more aware than non-viewers of health risks around faecal sludge, and more likely to build septic tanks correctly.

As noted on page 10, our mobile health

A community health volunteer shows job aids produced by BBC Media Action as part of our awardwinning Mobile Academy project in India / Credit: BBC Media Action India

communication work in India – Kilkari (A Baby’s Gurgle), Mobile Academy and Mobile Kunji (Guide) – received exciting validation through an independent evaluation and randomised controlled trial, with results published in a BMJ Global Health journal supplement. Since 2015, mobile phone health information service Kilkari has been found to have saved nearly 14,000 lives, while contributing to higher reported use of modern, reversible contraceptive methods. We are proud to have this significant evidence of the role that media and communication can play in improving the health and future of poorer families.

We continued to build on this success in 2022/23 by working with the health department in Uttar Pradesh to set up, train and deliver a digital health communication platform and several other health communication prototypes. This work has already supported the administration of drugs to combat the parasitic infection lymphatic filariasis in 18 districts, as well as routine immunisations and child nutrition.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

O U R W O R K I N E Q U I T Y, D I V E R S I T Y A N D I N C L U S I O N

Our work in equity, diversity and inclusion

At BBC Media Action, furthering equity, diversity and inclusion is embedded into who we are, what we do and how we do it. We aim to ensure meaningful representation and voices throughout our content and our organisation. Our new strategy and approach on equity, diversity and inclusion, adopted in January 2022, has set ambitious goals for everyone in our organisation to ensure we are as open and inclusive as we can be in all our work.

“ Before listening to [ Kayd iyo Koboc (Saving and Progress)], I always believed that only wealthy people can take loans and no one will trust me with a loan, but that changed when I implemented what I learned from the programme…. Now that I have savings, I can invest further into my business. I have also achieved progress from working with a local women’s business network.”

This year, our work on equity, diversity and inclusion has specifically included projects and programmes for, and with, people who have been marginalised by gender and LGBTQI+ identities, by perceptions of living with disability, and by entrenched beliefs around caste and ethnicity. We are also proud to be partners in the BBC’s The 50:50 project, which strives for gender balance in media content. Each month in 2022/23 our core website, blog and social media channels reached or surpassed this goal to have at least half of our content portraying women. Our country teams in Ethiopia and Sierra Leone have also engaged in training and content surveys as part of The 50:50 Project.

Sabaad Abdi supports her husband and five children with a small home-based business dying clothes. Her earnings barely covered her expenses, utilities and school fees. Then she came across radio VOSWO (Voice of Somaliand Women). BBC Media Action has been working with VOSWO for four years to help produce weekly programmes on how Somali women can improve their businesses in both the formal and informal markets.

In Ukraine we mentored staff at Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne (Public) to produce a short film series profiling women’s leadership and their civic and political participation. This was part of the project Transforming Gender Perceptions in Ukraine,

Negat (Dawn) TV presenter Kirubel Shiferaw waits for a shoot to start in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. / Credit: BBC Media Action Ethiopia

Through Media, is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and its design and implementation follow The 50:50 Project’s principles of gender representation. Our pretesting helped us refine the programme into a shorter drama with more focus on the views of young people, and information on services in education, employment, entrepreneurship and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

implemented by the National Democratic Institute and funded by Global Affairs Canada. Our largest-ever research in Ukraine, involving 1,700 women and 500 men, was conducted in January 2023 and found that traditional gender stereotypes are being reinforced in media; the research was released in full in July 2023.

In Ethiopia we launched Negat (Dawn) TV and radio programmes to support employment and opportunities for young people, to help tackle the country’s youth unemployment rate of 6%. The project, Engaging Young People

In Kenya we have been building awareness and interest among young women and girls in non-traditional technical and vocational

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

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Marian Tina Conteh (right), a producer and trainer in Sierra Leone, interviews Aminata, a young wheelchair user who was able to save enough money to start a small business and achieve financial independence. / Credit: BBC Media Action Sierra Leone

closely with the Women with Disability SelfReliance Centre. All our projects in Nigeria focus on supporting groups who have been marginalised; our most popular social media output this year was from a young female rapper from Northern Nigeria, drawing over 150,000 views. We have also presented our learning globally through webinars and at the International Family Planning Conference in Thailand.

education. Working with Colleges and Institutes Canada, with funding from the Mastercard Foundation, we have mentored seven radio stations around Kenya to produce content containing accurate information about educational courses, and the positive outcomes that can result from gaining these qualifications.

In Nigeria, our Inclusive Family Planning project ensures that all aspects of our work – from scriptwriting to recording and creating scripts in Hausa Braille – are fully inclusive. People living with disabilities work as consultants, scriptwriters and voice actors on this project, alongside health experts in family planning. We have also worked

In Somalia we produced a weekly radio show on BBC Somali and partner stations addressing women’s economic empowerment. This programme, Making Waves, combines drama and discussion as part of our Noradfunded Somali Women Towards Economic

Empowerment and Transformation (SWEET) project. Our evaluation of Making Waves found that female listeners have been inspired by successful stories from businesswomen and expert interviews. These listeners also said they learned how to run a successful business with information on record-keeping, partnerships and calculating profit and loss. Male listeners in our study also said that they were more willing to support their wives or mothers in their businesses after listening.

In South Sudan we continue to work through the Girls’ Education South Sudan consortium to build an environment that better supports education for all children, including girls and children with disabilities. We help to achieve this through our radio programme, Our School, and community mobilisation work. During the year we worked with the disability charity Leonard Cheshire on new training for our community mobilisation volunteers and radio presenters, and we strengthened our partnerships with local organisations for persons for disabilities. An evaluation found that 75% of people who participated in our mobilisation activities took action to support education for girls and children with disabilities.

In Sierra Leone, we continued working with a consortium on the Every Adolescent Girl Empowered and Resilient (EAGER) programme, which creates new learning opportunities for out-of-school girls aged 13 to 19 who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills — including girls who were pregnant or already mothers, girls married before adulthood, girls with disabilities, and girls heading their own households. Our nationally representative research evaluation found that EAGER radio programmes reached 21% of the population aged 15 and up, or 1.1 million people, including one-quarter of Sierra Leonean caregivers, and encouraged

more frequent discussion of sexual and reproductive health and rights issues. Along with community outreach, the project has helped improve understanding of the negative impacts of early and forced marriage.

In Zambia our EU-funded project Natwampane (Coming Together) continues to tackle gender-based violence, which affects an estimated one in five 15–19-year-old girls and one in three 20–24-year-old women – frequently at the hands of current or former partners. We have supported 15 partner radio stations to produce three weekly magazine programmes and public service announcements, which cover gender equality issues and signpost to available services. Our midline qualitative study found that our

Singer Amie Kallon sings with young women as part of our EAGER project in Sierra Leone. / Credit: BBC Media Action Sierra Leone.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

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Ko Aung Myin Thu shows his prosthetic leg in this Facebook campaign from our Tu Tu Pae (We are the same) project in Myanmar, aimed at striking down stereotypes and stigma against people with disabilities. / Credit: BBC Media Action Myanmar

content reached over one million people – most of the adult population in Luapula and Northern Province – and that 69% of those surveyed reported the programme was useful. More than one-third of listeners reported to have discussed the programme with others; regular listeners were less likely to think a husband is justified in beating his wife, and more aware of sexual- and gender-based violence services.

In India we continued our H&M Foundationfunded project, Pathway to Respect, Identity, Dignity and Empowerment (PRIDE), to shift negative perceptions about waste pickers in Bengaluru. The second phase of our #Invaluables social media campaign included our Happy Number song about the 383.25 million kg of waste diverted from landfill by informal waste pickers each year. Overall, our social media analytics demonstrated that our #Invaluables content has reached at least 5.1 million unique users in Bengaluru. Our impact research showed that audiences exposed to our content are more likely to show respect for the role played by waste pickers; they were 21% more likely to agree that waste pickers help minimise landfill waste.

In Myanmar our project Tu Tu Pae (We Are The Same) works with local disability organisations to develop social media content on all aspects of disability and inclusion. We celebrated the project’s first anniversary on the International Day for Persons with Disabilities on 1 December with a special music video that was viewed by 675,000 people and drew over two million impressions. Our team in Myanmar has also created an internship programme that includes people with disabilities, ensuring their views are heard and incorporated in this challenging environment.

Our work in governance, civic participation and bridging divides

“ Our children no longer report for school late and tired after spending much time searching for water from the boreholes.”

— Resident of Mwamfuli

Gift Phiri, the news editor at Bangwela (Breeze) FM, led reporting on water stories which successfully influenced local authorities to improve water supply to a Zambian community.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

O U R W O R K I N G O V E R N A N C E , C I V I C PA R T I C I PAT I O N A N D B R I D G I N G D I V I D E S

A recording of Life in Lulu, our radio drama in South Sudan that marked 10 years this year. / Credit: BBC Media Action South Sudan

funding for future seasons.

BBC Media Action’s work to ensure that people understand their rights and the responsibilities of those in power, and our efforts to create space for inclusive, respectful discussion are more important than ever in an increasingly fractured and autocratic planet. In addition to the media development and work on information disorder described above, many of our projects and programmes involve initiatives to support free and fair elections and help people live together more peacefully.

In Tanzania our A National Conversation project focuses on governance and accountability, featuring the themes of gender, climate change and civic participation by groups who have been previously marginalised. This project incorporates our national radio show, Itika (Answer the Call), local spin-off shows with five local broadcasters, and a Swahili language podcast focused on local leaders’ roles in supporting climate change adaptation.

In South Sudan our popular radio drama, Life in Lulu, turned 10 this year. Recently it has covered themes around conflict and peaceful co-existence in our fictional village, including the first elected female chief and a hot-headed young man who tries and fails to solve conflict with violence. The latest series, funded by Global Affairs Canada and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrapped production in December but is being re-run on local broadcasters as we seek

In Zambia our Ishiwi (My Voice) youth project used radio, online and social media content to show young people how to apply for constituency development funds. As a result, young people in our target districts have reported being able to access life-changing bursaries and grants for education and training.

In Sierra Leone we worked with UNDP and

the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists on an iVerify project to fact-check local media reports ahead of elections in June 2023. We trained association members on fact-checking techniques and supported them to run the UNDP platform as an SLAJ project, which has dispelled dozens of rumours and instances of misinformation to support freer and fairer elections.

social cohesion, cultural diversity and civic participation, with engaging content that ranged from caricatures illustrating political stagnation to a feature on Libyan women who have become pioneers in information technology. Recent research has found that 90% of the audience agrees that El Kul’s content is balanced and trustworthy; 91% say it promotes freedom of expression; 72% reported participating in local civil society initiatives after viewing the content, and 77% felt encouraged to do so.

