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2020-09-30-accounts

Company number: 05559173 Charity number: 1113288

The Equal Rights Trust

Report and financial statements For the year ended 30 September 2020

The Equal Rights Trust

Contents

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Reference and administrative information .................................................................................... 1 Trustees’ annual report ................................................................................................................ 2 Independent auditor’s report ...................................................................................................... 26 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) .................. 29 Balance sheet ............................................................................................................................. 30 Statement of cash flows .............................................................................................................. 31 Notes to the financial statements ............................................................................................... 32

The Equal Rights Trust

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Company number 05559173

Charity number 1113288

Registered office and operational address : Second Home London Fields, 125-127 Mare Street, London E83SJ

Country of registration England & Wales

Country of incorporation United Kingdom

Trustees Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Evelyn Collins Chair Andrew Charles Danby Bloch Vice–Chair Robin Allen Ferdous Ara Begum Luc Tayart de Borms Virginia Mantouvalou Quinn McKew Helen Mountfield Novide Refahi Key management Jim Fitzgerald Director personnel Bankers Coutts & Co 440 The Strand LONDON EC4M 6YH Solicitors Bates Wells & Braithwaite 2-6 Cannon Street LONDON EC4M 6YH Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane LONDON EC1Y 0TL

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The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

The Trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2020.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Objectives and activities

Purposes and aims

The objects and purposes of the Equal Rights Trust, as set out in our Memorandum and Articles of Association, are to promote equality of treatment and diversity throughout the world, in accordance with the principles contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations covenants, conventions and regional human rights and equality codes, by all or any of the following means:

The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and consider that both the objects and purposes of the Trust, and the activities undertaken to achieve these objects and purposes are for the public benefit. When reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities, the Trustees have regard to the public benefit of the organisation. In particular, the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set.

The Trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the charity throughout each year. The Trustees review the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the Trustees ensure the charity's aims, objectives and activities remained focused on its stated purposes. This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period.

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Approach

The Trust was founded to pursue and promote a unified perspective on equality . The unified perspective centres on the right to equality as a right to participate in all areas of life on an equal basis, and emphasises the need to take a holistic, comprehensive approach to different types of inequalities, arising on the basis of different grounds, and in different areas of life. The unified perspective on equality provides the conceptual framework for all our work. At the national level, this means that we bring together actors working with and on behalf of different marginalised groups to promote the adoption, enforcement and implementation of comprehensive equality laws. At the international level, it means that we promote the development of comprehensive equality laws and examine the various intersections between equality law and other efforts to promote human rights and social justice, ranging from efforts to combat corruption to freedom of expression, and from torture and ill-treatment to sustainable development.

The Trust has, since its foundation, focused on how to promote equality through the enactment and implementation of equality law. We do this through supporting equality defenders – lawyers, civil society representatives, members of the media, legislators, judges and others committed to creating an equal world through law – giving them the knowledge, tools, resources and networks they need to secure the adoption and enforcement of equality laws.

Programmes and Activities

The Trust works in partnership to secure the adoption, enforcement and implementation of equality laws, and thus to enhance protection from discrimination for our ultimate beneficiaries. All of our programmes and projects are designed to contribute to this long-term objective.

The Trust undertakes its work through five programmes. Our advocacy programme seeks to promote legal reform on equality through the political process at the local, national, regional and international levels. Our litigation and legal services programme aims to improve the interpretation and implementation of laws on equality, through bringing strategic cases and providing legal assistance to victims of discrimination. Our supporting equality movements programme seeks to strengthen and support the work of equality defenders, through training and capacity building, and supporting the development of equality coalitions. Our research and resources programme works to generate resources for use by equality activists, to document patterns of discrimination and to map the links between equality and other human rights violations. Our advisory services programme, which started in 2018, provides advice and consultation for other institutions on how to mainstream the right to equality into training and approaches to other human rights work. Our programmes are not mutually exclusive, but interlinked, with activity under each one supporting and complementing that under each of the others.

Much of the Trust’s programme work is delivered in the context of global or country-specific restricted grant-funded projects, for each of which a combination of activities within the programmes is

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employed. In the year 2019-20, the Trust undertook country-specific work in a total of 11 different countries across Europe, Western Africa, Central, South and South East Asia and South America.

Partnerships

The Trust implements its activities in partnership with equality defenders. Any country-specific activities are designed and implemented in partnership with at least one non-governmental organisation based in the country of operation. At the global level, we ensure the engagement of key stakeholders through international expert steering committees and other collaboration, both formal and informal, with relevant stakeholders. We see this partnership model as crucial to ensuring that our work is relevant to the needs of the equality community in question, be that the global community or specific communities at the national level, with a particular focus on civil society. Partnership working is also essential to ensuring the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of our work.

Achievements and impact

Strategy 2018-2022

The Trust is at the midpoint of our work to deliver our five-year Strategy, which was launched in April 2018, following a detailed process of review, reflection and consultation with our partners and stakeholders, including civil society activists, lawyers, academics, donors and experts working to promote equality across the world.