In Ethiopia we are working to enhance peace and stability by working with communication experts and media houses on more conflictsensitive and inclusive content. The project, funded by the EU and carried out in partnership with Internews, includes digital media literacy work with young people, and content co-produced with community radio stations, notably inclusive reporting and podcasting.

In Nigeria our Talk Your Own radio show and We the People TV programme included segments called Fix It, which connect communities with civil society organisations to help them engage with government leaders to meet their immediate needs. After one powerful episode identified the need for a clean, safe water source in a community, local government representatives responded by providing a new water borehole.

Our El Kul (For Everyone) project for audiences in Libya continued to focus on

The El Kul team films a short in Tunis. / Credit: BBC Media Action North Africa

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Our work in humanitarian response

“ In those first months, it was very important for us to constantly produce news content…. It was a 24-hour-a day job, with no days off at all. “ We had to think about what thematic programmes we could make. What should you do in case of an explosion? What do you do if the windows are blown out of your apartment? Where is the safest place in the apartment if you don’t have a bomb shelter? We informed people about the air raid sirens, so people understood that it is worth hiding and being in shelter when they sounded.

“ If there is a person whose life has been saved with the help of our work, then that is of the highest value.”

Liudmyla Tiahnyriadno is a reporter and presenter for Ukrainian Radio in Kyiv. Ukrainian Radio is part of Ukraine’s public broadcaster UA:PBC (now Suspilne), which has been a BBC Media Action partner since 2014. During the war in Ukraine, we have been working with funding from FCDO and others to ensure our media partners can stay online and share trusted information that people can rely on to help stay safe.

We continued our work in crisis situations throughout this financial year – maintaining our presence in Cox’s Bazar and Ukraine, supporting audiences in Afghanistan through political and humanitarian crises, and embarking on new projects in Nigeria and Somalia.

We responded to an earthquake in Afghanistan in September, providing Lifeline training to local radio broadcasters. And, following the January earthquake in Syria and Turkey, we reached out to our former Arabic-language media partners in the region to share materials and advice for Lifeline training.

Our humanitarian response work continues to focus on our Lifeline programming approach – providing trusted information that audiences most need in times of crisis, and reporting for those affected, not just about them. We are part of the CDAC Network, the Global Forum on Media Development and, in many countries, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs clusters. Strengthening these relationships improves the exchange of information between local media and humanitarian agencies, enabling agencies to provide updates and alerts to media organisations so that communities are better informed about available support and services.

In Ukraine, we continued to support our local media partners through Lifeline training, production grants and mentoring. Our partners, including Hromadske Radio, Suspilne, the Donetsk Institute for

Information and Zaborona, have produced content and programmes addressing important topics including landmine awareness, evacuation routes from Eastern Ukraine and psycho-social support for audiences. These practical, actionable topics help provide vital information and give people ways to improve their lives under incredibly difficult conditions. We also conducted a survey of Ukrainian women to better understand their needs, which found that internally displaced women needed more support for income, employment and physical and mental health services, mostly in Ukrainian language. However, women living in areas outside of government control – ie, in occupied areas or on the frontlines – needed Russian language content focused particularly on health and social services.

We are working in Ukraine, Somalia and Nigeria on a USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance-funded project, Advancing Communication in Humanitarian Emergencies. In all three countries, our work will connect humanitarian agencies and journalists, helping them to work together more effectively to benefit affected communities. In Somalia our work focuses on Baidoa, an epicentre of internal displacement from conflict and drought. In north-eastern Nigeria we are conducting formative research in Borno and Adamawa. And in Ukraine, we will focus on supporting links between humanitarian agencies and local broadcasters in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro.

In Afghanistan, where some 26 million people are affected by severe food insecurity, we

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

implemented a creative project, informed by a nationwide research survey, with funding from the World Food Programme to help improve people’s nutrition with limited resources. Our programming shared information on how to access aid, discussed symptoms of malnutrition, and addressed taboos around foods such as lentils and vegetables that are not traditionally seen as important but that can contribute to improving nutrition. Our research found that communities who listened to our weekly radio programme were helped by the information and ideas shared; our research findings also helped the World Food Programme create an effective communications strategy.

Also in Afghanistan we continued our work on mine awareness, with funding from UN Mine Awareness Service (UNMAS) and then from the Halo Trust. We produced powerful short films, radio content and public service announcements to address the dangers posed by unexploded ordnance left after years of conflict. These explosives kill more than 1,400 people each year, particularly young boys playing or working in fields. Content produced through the UNMAS project reached 5.4 million Afghans; research found that those who were exposed to our content were better able to identify the risks, knew more about how to keep safe, and were likely to discuss their learning with others.

In Bangladesh we continued our humanitarian work in Cox’s Bazar through an approach known as Accountability to Affected People. Working via consortia, we developed guidelines for this approach and shared them

with our humanitarian agency partners. Our Rohingya language audio drama series Aa’rar Kissa (Our Stories) ran for nearly two seasons, covering issues including genderbased violence, intimate partner violence and mental health issues. These programmes were shared with hundreds of listening groups across the Rohingya community.

We have also conducted research studies on mental health, and the needs and access requirements for children, people living with disabilities and older people in Rohingya refugee communities. A poignant study to ascertain people with disabilities’ participation in decision-making and accountability processes found that many can rarely leave their homes, as they rely on family members for transport in camps that are difficult to navigate. We also conducted community outreach activities, working through male and female religious leaders to increase Rohingya people’s understanding of their rights and the services available to them.

With support from UNHCR, we created 10 content-sharing hubs in a Rohingya refugee camp. These have broadcast more than 800 pieces of content covering diverse issues, including emergency preparedness around fire and flooding. Finally, our Youthrise project reached 1,200 young people from the host communities around Cox’s Bazar, to address and defuse conflict and build livelihoods. Linked to this work, we have established 16 youth development centres, providing young people with safe spaces and information hubs with internet connectivity.

Looking ahead

The 2022/23 financial year continued to present challenges amid crisis and conflict in our countries of work, particularly shrinking aid funding and rising energy and commodity prices that make our work more costly. During the year we extended our organisational strategy comprising the key thematic areas of governance and rights, health, and resilience and humanitarian response. At the same time, we delivered the first year of our ambitious business development plan to ensure BBC Media Action is fit for the future.

In the coming year, we aim to begin work on a new organisational strategy, while continuing to:

Bring about change in four interdependent areas of influence: people, practitioners, organisations, and wider media or government systems
Work in partnership, identifying problems, understanding people, and evaluating and adapting what we do
Influence development thinking through our policy work
Strengthen capacity

For 2023/24, our goals are:

With our partners, deliver programmes and support to public interest media that has positive impact for communities and contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Continue to advance our digital work, and help build media and development sector learning around how digital content and services can bring about positive change. Expand our work to tackle disinformation and build media and digital literacy.
Grow restricted and unrestricted income, delivering our organisational budget.

To help make these happen, our enablers are:

Increase our digital expertise to reach audiences who can and will have digital access, and use digital capacity to make us a more effective and efficient organisation
Implement our Project Thrive plans in each country and team
Explore what localisation means for our organisation as we develop our new strategy, and deliver our work in the ways that are best for our local audiences and partners
Use data on our carbon footprint to target changes in the way we operate, and increase the proportion of our work on climate change and nature

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

Thanks and acknowledgements

BBC Media Action is grateful to all our donors, partners and supporters, without whom our work would not be possible.

Action Against Hunger American Jewish World Services

Internews

Irish Aid

Livelihoods and Food Security Fund (LIFT)

Auxilium

BBC World Service

Mastercard Foundation

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Mott MacDonald

British Council Cardiff University

National Democratic Institute

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Counterpart

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Norwegian Refugee Council

DAI

Pact

David and Lucille Packard Foundation

Sightsavers

Deutsche Welle

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

Diakonia

DT Global

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

Durham University

Dutch Embassy in Tunisia

Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation

Equal Access International

Terre des Hommes

European Commission

Unicef

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UK)

Unilever

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

GIZ

Global Affairs Canada

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Government of Belgium

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

H&M Foundation

United States Agency for International Development

Halo Trust

IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre

United States Department of State

University of Bristol

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

UNOPS

International Foundation for Electoral Systems

World Food Programme World Health Organisation Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

International Labour Organisation International Rescue Committee

BBC Media Action Kenya mentor Patrick Mulehi works with Maureen, a local broadcaster. / Credit: BBC Media Action Kenya

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

Our organisation and our finances

Our employees

BBC Media Action’s global team continues to deliver impact around the world amid constant change.

Our average number of full-time equivalent employees around the world in 2023 was 531 (2022: 561 FTE). This includes

— 236 in Africa — 192 in Asia — 103 in the rest of the world

Wherever possible we recruit employees from the countries where we operate, to develop local skills to sustain our work in the long term. Although some of our country directors and senior project managers are international employees, our goal is to become more locally led as part of our strategy on equity, diversity and inclusion.

BBC Media Action is committed to gender equality and building a fully inclusive workplace. In our UK team, 63% of our employees are women (2022 : 62%).

We also track the gender gap in our country office staff around the world, as outlined in the table below. We acknowledge that we have more work to do in some of our country programmes, and are addressing this as part of our overall strategy on equity, diversity and inclusion.

Country	Female %	Male %
Afghanistan	22%	78%
Bangladesh	23%	77%
Cambodia	53%	47%
Ethiopia	42%	58%
India	48%	52%
Indonesia	62%	38%
Kenya	57%	43%
Myanmar	55%	45%
Nepal	44%	56%
Nigeria	31%	69%
Tunisia	40%	60%
Sierra Leone	35%	65%
Somalia	29%	71%
South Sudan	31%	69%
Tanzania	57%	43%
United Kingdom	63%	37%
Zambia	48%	53%

We do not normally work with volunteers, although we have internship schemes in some country programmes, particularly focused on women, young people or minority groups. This year, our London office participated in the BBC’s Hot Shoes and 80:20 placement schemes to bring in fresh perspectives and voices from across the BBC, and to give our London-based staff a chance to learn in other parts of the organisation.

All BBC Media Action managers take part in fair recruitment and unconscious bias training to ensure our recruitment process is as fair as possible, and we encourage flexible working and development opportunities for

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all employees. We give full consideration to applications for employment from people with a disability where the candidate’s particular aptitudes and abilities are consistent with meeting the requirements of the job.

All our employees have the same opportunities to access training, career development and promotion, regardless of their characteristics. If any existing employee develops a disability, we will provide continuing employment wherever possible in the same or an alternative position, and provide appropriate workplace adjustments and training to achieve this aim. However, we know we could – and should – be more diverse and inclusive. As part of our strategy on equity, diversity and inclusion, we have specific goals and targets to measure and improve our progress in this area in coming years.

Staff salaries

As a global organisation, and as the BBC’s international charity, we strive to ensure our salaries are competitive, benchmarking against those paid by other international development organisations. This year we completed work with the BBC’s domestic charity, BBC Children in Need, to ensure our UK-contracted employees are paid according to harmonised charity bands within the BBC salary framework, reflecting the difference in salaries between the charity sector and media organisations. The BBC’s salary bands are publicly available. Our salaries are generally held static or increased in line with the BBC’s salary review.

Our chief executive officer carries out a regular salary review for other members of the management team, while their salary is reviewed by our trustees and in line with other BBC pay reviews.

In 2022/23, our chief executive was paid £115,704.

Salary	2023	2022
£60,001-70,000	15	11
£70,001-80,000	4	5
£80,001 - 90,000	5	6
£90,001 - 100,000	2	1
£100,001 - 110,000	1	1
£110,001 - 120,000	1	1
£130,001 - 140,000	-	1

Gender pay gap

We are again voluntarily choosing to report on our gender pay gap for UK staff.

The mean salary for women is 12% lower than that of men (2022: 14%), while the median salary for women is the same as that of men (2022: 19% lower).

The proportion of women and men in each pay quartile for our UK team is shown in the following table (where the first quartile is the highest):

1st 2nd 3rd 4th quartile quartile quartile quartile Male (2023) 48% 42% 29% 30% (2022) 53% 41% 19% 39% Female (2023) 52% 58% 71% 63% (2022) 47% 59% 81% 61%

We continue to monitor our gender pay gap and are committed to eliminating it.

Our organisation

Safeguarding

with BBC policies. As required, our trustees report any safeguarding incidents to the Charity Commission. In 2022/23, we reported two incidents related to safeguarding to the Charity Commission. Neither involved children.

BBC Media Action remains committed to supporting sector-wide improvements in safeguarding policies and practices, to better protect vulnerable people from exploitation and abuse. We remain active in Bond working groups on both safer recruitment and improving organisational culture.

All these measures are designed to help keep our employees, partners and contributors as safe as possible. A staff code of conduct ensures that everyone working for us understands our expectations for behaviour, knows that any concerns they have will be taken seriously, and understands that we will support anyone who reports a safeguarding issue.

Our director of programmes is our designated safeguarding officer at senior management level. He works with our country offices to ensure that our employment policies and training are appropriate and guides work with our partner organisations around the world to improve knowledge and performance. Our head of safeguarding and ethics returned to his post in summer 2023, after finishing an attachment to support our operations in Eastern Europe.

Energy use

Under the Companies Act 2006, BBC Media Action is required to disclose its annual energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for its UK operations, in line with the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) guidance.

We continued to ensure that our employees are trained in, and fully implement, our strengthened policies to protect any children and vulnerable adults we encounter through our work. Training courses in safeguarding and respect at work are mandatory for all employees and operational freelancers, and all our offices have received additional guidance on safe recruitment.

For the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, the greenhouse gas emissions and energy use data for our UK office are as follows:

Total equivalent carbon emissions (kg per CO2 equivalent): 18,750 kgCO2e (2021/22: 31,158 kgCO2e)

Safeguarding is reviewed and discussed at every trustee meeting, as well as at monthly management team meetings. Any reported concerns are carefully reviewed and investigated as needed, in accordance

Gas consumption: 50,103 kWh. This is 9,146 kgCO2e. (2021/22: 18,977 kgCO2e)

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Electricity consumption: 49,663 kWh, or 9,604 kgCO2e. (2021/22: 12,181 kgCO2e)
Transport Fuel: n/a. BBC Media Action does not own fleet vehicles in the UK. Employees travel by public transport in all but exceptional cases; many commute by bicycle.
Intensity ratio: 218.02 kgCO2e per UKbased employee per year, based on 86 employees. (2021/22: 389.48 kgCO2e per employee per year).

These figures have been calculated using readings from energy meters in our London office, with UK government approved conversion factors applied.

Our UK energy use in 2022/23 has seen a reduction of 40% on last year’s figures. This can be explained largely by our London office sharing arrangement with ScreenSkills, which commenced at the beginning of the reporting period. We have benefitted from a more efficient use of office space.

Another relevant factor is the continuation of hybrid working practices post-pandemic, which places less demand on energy and resources in the London office and has kept commuting to a minimum.

The London office benefits from a renewable electricity tariff and other energy saving measures such as motion-activated lighting.

Legal structure

BBC Media Action is registered as a charity (registered number 1076235) and is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (registered number 3521587). Our financial statements will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

BBC Media Action was established under its Memorandum of Association with the objects and powers of a charitable company. It is governed by its Articles of Association. The sole member of BBC Media Action, the BBC, undertakes to contribute to the assets of BBC Media Action in the event of it being wound up while it is a member, or within one year after it ceases to be a member for payment of the debts and liabilities of BBC Media Action contracted before it ceases to be a member, and of the costs, charges and expenses of winding up, for the adjustment of the rights of the contributors among themselves such amount as may be required, not exceeding £10.

Subsidiary companies

BBC Media Action has three subsidiary companies, which were 100% owned by BBC Media Action at 31 March 2023: BBC Media Action (India) Limited, BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited and British Broadcasting Corporation Media Action Ltd/ Gte (a Nigerian entity).

Our work in India in 2022/23 was largely conducted through BBC Media Action (India) Limited. BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited is an entity established in Nepal and is 100% owned by BBC Media Action. British Broadcasting Corporation Media Action Ltd/ Gte is an entity established in Nigeria on 26 October 2017 and is wholly owned by BBC Media Action. It therefore meets the criteria for consolidation. It did not trade during the year ended 31 March 2023.

BBC World Service Trust India is an Indian entity over which BBC Media Action exercises effective control by way of the right to nominate trustees. This entity was set up in India on 28 December 2007. Although BBC Media Action has no investment in BBC World

A radio presenter at Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation at work. / Credit: Om Rai, BBC Media Action.

a range of skills, expertise, backgrounds and lived experience. They meet quarterly and for an additional away day each year.

Service Trust India, it meets the criteria for consolidation in accordance with paragraph 24.14 of the Statement of Recommended Practice Financial Reporting Standard (SORP FRS 102) and is therefore regarded as a subsidiary undertaking. However, it remained dormant in the current and prior year.

The trustees seek to ensure that all BBC Media Action activities comply with UK and relevant local laws, and fall within agreed charitable objectives. Their work includes setting our strategic direction, agreeing our financial plan, and approving key policies at board meetings. Trustees receive reports on progress at each board meeting, highlighting areas of risk. In 2022/23, our trustees

Governance

Our trustees, who are also directors of BBC Media Action, are listed on page 68. They come from the BBC, and the private, media and international development sectors, with

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O U R O R G A N I S AT I O N

particularly focused on how our work is affected by the consequences of shrinking UK overseas development aid, fast-changing and risky operating environments in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Ukraine, and our organisation’s ways of working, project delivery, finances and sustainability.

Our trustees perform some of their functions through sub-committees of the board. The chair is a non-BBC nominated trustee. The governance committee comprises the chair, vice chair and up to two other trustees.

The finance and audit committee comprises four trustees. This committee has strategic oversight of our controls, risk management and of internal and external audit. It reviews and recommends to the board the annual budget, any multi-year financial plans and the Annual Report and Accounts.

The trustees delegate a range of day-today decision-making powers to the chief executive officer and other members of the management team. Trustees have established appropriate controls and reporting mechanisms to ensure that the management team operates within the scope of these delegated powers. The delegation policy is formally reviewed and approved by trustees. Our management team members are listed on page 68. They are not directors for the purposes of company law.

The board has appointed some of its members as lead trustees in particular areas, who feed back to the rest of the board. All new trustees participate in an induction programme and training on duties and responsibilities. We encourage our trustees to visit BBC Media Action projects to obtain first-hand experience of our work at country

level – this year we held a virtual project visit. Knowledge-sharing sessions before board meetings continue to give trustees a more detailed understanding of particular areas of our work.

Organisational structure and management

BBC Media Action’s head office is in London, where our central support functions are based. We are increasingly locating some of our central support posts outside the UK, taking advantage of our fully connected global organisation and expertise in the countries where we work. We are led by a four-person senior management team, comprising our chief executive officer, chief operating officer, director of programmes, and director of strategy and partnerships. This financial year marked a change in our chief operating officer, as well as the retirement of our chief executive officer officer in July 2023.

Our director of strategy and partnerships leads our expanded business development initiative. Our programmes department includes our regional teams, along with editorial development and innovation, programme support, research, insight, policy and advisory.

Our chief operating officer oversees our finance and technology and change teams, and our legal function. Our chief executive officer directly manages our small fundraising and communication teams, as well as our human resources function. Both our legal and human resources functions are supported by the BBC.

Our leadership team includes London-based heads of team and our country directors around the world.

Managing risk

Although restrictions imposed during the global COVID-19 pandemic were largely eased in 2022/23, the pandemic’s impact on our income and project delivery lingered. This coincided with multiple ongoing crises in several of our operating countries, notably:

Repressions under military rule in Myanmar
The Taliban control of Afghanistan and a related humanitarian crisis, closing media space and bans on women working for international NGOs
A still-fragile security situation in Ethiopia
A difficult political situation in Somalia and a ban on some BBC programming in Somaliland
Constraints on delivery and funding in India following negative government reaction to a BBC documentary
Russia’s war in Ukraine, which marked its first anniversary in February

We continue to work in many fragile countries and contexts. Even in peacetime, this can pose risks to the safety of our staff, the sustainability of our work and our permission to operate. We continue to face funding risks

related to cuts to UK overseas development aid spend and diminished income from public fundraising.

We have robust procedures in place to identify, mitigate and manage risk. BBC Media Action’s board of trustees reviews our organisation’s risk register quarterly, reviewing what our risks are and how they are changing, how they are monitored and mitigated, and identifying any required action. Our management team and board of trustees undertake an annual, in-depth review of our risk profile.

Our compliance manager, our safeguarding officer and the head of our editorial development, innovation and training team all have important roles in managing risk. An internal audit function overseen by our chief executive officer carries out a programme agreed with our finance and audit committee and reports to them.

Our head of internal audit meets our finance and audit committee privately each year. Our external auditors present their annual report to our finance and audit committee and, if needed, the committee may arrange sessions without employees present. The chair of the committee makes recommendations to our board on risk management and overall controls, as appropriate.