The Strategy espouses our vision of an equal world and reaffirms our mission to eliminate discrimination and ensure that everyone can participate in society on an equal basis. It centralises our key strength – our approach of working in an open, collaborative and supportive partnerships with equality defenders to secure the adoption and implementation of equality laws. In order to best serve equality defenders, our Strategy identifies three Goals:

(1) Greater understanding of equality law and its centrality to rights and development;

(2) Increased exercise and capacity among equality defenders; and

We plan, monitor and evaluate our achievements with reference to these Goals. Our strategic priorities for the year 2019/20 were set out in our last annual report. The year 2020 has been transformative for the Trust. With increased unrestricted funding, we have been able to be both more strategic and more responsive in our work, while the COVID 19 pandemic has presented new challenges, driving us to innovate and collaborate in new ways. Key developments in the implementation of our five year strategy, include:

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Alongside work to deliver our strategy, the Trust developed a new programme of action in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, an event which both transformed the context in which we and our partners work and resulted in the development of new patterns of discrimination requiring a response by equality defenders. In the first phase of the pandemic, we established the #NoCOVIDiscrimination Initiative , a comprehensive programme of support for those working to combat the discriminatory impacts of state responses to COVID 19. This involved: (1) bringing together an unprecedented coalition of international equality organisations to issue a Global Call to Action, urging states to integrate equality impact assessment into their responses to the pandemic; (2) developing a training programme and manual on Identifying, documenting and challenging the discriminatory impacts of state responses to COVID 19 and delivering webinars to trainees from 32 countries; and (3) establishing a grant scheme to provide technical, strategic and financial support to 20+ organisations in 8 countries to document and challenge discriminatory impacts of state pandemic responses.

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Programmes

As elaborated above, our work is delivered through five programmes of work, each of which is designed to contribute towards our Goals. We set out below this year’s highlights of our activities, achievements and impact below.

Advocacy

We advocate for improvements to international standards on the rights to equality and nondiscrimination and provide strategic, technical and practical support to equality defenders in their efforts to bring national equality laws, policies and practices into line with international standards. Our advocacy programme is critical to our goal of achieving greater understanding of equality law and its centrality to rights and development (Goal 1), in particular our aim to increase knowledge of international best practice on equality law (Outcome 1.1). Our advocacy programme is also central to our work to increase the expertise and capacity of equality defenders (Goal 2), through the support we provide to those advocating for equality law reform. This includes, at the national level, providing technical, strategic and practical support to equality defenders as they develop and advocate for the adoption of comprehensive equality laws, while also supporting efforts to engage with international human rights mechanisms (Outcome 2.1).

International advocacy

Despite disruptions engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic the Trust undertook and supported and a wide range of advocacy initiatives during the year. Broadly, our international advocacy work can be divided into three strands: (i) supporting our partner equality defenders to advocate for the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation and improved implementation of existing legal protections for individuals exposed to discrimination; (ii) engaging with the UN system, global civil society and other stakeholders on the role of equality law in realising other rights and sustainable development.

As part of strand one of our advocacy work, we supported partners from a range of countries – from Cabo Verde to Pakistan – to engage with the UN system. For example, following submissions by the Trust and our partners, the UN Human Rights Committee urged Armenia to move forward with the draft law on ensuring equality and to respond to concerns that the draft law (a) does not contain an extensive list of prohibited grounds of discrimination, (b) lacks a definition of direct, indirect, and multiple discrimination and (c) does not guarantee the right to effective remedies. The Human Rights Committee also responded to our recommendations on the Philippines, requesting that the state indicate legislative and other measures taken to combat discriminatory laws and practices and to provide information about steps taken to develop comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.

We also supported partners in a range of countries, including Mongolia and Armenia, to advocate for legal reform through the Universal Periodic Review mechanism. This included providing practical, technical and financial support to partners in Bolivia, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan to attend Pre-Sessions

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which enabled them to engage directly state delegations, significantly increasing the chances that these recommendations would be tabled during the peer review process. At its 35[th] Session, the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review made a series of relevant recommendations to Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, inter alia, concerning the need to adopt comprehensive equality legislation in line with international standards – the central recommendation made by the Trust and our partners.

As part of strand two of our advocacy work, the Trust made a number of thematic submissions to UN special procedure mandate holders, and UN treaty bodies, exploring the intersections between equality, non-discrimination, and related areas of international human rights law. This work included, inter alia, a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on religion on the subject of eliminating intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief and the achievement of the sustainable development goals; extensive engagement with the Human Rights Committee on its Draft General Comment No. 37 on the Right of Peaceful Assembly; and a submission to 12 UN Special Procedure mandate holders on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the enjoyment of human rights. These engagements all impacted the final recommendations made by the relevant entities. For example, following our engagement on the discriminatory impacts of state responses to COVID 19, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism urged States to make equality and non-discrimination impact assessments a prerequisite for the adoption of systems based on emerging digital technologies, noting that the impact assessment must incorporate consultation with marginalized groups.

Alongside our regular international advocacy work, in May 2020, we launched the #NoCOVIDiscrimination Initiative. In the first phase of this Initiative, we brought together an unprecedented coalition of 12 leading global equality organisations – including the Minority Rights Group, HelpAge International and Outright International, for example – to issue a global Call to Action developed by the Trust. This Call to Action expressed grave concern at the emerging evidence of the discriminatory impacts of state responses to the COVID 19 pandemic and called for states to integrate equality impact assessments into their policy responses. The Call to Action was disseminated widely to equality defenders and organisations across the world – including to our partners in 50+ countries – and received widespread approval within the global equality movement. We disseminated the Call to our partners in 50+ countries and worked with co-signatories to share it with thousands of civil society organisations across the globe.

Domestic advocacy

At the domestic level, much of our advocacy work during the year was centred on working with and supporting coalitions working to develop and advocate for the adoption of comprehensive equality laws in countries such as Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and the Philippines, although opportunities for direct advocacy were severely limited in the second half of the year by the pandemic. Additionally, we continued to provide practical and technical support to individual organisations to undertake more targeted and discrete advocacy activities aiming to reform existing laws, improve their implementation or raise awareness among rights-holders and duty-bearers.

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For example, in October 2019, the Trust met with the Non-Discrimination and Equality Coalition, our partner in Armenia to discuss next steps in our efforts to secure amendments to the government’s draft comprehensive equality legislation, published in July, and to develop plans to support their advocacy. The trip coincided with our participation in the events surrounding the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity which took place in Yerevan, Armenia. The Equal Rights Trust was nominated as a beneficiary organisation by Huda Al-Sarari – one of the three persons shortlisted for the award. The trip provided an opportunity for the Trust to advocate for amendments to Armenia’s draft Law on Ensuring Equality, including through engaging with local media and other stakeholders. Following the trip, we wrote to the Ministry of Justice outlining our concerns with the Draft Law and urging amendments in seven essential areas. We then continued to support the Coalition to engage with the authorities, until such advocacy became impossible as a result of the government’s focus on responding to the pandemic.

Also in late 2019, we were asked by our partner in Kyrgyzstan to review and comment on a draft comprehensive equality law which had been prepared over the preceding months by a working group of the Kyrgyz Equality Coalition. In January 2020, we completed a comprehensive review and analysis of the new draft Law, making a series of recommendations which were welcomed by the working group. Alongside this, we engaged directly with officials from the Kygyz government on the need for, and necessary content of, comprehensive anti-discrimination law, if the state is to meet its international law obligations to prohibit all forms of discrimination.

Strategic litigation and Legal Services

We support and participate in strategic litigation which is aimed at generating jurisprudence that advances the enjoyment of the rights to equality and non-discrimination and ensuring access to justice for victims of discrimination. At the international and regional levels, we provide technical and financial support to lawyers taking strategic equality and non-discrimination cases to international and regional courts and committees as part of our commitment to increasing their expertise and capacity to litigate to improve judicial interpretation of equality laws (Outcome 2.3) and to enable access to justice for victims of discrimination (Outcome 2.2). Where relevant and desirable, we also intervene as a third party in equality and non-discrimination cases, providing progressive equality analysis on the applicable rights to equality and non-discrimination and thus contributing to our Outcomes 1.1 and 1.3. At the national level, as with our advocacy work, our focus is on increasing the expertise and capacity of equality defenders (Goal 2) and all our national level litigation work is undertaken in partnership with national lawyers and civil society representatives, whom we support to identify and develop strategic cases designed to improve interpretations of the rights to equality and non-discrimination. We also support lawyers and nongovernmental organisations to design equality-sensitive legal service mechanisms and provide legal services to those who have experienced discrimination.

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Strategic litigation

Our strategic litigation work during the year focused on influencing the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and supporting domestic litigation in select jurisdictions. We also participated as an amicus curiae in our first intervention before a court in the United States of America.

On 29 January 2020, the Trust, together with Equality Now and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, submitted a Joint Third Party Intervention in the case of TV v Russia. The applicant in this case claims that the State failed to conduct an effective investigation into her allegations of rape by her husband. Building on our previous intervention in Volodina v Russia and the Court’s positive judgment in that case, the three organisations highlighted the necessity of examining rape complaints and their investigation under the right to non-discrimination in conjunction with the prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. This is the first case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to consider whether a state’s failure to investigate marital rape amounts to state discrimination against women.

The Trust submitted additional requests to intervene before the Court during the course of the year, including in the case of Lapunov v Russia. The case concerns the abduction, detention and illtreatment of a gay man by state agents in Chechnya, and the authorities’ failure to investigate his subsequent complaint. In its written submissions the Trust argued the importance of the Court’s recognition of discriminatory torture and other ill-treatment as qualitatively distinct from other instances of torture and ill-treatment in a way which demands specific acknowledgment, and which necessitates a distinct response to combat both discrimination and torture.

At the domestic level, the Trust was one of a number of organisations invited by the leading global women’s rights organisation, Equality Now, to join an amicus curie brief to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of Virginia et al. v. Ferriero, a case concerning the incorporation of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into the United States Constitution. Submitted in June, the amicus highlights inter alia that the United States’ failure to adopt the ERA violates its binding international non-discrimination obligations. This case is a very significant step to constitutional sex equality in the United States.

In March 2020, the Trust hosted a strategic litigation workshop in Belgrade, Serbia for 15 lawyers from a third country (the training being located outside the focus country for security reasons). The workshop explored best practice on strategic litigation, including the development of cases in the national courts, litigation at the international and regional levels, and developing case strategies. The workshop was well received with each of the participants rating the content and delivery of the workshop and knowledge and responsiveness of trainers as either “good” or “very good” in evaluation forms.

In a related development, during the year, the Trust, Ashurst and our partner lawyers in Serbia were nominated for two pro bono awards: the Law Works Pro Bono Awards for best international pro bono project, and the Good Lobby Awards. In both cases, the focused on the innovative elements of our pro bono partnership – fostering a long-lasting, sustainable partnership between an international

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law firm, and international NGO, a domestic NGO and domestic lawyers, which sees pro bono support provided by the same legal team from inception through to the end of the case.

Legal services

During the course of the year, the Trust concluded a legal services grant scheme in one country and initiated a new legal services support scheme in another. For security reasons, these countries cannot be identified. Both schemes aimed at providing financial support and technical guidance to lawyers and civil society organisations to provide legal services to victims of discrimination. In the first scheme, 140+ survivors of discrimination on various grounds were provided with legal assistance under the first grant scheme, and 25+ cases were presented before domestic courts, while 30+ lawyers at seven organisations increased their knowledge of and capacity to apply the rights to non-discrimination and equality in their work. In the second scheme, which will operate until the third quarter of 2021, we anticipate that at least 600 legal consultations will be provided to individuals exposed to discrimination.

Supporting Equality Movements

Supporting equality movements is at the heart of the Equal Rights Trust’s mission and purpose. It is central to the achievement of Goal 2 of our Strategy – the increased expertise and capacity of equality defenders. Through this programme, we provide training, mentoring and other forms of capacitybuilding support; we make available small grants to support capacity and skills development; and we support the establishment and strengthening of national equality coalitions. We work with civil society organisations, lawyers, trade union representatives and others to provide them with the technical and practical skills they need to promote equality and combat discrimination, and to support the development of coalitions. Through this work, and through providing practical and financial support, particularly to those at risk, we aim to empower civil society and their allies to improve equality law and its implementation.