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War in Ukraine

We continued to provide support to public interest and state broadcasters in Ukraine, through training, mentoring, operational grants and programme support – critical in ensuring Ukrainian audiences have access to trusted information and platforms for respectful debate, amid a sea of misand disinformation. We do not have any employees based in Ukraine and work closely with the BBC’s High Risk team to ensure the safety of one long-term freelancer.

COVID-19 pandemic

At the start of this financial year, COVID-19 still restricted some international travel, with additional permits and tests required; however, over the year, local and limited international travel resumed and our London office employees adapted to a continued routine of agile and hybrid working. Our staff in some countries have also adopted a hybrid home-and-office based model. The health and economic impacts of the pandemic continue to linger, and are felt by our audiences and in our finances. We are implementing a strategy to scale up our funding and anticipate moving to a pro-bono BBC premises in London in spring 2024, a move enabled in part by our new hybrid working model.

Myanmar military rule

This year was particularly painful for our Myanmar team because one of our freelance producer/presenters, Htet Htet Khine, was sentenced to a total of six years hard labour. Her charges and sentencing are not connected to her work with BBC Media Action; we remain in contact with her family and are concerned for her safety.

We continue to work in Myanmar on a

smaller scale than before the coup. While our projects and programmes are no longer airing on local media, we have been able to maintain important health and disabilityfocused projects on digital platforms as well as supporting media development despite the constrained environment. We continue to work closely with the BBC World Service, the BBC High Risk team, our staff and our donors to ensure the safety of our team while delivering as much programming as possible.

Insecurity and ban on female staff in Afghanistan

We have been alarmed by announcements of a ban on women working with INGOs in Afghanistan, but have been able to continue employing our female staff. As the humanitarian crisis in the country deepens and pressure on media intensifies, we continue to work closely with the UK FCDO, UN agencies and sector networks to navigate this challenging environment, and support local media partners to do the same. We have been able to maintain a strong roster of projects and programmes in Afghanistan, working effectively with evacuated Afghan staff now based in London as well as a growing team in the country.

Insecurity in Ethiopia

We have continued to work in an uncertain security environment in Ethiopia, despite protests sparked by tension and conflict in Tigray, and, in February 2023, the restriction of access to some social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok and YouTube) following violent protests over a rift in the Orthodox Church and ongoing ethnic conflict in several regions. We have carefully monitored the situation with the support of the BBC High Risk team; staff have worked

from home and travel has been restricted as the situation has warranted.

BBC relationship in Somalia

In July 2022, the government in the selfdeclared republic of Somaliland blocked all BBC services over how it characterised Somaliland. On 23 July, police raided BBC Media Action’s Hargeisa office, detaining some of our male staff for several hours. Following negotiations, BBC Media Action was able to resume our project delivery; however, the BBC’s wider services remained banned until May 2023, affecting our relationship with the government-owned Radio Hargeisa.

Whistleblowing policies

and procedures

Our whistleblowing policies and procedures are available to all employees via our intranet and we regularly remind employees about these protocols. We deal with any concerns raised by staff, partners, the people we work with or others swiftly and thoroughly.

Safeguarding policies and procedures

We continue to strengthen our approach to safeguarding, ensuring that we are among the best in the international nongovernmental organisation sector while also meeting donor expectations. We have thoroughly communicated our policies – refreshed in 2021 - across our organisation and have reviewed our processes for safe recruitment, including the use of criminal background checks. Staff receive regular training; they are encouraged to discuss safeguarding and why it matters, and to raise concerns.

We also support our partners to adopt appropriate and adequate safeguarding policies and systems. An updated due diligence process introduced this year has improved

our ability to assess the adequacy of our partners’ existing processes. The director of programmes continues to lead on safeguarding and our vice chair is safeguarding lead on the board of trustees. The post of head of safeguarding was vacant for much of the financial year while the post holder was on attachment in support of our work in Eastern Europe, however he has returned to his substantive role for the next financial year.

Fraud recovery and prevention

We work in environments where there is a high risk of fraud and corruption. We tolerate neither and have taken action to minimise them. We deliver and regularly update staff anti-bribery and fraud awareness training across all our countries of operation, making our expectations clear to all staff members, contractors and partners. We have day-to-day procedures to detect fraud and to act on any suspicions. In the 2022/23 financial year, we reported one incident of attempted fraud to the Charity Commission.

Safety and security

In our work, our staff can face risks from conflict, lack of infrastructure and natural hazards. Road traffic accidents pose risks everywhere we work. In several countries, our staff members are at risk of violent attacks by criminals or factions trying to suppress our work, and our staff can be caught by accident in attacks aimed at others.

We have a risk advisor through the BBC High Risk team, along with emergency on-call support when needed. BBC Media Action staff attend mandatory hostile environment training before deployment to high-risk areas, with protocols to minimise their travel risks. We regularly update and clearly communicate emergency plans in every country office, tailored to each context.

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Risks to our staff posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have been managed in accordance with local government guidelines and wider BBC actions, with the support of the BBC High Risk team as required.

There were no work-related fatalities of BBC Media Action staff in 2022/23, and no serious accidents reported in the workplace.

As outlined above, in 2022/23, our staff faced heightened risks in Afghanistan, with strict limitations on media and on the freedom of women and girls; in Myanmar where civil society actors and journalists have been targeted by the military authorities; in Somalia and Ethiopia, from outbreaks of violence linked to political turmoil; and in South Sudan, where aid workers have been targets of violence. We maintain offices in each of these countries while frequently reviewing the level of risk faced by our staff.

Funding

Most of our income comes from institutional donors as grants for specific projects. Funding mechanisms (such as payment by results, fees and day rates) and less flexible service contracts contribute to financial uncertainty. Cuts to UK overseas development aid, from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income, and use of some of this funding to support Afghan and Ukrainian refugees in the UK have taken a toll on our finances. Delays to project delivery at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have had a knock-on effect on income. And the cost-of-living crisis in the UK has affected public fundraising.

This year was the first full financial year of implementation of a strategic investment in business development support, which was agreed by trustees in January 2022. This strategy will require us to dip into reserves for a planned deficit in this year

just completed and the next two financial years, with ambition to return to a breakeven position by 2025/26. We have employed business development specialists to focus on income diversification, while maintaining close relationships with existing donors and applying strong budget tests to ensure that project budgets cover a fair share of our support costs.

Information security

BBC Media Action works across all our countries to ensure full compliance with the UK 2018 General Data Protection Legislation GDPR legislation, led by our chief operating officer and overseen by our board of trustees. We continue to review and strengthen our cyber security strategy, and we maintain an information asset register with a process for reporting, and quickly acting upon, any suspected breaches. This information is communicated regularly to employees across our organisation. All employees undergo mandatory training on GDPR requirements upon joining us, and our policies and procedures for information security comply with the BBC’s strict requirements.

In 2022/23 we also continued to review and tighten security monitoring and procedures for all our social media accounts, in line with wider BBC approaches in light of the increased risk in operating on some popular social media platforms.

Compliance with local laws

The possibility of failing to keep up with changes in local laws and requirements in the countries where we operate, including registration, tax and statutory reporting, risks significant financial penalties or having to cease our operations. All our country offices have relevant local registrations and we secure tax and legal advice in each country as needed. Our internal auditors review our

A reporting team from Zaborona, a Ukrainian online media platform with support from BBC Media Action, at work. / Photo courtesy of Zaborona

government’s aid commitments, issues of safeguarding, perceived misuse of funds, perceptions of bias, and false or misleading information about sources of funding and the nature of our work.

in-country practices and provide advice. We monitor and abide by UK regulations, and our external statutory auditors have specialist knowledge of the charity sector and regulations. In addition, we benefit from a BBC contract that provides specialist tax advice for our employees based overseas.

We maintain close relationships across the international NGO sector and with our funders. Our communication staff are trained and prepared to handle reputational risks and hostile coverage, and liaise with both sector communication bodies and senior BBC communication executives. We follow BBC Editorial Guidelines in all our work to ensure high standards. Our trustees are involved in decisions about serious reputational risks.

Reputation

Incidents in any of the areas of risk described above could result in negative coverage of BBC Media Action. As the BBC’s international development charity, we are at risk from press campaigns against the BBC as well as against the development sector. This includes, but is not limited to, stories about the UK

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

Managing our finances

Diminished levels of UK overseas

implementation of our refocused business development strategy, for which we have refocused our Strategy and Partnerships department, added new posts and invested in our organisational systems, in part with pro-bono support from corporate partners. During the year we continued to implement our investment plan for business development to secure more institutional and foundation funds.

development assistance, combined with a global economic downturn, rising energy costs, and conflict, crises and uncertainty in the countries where we work – particularly in Afghanistan, Somalia, Myanmar and Ukraine – continue to pose grave challenges for BBC Media Action’s finances and our longer-term sustainability.

Our total income in 2022/23 was £35 million, higher than the previous year (2021/22: £34.2 million). Income from institutional donors decreased to £27.1 million (2021/22: £27.5 million). Our fundraising income increased to £7.6 million (2021/22: £6.7 million), of which £7.4 million were gifts in kind (2021/22: £6.3 million).

While our funding pipeline shows encouraging improvements, continued volatility in our external funding and operating environments mean that our income this year has not grown as quickly as anticipated. Our ability to engage in public fundraising is constrained by being part of the BBC Group, and the imperative to avoid activities that might confuse audiences.

Our total expenditure during the year came to £35.8 million (2021/22: £34.5 million). Expenditure on our charitable activity, providing public benefit by changing lives through media and communication, represented 99.4% of total expenditure (2021/22: 99.5%). The income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 March 2023 shows a deficit of £855,000 (2021/22: a deficit of £285,000). The Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows shows that our cash has decreased by £3.3 million during the year to a position of £4.2 million (2021/22: £7.6 million).

We continue to seek out innovative ways to raise funds and to reduce costs, including an agreement to move our London-based team into BBC premises in London in early 2024, and opportunities to share office space with BBC bureaux in the countries where we work. An external review during the year assessed that BBC Media Action is efficient and that investing in business development was the right decision, but that further measures may be needed to ensure sustainability. Staff and trustees will work further on this during 2023/24, feeding these insights into our strategy development process.

This financial year was the first full

Reserves

BBC Media Action’s net assets in the consolidated balance sheet decreased to £3.3 million at 31 March 2023 (31 March 2022: £4.1 million). Our board of trustees reviews our reserves policy on an annual basis in the context of our multi-year plans and a review of the risks and opportunities for our organisation. Our policy is to ensure that sufficient reserves are held to continue operating after negative financial shocks, while not tying up too much funding that could be spent on charitable activities.