Over the course of the year, we have worked towards our goals at three different levels: (a) training and supporting individual equality defenders to better enable them to be part of a broader movement; (b) helping national equality coalitions to develop and grow; and (c) facilitating crossborder peer-to-peer exchanges for the sharing of best practice and sense of community.

Training

Due in large part to the coronavirus pandemic, the Trust conducted fewer in-person training workshops than in previous years. However, we have continued to provide strategic and technical support to equality defenders, including through our online training platform, and through webinars which reached almost 200 activists and lawyers from 32 countries.

As set out in our 2018-19 report, following a lengthy development and testing process, last year saw the completion and launch of our multilingual, interactive online learning platform. The launch

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of the platform was a key strategic priority for the Trust, given its potential to significantly expand the reach and impact of our training programme on international standards on equality law and to enable exchange of best practice between equality defenders. During the year, the Trust commissioned an expert consultant to upgrade the training platform and at the end of the year, it was available to equality defenders in 10 countries – Armenia; Bolivia; Cabo Verde; Russia; Georgia; Kyrgyzstan; Mongolia; Pakistan; Paraguay and the Philippines. As a result of these efforts, there are now over 500 platform users across these jurisdictions, and we expect this number to continue to increase.

As noted above, in May 2020, we launched the #NoCOVIDiscrimination Initiative, a comprehensive programme of action designed to support equality defenders in their essential work to identify, document and challenge discriminatory state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this initiative, we offered training; legal, technical and strategic support; and support with securing funding for organisations seeking to undertake monitoring and advocacy on discriminatory state responses to the pandemic. Between June and September 2020, we held four webinars (two in English, one in Spanish and one in Russian). The webinars were attended by 177 equality defenders from 32 countries, including: Argentina; Armenia; Belgium; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Cabo Verde; Colombia; Egypt; Ethiopia; France; Georgia; Greece; India; Indonesia; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Maldives; Moldova; Mongolia; New Zealand; Pakistan; Paraguay; the Philippines; Russia; Tajikistan; Thailand; the United Kingdom; the United States of America; Uzbekistan; and Zambia.

Support to Equality Coalitions

The Trust sees collaboration between equality defenders working with and on behalf of different discriminated groups as essential in enhancing mutual understanding and solidarity and as central to the effectiveness of efforts to promote reform and implementation of equality law. As such, over the course of the year, we continued our work to establish and support equality coalitions working with such coalitions in 6 countries.

One of the most significant achievements during the year was the establishment of a new Equality Coalition in Cabo Verde by a group of 20+ civil society organisations working with and on behalf of different discriminated groups. This meeting followed a roundtable discussion in August 2019 to discuss the need and potential for increased and improved collaboration between organisations working on equality issues. At a second roundtable discussion on 27 and 28 November, the Trust’s national partner presented a proposal to establish an Equality Coalition with the long-term objective of securing the adoption of a comprehensive equality law. The Trust’s Director participated in the meeting, presenting on comparative experiences of coalition-building on equality and facilitated discussions among participants. The proposal to establish a new Coalition received enthusiastic support, with the members agreeing to move forward and agreeing the mission, objectives, and structure. Following this agreement, the Trust provided funding, together with technical and strategic support, to enable the participant organisations to formalise and launch the Coalition.

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As noted above, the Trust continued our work to support civil society movements advocating for the adoption of comprehensive equality laws in their countries. For example, in the Philippines, we continued to support the Stop the Discrimination Coalition to expand its membership and develop a shared position on a Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill which has since been lodged with the Senate (including potential amendments to bring it into line with international standards). In December, the Trust co-convened a national conference of the anti-discrimination law with the Coalition, UNDP and the Philippines’ National Human Rights Institution. At the conference the Trust presented on international standards in equality law and comparative experiences in the development and advocacy of comprehensive equality law and provided input into the strategy development process.

Grants and mentoring

Grant-making and mentoring are key components of our model for supporting equality defenders, providing as they do the opportunity to build sustainable capacity with selected organisations. All of our grants provide a framework for the Trust to provide technical support and guidance to grantees, with the aim of building their capacity to combat discrimination over the long term.

Throughout the year, we continued to provide support to 20+ grantees in ten countries for activities including research, monitoring and documentation, policy advocacy, community awareness-raising, sensitisation and capacity building, and the delivery of legal services. Alongside direct financial assistance to these activities, our support ranged from advising on the development of research materials and direct editorial input in communications and advocacy materials to the provision of training, direct policy advocacy and engagement with stakeholders, and the review and assessment of draft legislation.

In July 2020, we launched a new call for applications as part of our #NoCOVIDiscrimination initiative, which aimed to support equality defenders to document, monitor and challenge discrimination in state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We received 55 applications from eight countries under the call. Nineteen applicants were successful in their bids and were selected in mid-September, for implementation commencing in October 2021. Activities supported under this initiative range from documenting the discriminatory impact of State education policies on persons with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan; to monitoring and awareness raising of the impact on domestic workers in Bolivia and Cabo Verde and transgender persons in Paraguay and Pakistan; as well as discrimination in the workplace in Armenia and the Philippines.

During the year, the Trust continued to provide direct financial support, and training to meet the safety and security needs of equality defenders in countries where work on equality and nondiscrimination entails significant personal risk. These countries are not disclosed for security reasons.

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Research and Resources

We place a high value on research and its impact on advancing equality. Our research aims to enhance the discourse on the rights to equality and non-discrimination and to equip equality activists with the necessary tools to expose discrimination and hold state and non-state actors to account. As such it has a central role in our achievement of Goals 1 and 2 of our Strategy. We undertake research ourselves, for the advancement of understanding and awareness of progressive concepts in equality law (Outcome 1.2) and for greater recognition of the role of equality law in the achievement of rights and development (outcome 1.3). In addition, through our partnerships, we provide practical, financial and technical support to equality defenders to document and report abuses (Outcome 2.4) and publish resources which assist them in advocating and litigating for equality (Outcomes 2.1-2.3).

Reports and publications

As set out above, in March 2020, we began work towards the development of the Practical Guide on Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation, which is being produced by the Trust in partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human. The Guide aims to fill a longterm expressed and identified need for a go-to manual for Governments, Parliaments, NHRIs, UN staff, civil society representatives and minority and other human rights defenders on the necessary content and structure of comprehensive anti-discrimination law if states are to meet their obligations under international human rights law, together with concrete country-based practices and practical guidance for policy makers and CSOs. The development of the Guide – which is being undertaken by a joint ERT-OHCHR research team – is being steered by an expert Advisory Committee, comprising current and former UN special procedure mandate holders, treaty body members, esteemed legal academics and practitioners from every global region. Following in depth legal research and a period of extensive consultation, a final draft of the Guide is expected to be published in June 2021.

Alongside this project, the Trust reached agreement with Transparency International to co-author a publication on the links between corruption and discrimination and the impact of these linked problems on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Study will feature case studies from grassroots and international organisations and will be peer reviewed by leading experts in the field of discrimination as it relates to age, ethnicity and race, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, and religious belief. The report will offer a series of recommendations to States and civil society focused on strengthening mutual understanding of the causal connection between the two phenomena and identifying common solutions. The study signals the need for sustained and systematic research on this underexplored topic. During the year, the partners made significant progress in conceptualising the links between discrimination and corruption and in identifying and developing case studies for the report.

Alongside these major global publications, the Trust continued to work with partners in several countries to develop research publications documenting patterns of discrimination and analysing

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and assessing the adequacy of national legal frameworks on equality. These publications are due to be published in 2021 and will be reported on in our next annual report.

Support to research and documentation

During the year, the Trust continued to provide technical input to research and advocacy produced as part of our coalition building, and grant-scheme initiatives (described above), and undertook research to support publications developed by our partner organisations.

For example, in Bolivia, the Trust and our partner Comunidad de Derechos Humanos completed a study on the effectiveness of the country’s existing equality law, Law 045. The Trust produced a chapter on international standards on equality law and its enforcement and implementation, while Comunidad completed a validation of its analysis of Law 045 and its research on barriers to the implementation of the Law, with participation from national experts on human rights and equality.

In another example, at the invitation of Global Partners Digital (GPD), we provided input to a guide for the National Action Plans on business and human rights in respect of the tech sector, which was published in July 2020 by GPD and the Danish Institute for Human Rights. Our contribution focused on: highlighting the discriminatory impacts of the activities of the tech sector on the equal enjoyment of the rights to privacy and freedom of expression; outlining the non-discrimination obligations of states and private actors and the wider responsibilities of the private sector; and providing guidance on how such obligations and responsibilities should be addressed in the National Action Plan process and content.

Advisory Services

During the year, we continued to make progress in the development of our Advisory Services programme, through which we seek to support the efforts of other organisations to mainstream equality law into their work. For example, in Kyrgyzstan, we continued our collaboration with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This included participating in a high-level meeting with representatives of the government on the need for equality law reform in that country, and a series of follow up activities. The Trust was brought in by OHCHR as an independent international expert, as part of an effort to increase consensus among government representatives on the need for equality law reform to comply with the state’s international legal obligations. The event is the latest step in a long-term effort by the Trust and the OHCHR to support the work of the Kyrgyzstan Equality Coalition to develop and advocate for the adoption of comprehensive equality law.

Grant-making

The Trust makes significant use of grant-making in the delivery of our programmes of work and the achievement of our charitable purposes. In our country-specific projects, we make grants to our incountry partners in order to provide them with the funds required to implement activities and cover

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related operating costs. These partnerships are a central feature of the Trust’s country-specific work, ensuring that our work is relevant, effective and sustainable.

In addition, we use sub-granting schemes, through which we provide financial, practical and technical support to civil society organisations in the countries in which we work. Sub-grants are made for the purposes of supporting research and documentation, the delivery of legal services and advocacy and awareness-raising activities. In addition to these schemes, in countries where human rights defenders are at risk because of their work to combat discrimination and promote equality, we provide safety and security grants to vulnerable individuals.

Internships, Fellowships and Volunteer Scheme

The Trust maintains a fully funded internship scheme, through which we aim to provide a minimum of two funded legal research internships each year. Interns are selected through a competitive process, and those selected to join the scheme are offered a needs-based grant to cover their cost of living. Internships are between three and nine months in duration, and are designed as an educational and development opportunity, for those seeking to build a career in the human rights sector. While meeting their desired learning outcomes, our interns provide research support across all of our programmes and also support our fundraising work. In addition to the internship scheme, from time to time the Trust offers fellowships, which differ from the internships in that they focus on providing support to one or more of our major projects. Fellows also benefit from a grant.

Alongside our internship and fellowship programmes, the Trust maintains an Equality Volunteers Network, through which those interested in providing practical support to our work can contribute. Members of the volunteer network are engaged on an as-needed basis, with requests to undertake specific research or communications tasks. Over the course of the year, members of the network undertook research in support of a number of major publications.

Pro- bono acknowledgment

It is not currently possible for the Trustees to attribute an economic value to the contribution made by our volunteers and pro bono partners, but the contribution which these individuals make to the Trust’s work is significant and highly valued by both Trustees and staff.