In January 2023, our board of trustees confirmed that our reserves policy, taking a risk-based approach, recommends a minimum level of net cash holdings of £3.5 million in any one month, and general funds (total unrestricted funds less designated funds) in a range of £4–5 million at year-end. The upper end of this range (£5 million) represents the reserves impact of a worst-case scenario that might conceivably take place over a 12-month period. This combines three risk components: a funding gap or urgent closure of country operations; a funding gap from under-recovery of central costs; and potential materially adverse events such as foreign exchange losses or disallowed costs. The lower end of the range was set at 80% of the amount for the worst-case scenario.

Our total unrestricted funds held at 31 March 2023 amounted to £3.27 million in 2023 (31 March 2022: £4.13 million), of which reserves in the general fund amounted to £2.9 million (31 March 2022: £3.76 million). This is below the lower end of the recommended minimum range. In January 2022, our trustees determined that we could operate outside the recommended minimum range for the next three years, as a result of approving investments in business development and systems. We are able to do this with support

from the BBC through an underwriting arrangement.

The other unrestricted funds are funds that have been designated by our board of trustees for a particular purpose. The Technologyled Change Fund held £369,000 at 31 March 2023 and will be used to invest in systems improvements from next year.

Investment policy

Cash balances are set out in the consolidated and BBC Media Action balance sheets, consolidated statement of cash flows, and in the notes to the financial statements. The objective of our investment policy is to maximise interest while limiting risk. We only hold short-term cash deposits.

Going concern

Our finance and audit committee met five times in 2022/23. It monitored the key risks and opportunities identified throughout the year, with a particular focus on donor funding and operating uncertainties.

In January 2022 we agreed an investment plan to draw upon our reserves to invest in business development and systems to ensure our long-term sustainability. Our initial projections were to spend £1.6 million over two years before breaking even in 2024/25 and then gradually rebuilding our reserves. Given the continued challenging external context, including limited UK aid budgets, environments in which we work and continued COVID-19 disruption, our income projections are slower than anticipated. We now expect to return to break even by 2025/26. The overall investment amount of £1.6 million has not changed but is expected to be spent over three rather than two years.

The resulting lower investment spend in 2022/23, combined with a reduction in head

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office costs including sub-letting some of our office space, has left a deficit of £855,500, which was significantly better than our budgeted deficit of £1.6 million. As part of our investment plan, we continue to budget for a deficit over the next two years.

liquidity position is also deemed satisfactory.

Our board of trustees is of the opinion that BBC Media Action has adequate resources to continue as a going concern, as is further explained in Note 1 of the Financial Statements. In the unlikely circumstances where sudden significant shocks might compromise the financial viability of the organisation, BBC Media Action has received written assurance of support from the BBC Group. There is no intention to request that support in the foreseeable future.

Our trustees are satisfied that continued monitoring of activity is in place and that business development indicators are in place to track our investment against expectations. This allows for controlled use of reserves in the next two years while maintaining a going concern position for the next three years. Our

BBC Media Action mentor Patrick Mulehi interviews Ekusi, a young mother in Turkana County, about how her family is adapting to climate change with farming instead of relying solely on herding livestock. / Credit: BBC Media Action Kenya

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

BBC Media Action’s trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report (incorporating the strategic report and the directors’ report) and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, they have elected to prepare the group (subsidiaries’) and parent company financial statements in accordance with UK Accounting Standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
State whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group and the charitable company will continue their activities

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions. They must also disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charitable company and ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.

Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and the charitable company, and of the group’s excess of income over expenditure for that period.

Trustees are required to:

They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the group, and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities. The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently
Observe the methods and principles in accounting and reporting by the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting and Reporting for Charities (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102 applicable in the UK and Ireland

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S TAT E M E N T O F T R U S T E E S ’ R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S

Management team

As far as the trustees are aware, there is no relevant information of which the charity’s auditor is unaware. The trustees have taken all the steps they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information, and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

Caroline Nursey OBE Chief Executive Officer (to July 2023)

Simon Bishop Chief Executive Officer (from July 2023)

Nicolas Raynaud Chief Operating Officer (to November 2022)

The trustees, in their capacity as both trustees and company directors, have reviewed and approved the Trustees’ Report, which incorporates the directors’ report and the requirement for a strategic report as set out in the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013.

Laura Collier-Keywood Chief Operating Officer (from January 2023)

Richard Lace Director of Programmes

Caroline Sugg Director of Strategy and Partnerships

Trustees, senior staff and advisors

Registered office

Our trustees**

Francesca Unsworth[#] (Chair) Awo Ablo[#] (Vice Chair) Zeinab Badawi[] (until October 2022) Reeta Chakrabarti[] (from October 2022) Richard Dawkins[†] (until October 2022) Phil Harrold[*†] (from April 2022) Freshta Karim (from January 2023)

Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA

Auditors

Buzzacott LLP 130 Wood Street, London, EC2V 6DL

Bankers

Gavin Mann

Barclays Bank Plc 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP

Nicholas Pickles Julia Rank[†] Sophia Swithern[#] Shirley Cameron[*†] Myles Wickstead[#] Michael Wooldridge Lindsey North[†]

Lloyds Bank Plc 10 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7AE

Company Secretary

Nicolas Raynaud[] (to November 2022) Dushani Karunatilleka[] (from November 2022)

Francesca Unsworth, Chair 20 October 2023

On behalf of the board of trustees of BBC Media Action

BBC Media Action is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 1076235) and a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales (no 3521587).

Find out more: bbcmediaaction.org On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn: @bbcmediaaction

BBC employee † Member of finance and audit committee ** All trustees are also directors of the company # Member of governance committee

Auditors’ report

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of BBC Media Action (the ‘charitable parent company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 March 2023, which comprise the group statement of financial activities, the group and charitable parent company balance sheets and statement of cash flows, the principal accounting policies and the notes to the financial statements.

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 – The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and of the charitable parent company’s affairs as at 31 March 2023, and of the group’s income and expenditure for the year then ended
Have been properly prepared in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice
Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs UK) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to

going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report where:

The trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements is not appropriate; or
The trustees have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the group’s or the

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charitable parent company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least 12 months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue

Other information

The trustees are responsible for other information, comprising the information included in the annual report and financial statements, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover this other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether it is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially mis-stated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material mis-statements, we are required to determine whether there is a material mis-statement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material mis-statement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of this audit:

The information given in the Trustees’ Report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law and includes the strategic report, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared, is consistent with the financial statements; and
The Trustees’ Report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law and includes the strategic report, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the charitable parent company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material mis-statements in the Trustees’ Report, including the strategic report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report if, in our opinion:

Adequate accounting records have not been kept by the charitable parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
The charitable parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of responsibilities of the trustees, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group’s and the charitable parent company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group or the charitable parent company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material mis-statement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Mis-statements can

arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

How the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities including fraud

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and noncompliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations;
we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the charitable company through discussions with trustees and other management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the sector;
we focused on specific laws and regulations in both the UK and overseas, which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the charitable company, including the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, data protection legislation, anti-bribery, employment, safeguarding principles, health and safety legislation;

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we considered the impact of the international nature of the charitable company’s operations on its compliance with laws and regulations;
we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and
identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.

We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and
considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and noncompliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risk of fraud through

management bias and override of controls, we:

performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;
assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in the accounting policies were indicative of potential bias; and
used data analytics to investigate the rationale behind any significant or unusual transactions.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;
reading the minutes of meetings of management and those charged with governance;
obtaining details of work carried out by internal auditors in connection with compliance with local laws and regulations;
enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and
reviewing any available correspondence with HMRC and the charitable company’s legal advisors.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of noncompliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/

auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Edward Finch

(senior statutory auditor)

6 November 2023

For and on behalf of Buzzacott LLP, Statutory Auditor, 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

Financial statements

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(including the income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2023

	Note	Unrestricted 2023 £’000	Restricted 2023 £’000	Total 2023 £’000	Unrestricted 2022 £’000	Restricted 2022 £’000	Total 2022 £’000
Income from Donations - Gif-in-Kind - General Other trading activities Investments Charitable activities Funding for specifc charitable activities	2 3 4 5	613 294 136	6,826 - -	7,439 294 136	392 402 12	5,929 - -	6,321 402 12
		27	-	27	2	-	2
		2,209	24,864	27,073	2,499	24,993	27,492
Total income		3,279	31,690	34,969	3,307	30,922	34,229
Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities Changing lives through media and communication Governance Resilience Health	6 6 6 6	(216) (2,233) (862) (822)	- (17,483) (7,630) (6,577)	(216) (19,716) (8,492) (7,399)	(187) (1,941) (749) (715)	- (17,979) (6,410) (6,533)	(187) (19,920) (7,159) (7,248)
Total expenditure on charitable activities		(3,917)	(31,690)	(35,607)	(3,405)	(30,922)	(34,327)
Total expenditure	6	(4,133)	(31,690)	(35,823)	(3,592)	(30,922)	(34,514)

Net expenditure for the year	7	(854)	-	(854)	(285)	-	(285)
Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward		4,127	34	4,161	4,412	34	4,446
Total funds carried forward	16, 17	3,273	34	3,307	4,127	34	4,161

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised during the year. All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities. The notes on pages 77-95 form part of these financial statements. As permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, the individual charity’s statement of financial activities has not been included in these financial statements. The gross income of the charity is £34,969,000 (2022: £34,229,000) and the net result is a deficit of £854,000 (2022: £285,000).

CONSOLIDATED AND BBC MEDIA ACTION BALANCE SHEETS

At 31 March 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Note Group Group Charity Charity
2023 2022 2023 2022
£'000 £’000 £'000 £'000
Fixed assets
Investments 10 - - 23 23
Total fixed assets - - 23 23
Current assets
Debtors 11 6,009 6,160 6,237 6,202
Cash at bank and in hand 12 4,255 7,594 4,122 7,474
Total current assets 10,264 13,754 10,359 13,676
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within 13 (6,703) (9,021) (6,819) (8,964)
one year
Net current assets 3,561 4,733 3,540 4,712
Total assets less current liabilities 3,561 4,733 3,563 4,735
Provisions for liabilities 14 (254) (572) (254) (572)
Net assets 3,307 4,161 3,309 4,163
Funds
Unrestricted funds 16,17 3,273 4,127 3,275 4,129
Restricted funds 16,17 34 34 34 34
Total Funds 16,17 3,307 4,161 3,309 4,163
----- End of picture text -----

The notes on pages 77-95 form part of these financial statements. The financial statements on pages 74-95 were approved by the Board of Trustees on 20 October 2023.