Plans for the year ahead

Our plans for the remainder of 2021 and 2022 are focused on the delivery of our five-year strategy. In particular, our priorities will be:

  1. Complete and publish the Practical Guide on the Development of Comprehensive AntiDiscrimination Laws, in partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (O1.1)

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The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

  1. Launch a new initiative examining the discriminatory impacts of algorithmic decision-making and artificial intelligence and developing guidance on the application of equality law (O1.2)

  2. Launch the study on the links between discrimination and corruption which we have produced in collaboration with Transparency International and promote adoption of its recommendations (O1.3)

  3. Continue the legal, technical and strategic support we are providing to equality coalitions working to develop and advocate for new equality laws in countries such as Armenia, Ghana, India, Kyrgyzstan and the Philippines (O2.1)

  4. Establish a global equality defenders’ network, starting with the launch of Together for Equality: Why and how a comprehensive approach to challenging discrimination works, together with partners from 15 countries across the globe (O3.3).

Principal risks and uncertainties

Over the course of the year, the staff assessed risk by reference to our organisational risk policy as part of our ongoing work identify and manage risks. The top risks which the Trust faces are as follows:

(1) Liquidity and Funding

Liquidity and funding risk is the risk that the Trust fails to secure sufficient income to sustain its activities, including due to loss of income as a result of exchange rate movements or recovery orders following project audits. The Trust relies for the majority of its income on restricted grant funding tied to the implementation of specific projects, together with unrestricted grants. This reliance inevitably creates risks around liquidity and funding, though the organisation continues to make progress in minimising and mitigating these.

During the year, the Trust continued to pursue its plan for diversifying sources of funding and increasing unrestricted funding to mitigate its financial risks. This strategy has already led to an improvement in the balance between funding from restricted and unrestricted funds: the Trust received £128,470 in unrestricted funding in 2020, compared with £71,805 in 2019 and £37,970 in 2018. The organisation is on course to further increase both the amount and proportion of total income from unrestricted sources in 2021, providing the organisation with greater financial flexibility and mitigating against risk of loss. More broadly, the organisation has been successful in securing sufficient income to sustain its work: 100% of core operating costs are funded to the end of the 2021 financial year, while 50% of forecast operating costs for the 2022 financial year are already secured.

A proportion of the Trust’s current and past funding is from the European Union which imposes onerous restrictions and conditions on the recognition of expenditure. There is a risk of the European Union recovering income where documentation is adjudged to be ineligible. In previous years, the Trust has been subject to recovery orders. Since 2017, the Trust has reviewed and

16

The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

improved its financial procedures, mitigating against the risk of future losses. The organisation was subject to a further audit in 2020, but this did not result in any finding of ineligible expendutures.

In addition to this risk, the Trust has been increasingly exposed to losses as a result of exchange rate movements in connection with the implementation of restricted income projects. These losses resulted in a reduction in the organisation’s unrestricted reserves in both 2020 and 2019. While this risk cannot be fully mitigated, the Trust has taken steps to identify and project future losses and account for these in our budget forecasts, thus limiting the impact on unrestricted reserves.

While the Trustees are satisfied with the level of the Trust’s reserve given the scale and complexity of the ’s operations, it is below their target level. The staff has developed income generation plans with the intention of reaching the organisation’s target reserves by the end of the financial year 2021-22.

(2) Safety and security of staff, partners and beneficiaries

Safety and security risk is the risk that the Trust’s staff, our partners or our beneficiaries are subjected to physical harm, deprivation of liberty or other damage to their personal safety.

The Trust continues to work in a number of hazardous environments where conflict, instability or repressive regimes pose a risk to the safety and security of human rights defenders. To counter these risks, the Trust follows its established safety and security risk assessment procedures and standard operating protocols. Pursuant to our five-year strategy, we are focussing our work increasingly in countries where the Trust and its partners can make a tangible impact on law and policy. This in turn is resulting in a gradual reduction in the number of high-risk countries in which the Trust is working, and this work now represents less than 20% of all of our in-country activities.

(3) Restrictions on civil society activity

Restrictions on civil society activity is the risk that government laws, policies or practice on the regulation of our civil society partners prevents the implementation of our activities, results in asset freezes or other financial loss.

The Trust is a civil society organisation that works to support and empower other civil society organisations to improve protection from discrimination and promote equality through law. Almost all of the Trust’s work is delivered in partnership with civil society organisations. As such, the increasingly restricted environment for civil society activity in many parts of the world poses a material and growing risk to the ’s work. At their most severe, restrictions on civil society activity can prevent the successful implementation of projects. In many other countries where restrictions exist, the costs of achieving our objectives are higher due to the additional burdens on staff time. The Trust continues to monitor the environment in the countries in which we work and to find new ways to operate in light of new restrictions in collaboration with our partners. In the long term, our planned shift in focus to countries where our support can have the greatest impact is leading to a

17

The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

reduction in the number of countries with highly restrictive environments in which the Trust is working.

4) COVID 19 pandemic

Since our last annual report, the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic has become apparent. Governments across the world – including in the United Kingdom, where the Trust is based, and in all of our project countries – have responded by imposing significant restrictions on movement both within and between countries (“lockdowns”). In March 2020, the Trust assessed the impact of the pandemic and these government responses on our work and began to take steps to respond to the risks which arose. We continued to monitor the situation throughout the year, adapting our plans and activities to both mitigate risks and to support our partners and beneficiaries to adapt and respond to the discriminatory impacts of state responses to the pandemic.