Francesca Unsworth Chair 20 October 2023

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the year ended 31 March 2023

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS For the year ended 31 March 2023
	Notes	TOTAL 2023 £’000	TOTAL 2022 £’000
Net cash (outfow) / infow from operating activities Returns on investments and servicing of fnance Interest received	18	(3,366) 27	(696) 2
(Decrease)/increase in cash in the year		(3,339)	(694)
Cash at the start of theyear	12	7,594	8,288
Cash at the end of the year	12	4,255	7,594

ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT

ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT
	At 1 April 2022 £'000	Cash fows £'000	At 31 March 2023 £'000
Cash and cash equivalents Cash	7,594	(3,339)	4,255
Total net debt	7,594	(3,339)	4,255

BBC Media Action does not have any borrowings or lease obligations. Net debt consists therefore of the cash balance.

As permitted by paragraph 1.12 of FRS 102, BBC Media Action has not prepared a statement of cash flows for the parent entity. The consolidated statement of cash flows above includes both the parent and subsidiary entities.

The notes on pages 77-95 form part of these financial statements.

Notes

(forming part of the financial statements) for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The BBC Media Action Group has a healthy cash balance as set out in note 12. Forecasts indicate that payments can be made as they fall due and negative adjustments to the forecast can be managed. The Trustees’ Report explains how BBC Media Action is structured and managed and how the major risks are managed. Thus the Board of Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements.

The following accounting policies have been applied consistently in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the financial statements.

a) BASIS OF PREPARATION

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and applicable UK accounting standards and under historical cost accounting rules. The Group’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements are prepared in pound sterling and rounded to the nearest thousand pounds.

b) BASIS OF CONSOLIDATION

The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of BBC Media Action and its subsidiary undertakings made up to 31 March 2023. For the purposes of complying with FRS 102 the entity is a public benefit entity.

Assessment of Going Concern

The financial statements of BBC Media Action (India) Limited (formerly BBC WST Limited), a company registered in England and Wales (no: 2746733), the financial statements of BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited, an entity established in Nepal (no:112548/60/070), the financial statements of British Broadcasting Corporation Media Action Ltd/Gte (No: RC1448388), an entity established in Nigeria, and the financial statements of BBC World Service Trust India have been consolidated with those of BBC Media Action.

The Financial Review in the Trustees’ Report reviews the finances of BBC Media Action and the group in the year ended 31 March 2023 in comparison to the prior and earlier years.

The trustees are satisfied that continued monitoring of trading activity is in place and that business development indicators have been put in place to track the investment against expectations. This allows for controlled use of reserves in the next two years while maintaining a going concern position for the next three years.

Under section 408 of the Companies Act 2006

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the company is exempt from the requirement to present its own statement of financial activities or income and expenditure account and statement of cashflows by FRS102.

c) LIMITED BY GUARANTEE

BBC Media Action is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. The sole member of the company undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company in the event of it being wound up, while it is a member or within one year after it ceases to be a member, for payment of the debts and liabilities of the company contracted before it ceases to be a member, and of the costs, charges and expenses of winding up, and for the adjustment of the rights of the contributors among themselves, such amount as may be required not exceeding £10. BBC Media Action had one member (the BBC) at the end of the period. Each Trustee is a subscriber to the Memorandum of Association and accordingly BBC Media Action had 12 subscribers at the end of the year.

d) FUND ACCOUNTING

BBC Media Action has various funds for which separate disclosure is required as follows:

Restricted income funds

Grants which are earmarked by the funder for specific purposes. Such purposes are within the overall aims of the charity.

Unrestricted funds

Funds which are expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity. General funds are those unrestricted funds that have not been set aside by Trustees for a particular purpose. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes.

Where funding allows for a general allowance

to cover indirect costs that allowance is recognised as unrestricted income within the SOFA in proportion to the amounts recognised as income to cover direct programme expenses.

e) INCOME

Income is included in the statement of financial activities when BBC Media Action is entitled to the income, when receipt of funds is probable, and when the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Income from charitable activities includes income earned both from the supply of goods or services under contractual arrangements and from performance-related grants which have conditions that specify the provision of particular goods or services to be provided by the charity. These contracts or performancerelated grants have been included as ‘Income from charitable activities’ where these grants specifically outline the goods and services to be provided to beneficiaries which are within the charitable purposes of the charity.

Income from such contracts and grants is recognised to the extent that resources have been committed to the specific programme, as this is deemed to be a reliable estimate of the right to receive payment for the work performed. In this case, cash received in excess of expenditure is included as a creditor (as deferred income) and expenditure in excess of cash included as a debtor (as accrued income).

Other trading activities are the activities where BBC Media Action provides goods, services or entry to events in order to generate income and undertake charitable activities. Where income is received in advance, recognition is deferred and included in creditors and where entitlement arises before income is received, the income is accrued.

Donations are recognised when receivable.

Gifts in kind are valued at a reasonable estimate of the value to BBC Media Action, which is normally equal to the market value.

f) EXPENDITURE

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category as listed below. Support costs, which include the central or regional office functions such as general programme support, payroll administration, budgeting and accounting, information technology, human resources, and financing, are allocated across the categories of charitable expenditure and governance costs. The basis of the cost allocation is explained in the notes to the accounts. The allocation for the purposes of the Statement of Recommended Practice may not always reflect the definition per various donor contracts.

Equipment purchased as part of the production of media as part of a project is expensed in the statement of financial activities in the year of purchase and returned to the funder or donated to local charities on cessation.

g) FOREIGN CURRENCY

Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are recorded in sterling at the rates ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the exchange rates ruling at the balance sheet date and any exchange differences arising are taken to the statement of financial activities.

h) PENSION COSTS

Some UK employees are members of the BBC’s pension schemes. The BBC group operates both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes for the benefit of the employees.

Defined benefit scheme

The defined benefit schemes provide benefits based on final pensionable pay. The assets of the BBC Pension Scheme, to which the majority of BBC employees belong, are held separately from those of the BBC group. BBC Media Action, following the provisions within section 28 of FRS 102, accounts for the scheme as if it were a defined contribution scheme. This is because it is not possible to identify its share of underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis. The expenditure charged in the SOFA therefore represents the contributions payable to the scheme in the year.

Defined contribution scheme

The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of BBC Media Action in an independently administered fund. The amounts charged as expenditure for the defined contribution scheme represent contributions payable by BBC Media Action in respect of the financial year. Where these contributions are reclaimable directly from donors they are charged to restricted funds, where they are not they are charged to unrestricted funds.

i) DEBTORS

Debtors are recognised at their settlement amount, less any provision for nonrecoverability. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash receipt where such discounting is material.

j) CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

Cash at bank and in hand represents such accounts and instruments that are available on demand or have a maturity of less than three months from the date of acquisition. Deposits for more than three months but less than one year have been disclosed as short term deposits.

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F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

k) CREDITORS AND PROVISIONS

Creditors and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are recognised at the amount the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash payment where such discounting is material.

l) LEASES

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight line basis over the lease term. Lease incentives are recognised over the lease term on a straight line basis.

m) TAX

BBC Media Action is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

n) JUDGEMENTS AND KEY SOURCES OF ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported for assets and liabilities as at the balance sheet date and the amounts reported for revenues and expenses during

the year. However, the nature of estimation means that actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. The items in the financial statements where judgements and estimates have been made include:

that expenditure incurred on performance related grants is a reliable basis for estimating the right to receive payment for the work performed;
the provision of bad debts;
valuation of gifts in kind and
the allocation of support costs.

o) FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The financial assets and financial liabilities of the charity and their measurement basis are as follows:

Financial assets - trade and other debtors are basic financial instruments and are debt instruments measured at amortised cost as detailed in note 11. Prepayments are not financial instruments.
Cash at bank - is classified as a basic financial instrument and is measured at face value.

— Financial liabilities - trade creditors, accruals and other creditors are basic financial instruments, and are measured at amortised cost as detailed in note 13. Taxation and social security are not included in the financial instruments disclosure definition. Deferred income is not deemed to be a financial liability, as the cash settlement has already taken place and there is an obligation to deliver services rather than cash or another financial instrument.

2. DONATIONS

Donations in the current year were derived from the following sources:

	Unrestricted 2023 £'000	Restricted 2023 £'000	Total 2023 £'000	Unrestricted 2022 £’000	Restricted 2022 £’000	Total 2022 £’000
Gif-in-Kind - BBC Global News Limited - Airtime/media space from various providers - Individuals/other General Donations - BBC Group - Individuals/other	65 - 549 250 44	1,439 5,387 - - -	1,504 5,387 549 250 44	- - 392 250 152	1,132 4,797 - - -	1,132 4,797 392 250 152
Total	907	6,826	7,734	794	5,929	6,723

3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

Other trading activities were derived from the following sources :

	Unrestricted 2023 £'000	Restricted 2023 £'000	Total 2023 £'000	Unrestricted 2022 £’000	Restricted 2022 £’000	Total 2022 £’000
Fundraising dinner and corporate partners	136	-	136	12	-	12
Total	136	-	136	12	-	12

4. INVESTMENT INCOME

	Unrestricted 2023 £'000	Restricted 2023 £'000	Total 2023 £'000	Unrestricted 2022 £’000	Restricted 2022 £’000	Total 2022 £’000
Bank interest receivable	27	-	27	2	-	2
Total	27	-	27	2	-	2

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

5. INCOME AND GRANTS FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

	Unrestricted 2023 £'000	Restricted 2023 £'000	Total 2023 £'000	Unrestricted 2022 £’000	Restricted 2022 £’000	Total 2022 £’000
Grant funding for specifc charitable activities Governance Resilience Health	1,212 537 460	13,643 6,043 5,178	14,855 6,580 5,638	1,285 561 653	12,851 5,610 6,532	14,136 6,171 7,185
Total	2,209	24,864	27,073	2,499	24,993	27,492

6. EXPENDITURE

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
2023 2023 2023 2022 2022 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Raising Funds 216 - 216 187 - 187
Charitable Activities 3,917 31,690 35,607 3,405 30,922 34,327
Total 4,133 31,690 35,823 3,592 30,922 34,514
Direct Staff Allocation
project costs costs of support Total Total
2023 2023 costs 2023 2023 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Raising funds
Donations 29 130 6 165 133
Other trading activities - 51 - 51 54
Total cost of raising funds 29 181 6 216 187
Charitable activities
Changing lives through
media and communication
Governance 10,337 7,359 2,020 19,716 19,920
Resilience 3,349 4,489 654 8,492 7,159
Health 3,493 3,223 683 7,399 7,248
Total cost of charitable 17,179 15,071 3,357 35,607 34,327
activities
Total expenditure 17,208 15,252 3,363 35,823 34,514
----- End of picture text -----

Cost of charitable activities : £35.6m includes £6.8m (2022: £5.9m) broadcast slots gifted in kind by radio and TV broadcasters in the UK and Country offices.