In the first phase of our response, we moved to remote working from 13 March 2020 and either cancelled or postponed all planned project events which involved gatherings of people. As the second phase in our response, we consulted our project and funding partners about necessary adaptations to our action plans for the year 2020, on the basis that disruption would continue throughout the year. Based on these consultations, we modified a number of planned activities to take place virtually and developed alternative plans of action, implementation mechanisms and timetables. We also identified some activities which could not be completed as intended. In the third phase of our response, we launched the NoCOVIDiscrimination Initiative, a grant scheme designed to support civil society to document and challenge the discriminatory impacts of state responses to the pandemic and to advance their equality agenda in this changed context. The funds for this scheme were identified from previously planned activities which we or our partners were forced to cancel as a result of the pandemic. These modifications allowed the Trust to continue to support our partners and to fulfil our mission, despite the radically changed context, and indeed to directly respond to the discriminatory impacts of the pandemic and state responses to it. At the time of writing, we continue to assess the safety and programmatic risks associated with the pandemic and remain in close contact with our donors, partners, and other stakeholders to ensure a robust and flexible response.

5) Operational risk

Operational risk is the risk of financial loss or reputational damage that arises as a result of inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems, or external events (including legal risk). The Trust has put in place systems and controls that it believes are necessary to minimise its operational risk. These are reviewed at least annually or more frequently if required. If there is a breach of its systems and controls, the Trust undertakes an in-depth review to ascertain the cause and enhancements that are required.

18

The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Financial review

The financial results for the year which ended on 30 September 2020 are set out in the Statement of Financial Activities on page 27. The Trust’s financial position at the end of the year is set out on page 28.

Income

The Trust’s total income in the year (£288,793) was significantly lower than the previous financial year (2019: (£1,097,967). There are three principal reasons for this, two of which relate directly to the COVID 19 pandemic:

(1) As discussed below, movement restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic required the suspension of planned advocacy, training and collaboration activities in the period MarchSeptember 2020 and the development of alternative activity plans. This resulted in the postponement of approximately £300,000 in planned programmatic expenditure to the first half of the financial year 2020-21, and a corresponding delay in the receipt of restricted income associated with this expenditure.

(2) The pandemic both disrupted the Trust's own fundraising plans and resulted in delays in the grant-making schemes of some of our donors, resulting in a lower level of both restricted and unrestricted income during the year. The impact of these delays was that income which we had expected to realise in the period April-September 2020 was not received during the year. For example: while we had expected to commence two to three new projects in the second half of the financial year, we instead commenced two new projects on 1 October 2020.

(3) Finally, the Trust’s income in the year was impacted by the cyclical nature of our restricted incme projects. Due to the fact that the majority income for these projects is received in advance of expenditure, the Trust can carry significant sums of restricted income forward between financial years. When these funds are spent, this results in annual expenditure which exceeds income received during the year (with the balance being covered by the income carried forward). This occured in both of the last two financial years, and again in 2019-20, where the Trust expended £288,335 in income carried forward from previous years.

The majority of the Trust’s income in the financial year was secured from unrestricted grant contracts from trusts and foundations, with the remainder secured from institutional donors such as the European Union and others. This reflected the continued increase in unrestricted funding in both absolute and proportionate terms: the Trust secured £128,470 in unrestricted funding in 2020, compared with £71,805 in 2019 and£37,970 in 2018. This is largely the result of an increased focus on diversifying funding streams during the year and in 2019.

19

The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

At the close of the financial year, the Trust held total net assets of £356,274 (2019: £662,953). Of these funds, £329,643 (2019: £621,104) was restricted income carried forward, representing funds which the Trust received for the implementation of grant-funded projects which have not yet been expended.

Expenditure

As with income, total expenditure in the year £595,473 was markedly lower than the previous financial year (2019: £1,146,892). This reflects two dynamics: (1) the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on the work of the Trust’s partners in restricted grant projects; and (2) the continuing reduction in the number of large, restricted income projects which the Trust is implementing, pursuant to our strategy of diversifying the organisation’s funding base.

Movement restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic required the suspension and / or modification of planned advocacy, training and collaboration activities in the period MarchSeptember 2020. As explained above, in response to the pandemic, we established the #NoCOVIDiscrimination Initiative which involved, among other things, the reallocation of funds designated for these activities to grants focused directly on documenting and challenging the discriminatory impacts of state responses to the pandemic. The effect of these changes is that approx. £300,000 in planned programmatic expenditure moved from the financial year 2019-20, to the financial year 2020-21.

The second factor in the Trust’s reduced expenditure during the year is that the organisation implemented a smaller number of large, restricted income projects than in previous years. This is an outcome of the organisation’s long term strategy to diversify funding, with a focus on securing unrestricted income. It also reflects a planned shift in our approach to partnership working, with the organisation increasing seeking opportunities to collaborate as an expert partner in projects managed by our national partners, rather than acting as the main grant recipient and project manager.

Expenditure was distributed across our four areas of charitable activity as follows: Advocacy – 21%; Litigation and Legal Services – 16%; Movement Building – 35%; Research and Resources –28%. This is broadly consistent with the distribution in previous financial years and reflects the fact that some of our charitable activities – notably training and grants for field research – require greater financial resources than others.

Reserves

At the end of the financial year the organisation held total funds of £365,274 (2019: £662,953). Of this amount, 92% (£328,643) (2019: 93%, £621,104) was restricted income carried forward.

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The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

The Trusts’ unrestricted reserve at the end of the year was £15,518. This represents a decrease of 62% (£15,218) on the previous financial year, where the reserve stood at £41,849. This deterioration in unrestricted reserves arose as a result of (a) the unrestricted reserve absorbing the impact of exchange rate losses on restricted income projects, as a result of the weakening of Sterling against the Euro and Dollar; (b) the write off of historic debts which the Trust had identified as unrecoverable.

The reduction in the level of the Trust’s unrestricted reserves is clearly unwelcome. Nevertheless, the Board is reassured that the staff have (a) completed the process of reviewing and writing off historic debts; (b) identified further potential exchange rate losses arising from ongoing restricted income projects and accounted for these in our forward budget; and (c) secured sufficient unrestricted income to increase unrestricted reserves to the Board’s agreed reserve target over the current and next financial years, after accounting for these potential losses.