6. EXPENDITURE (CONTINUED)

The support costs allocated and the basis of apportionment were:

Support activity	Basis of apportionment	2023 £'000	2022 £'000
Programme support General management and fundraising Financial management Information technology Premises and facilities	Specifc allocation and pro-rata by direct project expenditure Pro-rata by direct project expenditure Pro-rata by direct project expenditure Pro-rata by direct project expenditure Pro-rata by direct project expenditure	172 1,910 497 330 454	354 1,326 309 183 497
Total		3,363	2,669

7. NET EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR

7. NET EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR
	2023 £'000	2022 £'000
This is stated afer charging: Auditor’s Remuneration (including VAT) Group - current year - prior year Auditor’s remuneration (including VAT) - subsidiaries Exchange rate (gain)/loss Hire of assets - operating leases	49 - 9 100 1,184	44 - 8 (29) 1,131

8. TRUSTEES AND EMPLOYEES

Members of the Board of Trustees (who are all directors within the meaning of the Companies Act 2006). There were no Trustees’ expenses during the year.

Donations made by Trustees in the year totalled £NIL (2022: £NIL) . Trustees are provided with indemnity insurance as part of the BBC Group’s Directors’ and Officers’ policy.

All UK staff employed on a continuing basis by BBC Media Action have employment contracts with the BBC. Staff costs referred to in note 9 are either incurred in the form of payments to the BBC for these staff members or internationally through project based payrolls, in addition to the costs of temporary staff employed directly and through agencies.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

9. STAFF COSTS

9. STAFF COSTS
	2023 £'000	2022 £'000
Costs of staf split by: Wages and salaries National insurance Pension costs Other staf costs	12,063 527 1,203 1,459	11,232 437 1,099 1,185
Total	15,252	13,953

Employees with emoluments of £60,000 and over fell into the following bands:	2023	2022
£60,001–£70,000 £70,001–£80,000 £80,001–£90,000 £90,001–£100,000 £100,001-£110,000 £110,001-£120,000 £130,001-£140,000	15 4 5 2 1 1 -	11 6 6 1 - 1 1

The number of employees whose emoluments were greater than £60,000 to whom retirement benefits are accruing under defined benefits schemes is 7 (2022:7). The senior management team who have authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the Group are considered to be key management personnel. Total cost of employment in respect of these individuals, including the Chief Executive Officer’s total cost of employment of £179,902 (2022: £174,158), is £517,956 (2022: £518,941).

The average number of employees on an average headcount basis, analysed byfunction was:	2023	2022
Programme activities (charitable): Africa Asia Rest of World Other	236 192 101 2	242 215 102 2
Total	531	561

There were no redundancy costs in the year (2022: £201,658).

10. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENT

10. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENT
	Charity 2023 £'000	Charity 2022 £'000
Investment in BBC Media Action (India) Limited Cost Less: Cumulative impairment Investment in BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited Cost Investment in British Broadcasting Corporation Media Action Ltd/Gte (Nigeria) Cost	55 (34) 1 1	55 (34) 1 1
Total	23	23

BBC Media Action has three 100% owned subsidiary undertakings: BBC Media Action (India) Limited, BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited, and British Broadcasting Corporation Media Action Ltd/Gte, an entity registered in Nigeria.

The investment in BBC Media Action (India) Limited (registered number 2746733, charity number 1121665) is held directly.

The investment in BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited, (Company Registration Number: 112548/60/070) an entity established under the laws of Nepal, is held directly.

British Broadcasting Corporation Media Action Ltd/Gte (Company Registration Number RC1448388) is an entity under the laws of Nigeria. It is a 100% owned subsidiary of BBC Media Action. Although local staff contracts are in the name of British Broadcasting Corporation Media Action Ltd/Gte, funding to meet the charitable objectives of the organisation is received and disbursed by BBC Media Action in Nigeria.

A fourth entity, BBC World Service Trust India, is regarded as a subsidiary undertaking and in accordance with paragraph 24.14 of SORP FRS 102 has been consolidated in the consolidated financial statements as BBC Media Action has the right to appoint the majority of Trustees. This entity did not trade in the current or prior year.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

10. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENT (continued)

BBC Media Action (India) Limited

The statement of financial activities of BBC Media Action (India) Limited may be summarised as follows:

as follows:
	2023 £’000	2022 £’000
Total income Total expenditure	1,566 (1,566)	1,626 (1,626)
Net income	-	-

The balance sheet of BBC Media Action (India) Limited may be summarised as follows:

	2023 £’000	2022 £’000
Fixed and current assets Liabilities	766 (745)	573 (552)
Net assets/funds	21	21

BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited

The statement of financial activities of BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited may be summarised as follows:

summarised as follows:

	2023 £'000	2022 £'000
Total income Total expenditure	- -	9 (9)
Net income	-	-
Total funds brought forward	1	1
Total funds carried forward	1	1

The balance sheet of BBC Media Action Nepal Private Limited may be summarised as follows:

	2023 £'000	2022 £'000
Fixed and current assets Liabilities	1 -	1 -
Net assets/funds	1	1

11. DEBTORS

11. DEBTORS
	Group 2023 £'000	Group 2022 £’000	Charity 2023 £'000	Charity 2022 £'000
Trade debtors Amounts due from subsidiary and related undertakings Other debtors Prepayments Accrued income(see Note 15)	453 - 534 282 4,740	488 - 532 392 4,748	453 574 188 282 4,740	485 495 82 392 4,748
Total	6,009	6,160	6,237	6,202

All debtors fall due within one year.

12. CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND

12. CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND
	Group 2023 £'000	Group 2022 £’000	Charity 2023 £'000	Charity 2022 £'000
Cash held at bank in UK Cash held at bank and in hand overseas	3,508 747	6,700 894	3,470 652	6,681 793
Total	4,255	7,594	4,122	7,474

13. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

	Group 2023 £'000	Group 2022 £’000	Charity 2023 £'000	Charity 2022 £'000
Trade credItors Amounts due to related undertakings (see Note 21) Other creditors Accruals Deferred income(see Note 15)	28 958 1,468 736 3,513	45 1,054 1,546 2,017 4,359	27 958 1,614 707 3,513	45 1,054 1,519 1,987 4,359
Total	6,703	9,021	6,819	8,964

14. PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES

14. PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES
Charity and group	Legacy balances £’000	Project costs £'000	TOTAL £'000
At 1 April 2022 New provisions in 22/23 Provisions utilised in 22/23	250 - (250)	322 109 (177)	572 109 (427)
At 31 March 2023	-	254	254

The provision for project costs relates to costs that are not expected to be recovered from the donor and are therefore an obligation at 31 March 2023. It is expected that the majority of these obligations will be paid during the year ending 31 March 2024.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

15. ACCRUED AND DEFERRED INCOME

Where income is received in advance, recognition is deferred and included in creditors and where entitlement arises before income is received the income is accrued. The most significant projects for which income was deferred and accrued are detailed below. In the year to 31 March 2023 the Group had 120 (2022: 120) active projects.

	Total Deferred Income 2022	Total Accrued Income 2022	Amount Received and Other Movements	Released via SOFA	Total Deferred Income 2023	Total Accrued Income 2023
AUXILIUM : Bangladesh: Rohingya Knowledge -Auxiliu CICAN : Kenya: Young Africa Works in Kenya-TVET COUNTERPART : Afghanistan: ASP USAID - Counterpart DAI : Myanmar: ECCR_DAI DEUTSCHE WELLE : Armenia: Media Support in Armenia DURHAM UNIVERSITY : Nepal - Durham University Saja DUTCH EMBASSY : Libya: Dutch Embassy for El Kul 2 DUTCH EMBASSY : North Africa:Dutch Funding El Kul EUROPEAN COMMISSION : Zambia: Natwampane - EU FCDO : Bangladesh: PRIMED implementation - FCDO FCDO : Cambodia: Solomon Islands - FCDO FCDO : Ethiopia: PRIMED implementation - FCDO FCDO : Europe: Eastern Partnerships (FCO) FCDO : HQ: PRIMED implementation - FCDO FCDO : Sierra Leone: EAGER - IRC FCDO : Sierra Leone: PRIMED implement- FCDO FCDO : South Sudan: GESS II - MOTT GAC : South Sudan: GAC Women's Voices GAC : Tanzania: Niambie 2: GAC GATES FOUNDATION : India Collectives and Power of GATES FOUNDATION : India: Comms Tech Support- Phas GATES FOUNDATION : India: D2C Platform - BMGF	(99) - - - - - - - (139) - - - - - - - - (488) (167) (599) (316) (308)	- 24 - - 9 13 60 - - - - - 823 29 159 - 208 - - - - -	4 (128) (66) (306) (282) (71) (163) (180) (335) (315) (300) (392) (2,076) (1,710) (674) (399) (626) (286) (910) - (12) (31)	95 237 183 201 214 133 110 113 443 397 247 469 1,253 1,296 730 527 672 774 997 623 328 332	- - - (105) (59) - - (67) (31) - (53) - - (385) - - - - (80) - - (6)	- 133 117 - - 75 7 - - 82 - 77 - - 215 128 254 - - 25 - -

15. ACCRUED AND DEFERRED INCOME (continued)

	Total Deferred Income 2022	Total Accrued Income 2022	Amount Received and Other Movements	Released via SOFA	Total Deferred Income 2023	Total Accrued Income 2023
GATES FOUNDATION : India:Gender Normative Barriers GATES FOUNDATION : Nigeria: Vaccine Hesitancy-BMGF GIZ : Responding to COVID-19 Information Disor GOV OF BELGIUM : Tanzania: Belgium Aid NC5 H & M FOUNDATION : India: PRIDE - H & M Foundation IFES : Lib: Elections and Leg Strength IFES ILO : Myanmar-Yay Kyi Yar 2022-ILO INT RESCUE COMMITTEE : Bangladesh: BPRM Support fo INT RESCUE COMMITTEE : Bangladesh: Rohingya Refuge IRISH AID : Tanzania: Irish AID NC5 MFA : South Sudan: Life in Lulu -MFA NDI : EECA: Transforming Gender Percep. NDI NORAD : Indonesia: For the People - NORAD NORAD : Indonesia: Kembali Ke Hutan NORAD : Myanmar: TCD7 - NORAD NORAD : Somalia: SWEET Phase 3 PACKARD FOUNDATION : Ethiopia: Youth Engagement - SDC : Cambodia: Klahan9 SPACE - Sida & SDC SDC : Tanzania: Niambie 2 - SDC SDC : Tanzania:Niambie 2 Rural Radio SDC SIDA : Zambia: Kudziwa SIDA SIGHTSAVERS : Nigeria: Sightsavers DID Scale-Up	- (398) - - (478) - - - - - (67) - - (97) - - (136) - - - (417) -	- - - 19 - - 23 - 318 125 - - 26 - 40 - - 66 8 - - 93	(707) (32) (195) (136) (397) (314) (149) (178) (954) (502) - (187) (755) (215) (209) (377) - (979) (418) (421) (1,603) (450)	108 472 215 133 466 412 126 452 636 286 1,068 186 667 326 209 345 137 1,286 410 255 2,311 476	(599) - - - (410) - (1) - - (90) - (1) (63) - - (32) - - - (166) - -	- 42 20 16 - 98 - 274 0 - 1,001 - - 14 40 - 2 373 0 - 291 120

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

15. ACCRUED AND DEFERRED INCOME (continued)

	Total Deferred Income 2022	Total Accrued Income 2022	Amount Received and Other Movements	Released via SOFA	Total Deferred Income 2023	Total Accrued Income 2023
TERRE DES HOMMES : Bangladesh TdH: Diversifying ma UNICEF : Responsible Parenting and Family Care UNILEVER : ET: HBCC2 - UNILEVER UNILEVER : SO: HBCC2 - Unilever UNOPS : Afghanistan: Provision of EORE - UNMAS UNOPS : Myanmar: Disability- UNOPS UNOPS : Myanmar: Ma Shet Ne - UNOPS UNOPS : SOMALIA EAI’s Implementation of Social 2 USAID : Bangladesh: USAID - YouthRISE Activity USAID : Myanmar: Investing in Independent Media USAID : Nigeria Global APS - USAID:BHA USAID : Somalia: BHA Global APS - USAID WFP : Afghanistan - Nutrition and Food - WFP WPF : Tanzania: Niambie 2: WFP HALO TRUST : Afghanistan: HALO - Mine Action in AF Otherprojects	- - - - (82) (12) (13) - (35) - - - - (96) - (414)	- - - - - - - - - 54 - 31 - - - 2,621	(195) (116) (153) (193) (209) (77) (165) (22) (821) (460) (97) (258) (599) (167) - (4,266)	195 112 214 252 291 102 263 160 886 509 121 189 710 140 93 1,480	- (4) - - - - - - - - - (37) - (123) - (1,200)	- - 61 59 - 13 85 138 31 103 24 - 111 - 93 621
Total	(4,359)	4,748	(26,234)	27,073	(3,513)	4,740

16. FUNDS ANALYSIS

16. FUNDS ANALYSIS
	Balance at 1 April 2022 £'000	Income £'000	Expenditure £'000	Balance at 31 March 2023 £'000
Unrestricted funds: Designated funds: Technology-led Change Fund	369	-	-	369
Total Designated funds	369	-	-	369
General Funds	3,758	3,279	(4,133)	2,904
Total Unrestricted funds	4,127	3,279	(4,133)	3,273
Total Restricted Funds	34	31,690	(31,690)	34
Total Funds	4,161	34,969	(35,823)	3,307

	Balance at 1 April 2021 £'000	Income £'000	Expenditure £'000	Balance at 31 March 2022 £'000
Unrestricted funds: Designated funds: Technology-led Change Fund	369	-	-	369
Total Designated funds	369	-	-	369
General Funds	4,043	3,307	(3,592)	3,758
Total Unrestricted funds	4,412	3,307	(3,592)	4,127
Total Restricted Funds	34	30,922	(30,922)	34
Total Funds	4,446	34,229	(34,514)	4,161

The Trustees’ Report explains why the group and the charity hold unrestricted funds and the adequacy of these funds at the year end. The reserves policy is reviewed on an annual basis.

All of BBC Media Action’s primary activities are included within restricted funds. These activities are restricted to overseas project work and associated income and expenditure in line with the key themes and charitable objectives described in the Trustees report. Analysis of the projects are included in note 15.

The Technology-led change fund represents funds set aside for the development and enhancement of processes and systems. No amounts were added to the fund in 2022/23. Funds are expected to be spent within three years.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

17. ANALYSIS OF GROUP AND CHARITY NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

	Net current assets £'000	Provision for liabilities £'000	Total funds £'000
Restricted funds Unrestricted designated funds Unrestrictedgeneral funds	34 369 3,158	- - (254)	34 369 2,904
Total Funds at 31 March 2023	3,561	(254)	3,307

	Net current assets £'000	Provision for liabilities £'000	Total funds £'000
Restricted funds Unrestricted designated funds Unrestrictedgeneral funds	34 369 4,330	- - (572)	34 369 3,758
Total Funds at 31 March 2022	4,733	(572)	4,161

18. RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TO NET CASH (OUTFLOW) / INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

	2023 £'000	2022 £'000
Net expenditure for the year Investment income Decrease/(Increase) in debtors (Decrease)/Increase in creditors (Decrease) /Increase inprovisions	(854) (27) 151 (2,319) (317)	(285) (2) 4,733 (5,022) (120)
Cash (outfow) / infow from operating activities	(3,366)	(696)

19. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

Operating Leases

There were total amounts payable in the future on non-cancellable leases:

	Group 2023 £'000	Group 2022 £'000	Charity 2023 £'000	Charity 2022 £'000
Land and buildings Operating leases which expire: Within one year In the second to ffhyears inclusive	786 103	791 535	753 103	753 535
Total	889	1,326	856	1,288

A Rent Review memorandum was signed with the landlord, HP Ibex House Investment SARL, in December 2021 establishing a reviewed annual rent of £367,068 until March 2024. This amount is included in the ‘Within one year’.

20. PENSION COSTS

Many of the Company’s employees are members of the BBC’s pension schemes, the BBC Pension Scheme (a defined benefit scheme) and defined contribution schemes (LifePlan and the Group Personal Pension Scheme).

BBC Pension Scheme

The BBC Pension Scheme provides pension benefits on a defined benefit basis from assets held in separate, trustee-administered, funds.

The scheme is subject to independent valuation by a professionally qualified actuary at least every three years, on the basis of which the actuary certifies the rate of employer’s contributions. These, together with the specified contributions payable by employees and proceeds from the scheme’s assets, are expected to be sufficient to fund the benefits payable under the scheme.

The actuarial valuation of the Scheme as at 1 April 2022 reported a shortfall (liabilities, calculated on the technical provisions basis, minus value of assets) of £841m. The value of the Scheme’s assets and liabilities at that date were £19,745m and £20,586m respectively (both excluding AVCs). The method used to calculate the technical provisions is the projected unit method.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

F I N A N C I A L S TAT E M E N T S

20. PENSION COSTS (CONTINUED)

An 11-year recovery plan (2017 to 2028) was agreed between the BBC and the pension scheme Trustees which details the total amounts to be paid by the BBC (these amounts include both the employer normal contributions in respect of future service accrual and the amounts payable in respect of the funding shortfall).The funding shortfall is expected to be eliminated within 9.75 years of the valuation date, i.e. by 31 December 2028.

The contributions to the scheme by members are paid via a salary sacrifice arrangement. These have been treated as employer contributions.

The triennial valuation as at 1 April 2022 is currently underway and is due to be completed in 15 months.

Contribution rates	Projections (%) 2023 2022 2021	Projections (%) 2023 2022 2021	Projections (%) 2023 2022 2021
Employer Employee (Old and New Benefts) Employee (Career Average Benefts 2006) Employee (Career Average Benefts 2011)	42.3 7.5 4.0 6.0	42.3 7.5 4.0 6.0	31.4 7.5 4.0 6.0

21. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The following related party transactions occurred during the year:

21. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS The following related party transactions occurred during the year:
	2023 £'000	2022 £'000
Related parties Services procured from related parties Amounts owed to related parties (Note 13)	295 957	277 1,054

During the year, BBC Media Action procured HR, IT and other support services of £295,214 (2022: £277,264) from the BBC.

Donations received from the BBC World Service, BBC Group and BBC Global News Limited are detailed in note 2.

At 31 March 2023, an amount of £957,070 (2022: £1,053,952) was owing to the BBC Group (including BBC and BBC World Service) and was Country Office cash-in-transit. This amount owing is non-interest bearing and repayable on demand.

There were no other related party transactions to 31 March 2023 (2022: none).

22. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS

There are no events after the balance sheet date that require adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

BBC Media Action Annual Report 2022–2023

Cover image: Hilder Ngatunga, a presenter for our Niambie! (Tell Me!) radio programme in Tanzania, with an interview guest following recording. / Joseph Minde, BBC Media Action Tanzania

Find out more: bbcmediaaction.org

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Annual Report and Accounts 2022–2023

Contents

A note from our chief executive

A note from our chair and vice chair

About us, our vision and mission

Our vision

Our mission

Public benefit

Highlights from our year

How we serve our stakeholders

Internal stakeholders

External stakeholders

Our audiences

Journalists, media workers

and media houses

The BBC

Our partners in project delivery and sector learning

Our suppliers

Our donors

Our wider communities and our planet

Our strategic review

How we are funded

Corporate donors, events and individual giving

NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS £11,534K

INTERNATIONAL AND NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS £3,359k

PRIVATE AND CORPORATE FOUNDATIONS £2,466k

UNITED NATIONS £2,179k

Our impact in 2022/23

Our work in media development and media freedom

tolerance amid conflict and distrust, and

Our work in tackling information disorder

Our work in climate action

Our work in health

Our work in equity, diversity and inclusion

Our work in governance, civic participation and bridging divides

Our work in humanitarian response

Looking ahead

For 2023/24, our goals are:

To help make these happen, our enablers are:

Thanks and acknowledgements

DAI

GIZ

Halo Trust

Our organisation and our finances

Our employees

Staff salaries

Gender pay gap

Our organisation

Safeguarding

Energy use

Legal structure

Subsidiary companies

Governance

Organisational structure and management

Managing risk

War in Ukraine

COVID-19 pandemic

Myanmar military rule

Insecurity and ban on female staff in Afghanistan

Insecurity in Ethiopia

BBC relationship in Somalia

Whistleblowing policies

and procedures

Safeguarding policies and procedures

Fraud recovery and prevention

Safety and security

Funding

Information security

Compliance with local laws

Reputation

Managing our finances

Diminished levels of UK overseas

Reserves

Investment policy

Going concern

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

Trustees are required to:

Management team

Trustees, senior staff and advisors