The Trust adopted a new reserves policy in 2019. The policy was developed in line with prevailing best practice and bases the Trust’s reserve target on a calculation of the risks to which it is exposed. Based on this policy, the Board has a targeted level of unrestricted reserves of £65,000 for the Trust. While the level of reserves fell to only 25% of this target at the end of the year 2019-20, the organisation is already in the process of rebuilding the level of free reserves. As at June 2021, the Trust has already secured sufficient income to increase unrestricted reserves to at least 50% of target by September 2021, and we aim to realise further income through ongoing fundraising efforts to achieve 75% of target by this date. The Trust’s fundraising strategy and financial forecasts aim to reach 100% of the reserve target by September 2022.

Financial Position

The Board considers that the Trust remains a going concern. Indeed, the Trust’s income position in 2021 is notably stronger and more secure than in recent years, in particular as a result of the organisation’s success in securing unrestricted grant-funding from the Sigrid Rausing Trust for the period 2021-23, and in diversifying its funding base, more broadly.

The Trust has secured income to cover 100% of operating costs in the financial year 2020-21 and to increase the unrestricted reserve. The Trust has secured 55% of forecast operating costs for the financial year 2021-22, comparing favourably with previous years. Based on our income projections, we expect to further rebuild the unrestricted reserve and also aim to increase the number of staff, though this latter step will be dependent on the success of our fundraising efforts.

Nevertheless, the Board notes some material uncertainty regarding the Trust’s going concern status. As set out above, during the year 2019-20 the organisation’s unrestricted reserves fell to 25% of the reserve target set out in the Reserves Policy. This increases the risk at which the organisation operates. In addition, the organisation’s transition from the management of large, restricted income funds to smaller but unrestricted funds – while more secure and sustainable in the medium-term –

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The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

has resulted in short term pressures on cash flow. While these pressures are being managed, they do create a level of risk, a fact of which the Board is well aware.

As such, the organisation undertook analysis of the Trust’s ability to operate as a going concern in various different scenarios. This focused on consideration of the impact – on both cashflow and overall operational budget – of the Trust falling short of its fundraising projections for the coming year. The Trust identified actions which should be taken in order to safeguard against the cash flow impact a fall in income, and these actions have been taken. We also identified further actions which would need to be taken in the event that the organisation were to fall short of its fundraising projections by up to 66% and satisfied itself that such action could be taken in a timely fashion to ensure that the organisation could continue to operate as a going concern.

As noted above, the Board is reassured by the progress made during 2021 to secure additional income and increase the level of unrestricted reserves by the end of the financial year 2020-21, which reflect the success of the organisation’s transition towards a more diverse and unrestricted funding model. Completing this transition will address the risks which the organisation faces and is the route to a sustainable and secure future for the organisation.

Fundraising

During the year, the Trust did not run any public fundraising campaigns, receiving income instead from foundations and institutional donors under either unrestricted or restricted grants.

The Equal Rights Trust does not use professional fundraisers or commercial participators. The Trust nevertheless observes and complies with the relevant fundraising regulations and codes. During the year there was no non-compliance of these regulations and codes and we received no complaints relating to our fundraising practice

Structure, governance and management

The Equal Rights Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 9 September 2005 and registered as a charity on 15 March 2006. The company was established under a memorandum of association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its articles of association. The Trust is based and administered in the United Kingdom.

Board of Trustees

The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees who are also Directors of the company. The Board meets at least four times each year to: provide strategic guidance; review and provide guidance on the Trust's programmes and projects; review and advise on the management of risks; review the assets and financial position of the Trust; and adopt plans of action and budgets.

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The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

The Board is currently composed of 9 Trustees, listed on page 1 of this report. Evelyn Collins serves as the Chair of the Board and Danby Bloch as the Vice Chair of the Board.

All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 10 to the accounts.

Staff

The Trustees delegate day to day management of the organisation to a Director. The Trustees take advice from the Director in respect of the Trust’s programmes and projects, risks, financial position and budget, and action plans. Jim Fitzgerald is the Director of the Equal Rights Trust, a position he has held since 1 August 2019 (prior to which he was Co-Director from June 2016). Jim leads a team of five staff, three focused on delivering the Trust’s programmatic and project work and one on financial management.

Appointment of Trustees

In accordance with the memorandum and articles of association there shall be at least three Trustees.

Starting in 2017, Trustee vacancies are advertised publicly. Applications are considered by a selection committee made up of three serving Trustees, which recommends a shortlist to the Board. Decisions on appointments are made by the full Board, in accordance with the articles of association.

All Trustees serve for an initial term ending at the third Trustees' annual meeting after the year in which they were appointed. All Trustees may serve for two additional terms of up to three years. No Trustee may serve for more than nine consecutive years, unless the Trustees consider that it would be in the best interests of the organisation for a Trustee to serve beyond that period, and the Trustee is then reappointed in line with the articles.

Trustee induction and training

Trustees are inducted through introductory meetings including the Chair or Vice Chair and Director before participation in their first Board meeting. The Trust does not have the capacity to provide formal training for Trustees.

Related parties and relationships with other organisations

During the year, the Trust received grants from one entity in which Trustees had an official role: the King Baudouin Foundation (grant of £18,086), of which Luc Tayart de Boums is Chief Executive. In addition, aggregate donations from related parties were £5,000 (2019: £12,775), which comprise

23

The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

donations from members of the board and senior management. Other than the grant noted here, the Trustees have declared that they have no conflict of interests.

The Trust has no subsidiaries and is not part of a wider network. However, as outlined above, the Trust implements all of its country-based work in formal partnership with at least one nongovernmental organisation based in the relevant country. These partnerships are a central element of the Trust’s approach to its work, ensuring the relevance and suitability of our projects and ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in implementation. Our partnerships are bi-lateral relationships, in which the parties are equal. Each partnership is regulated by a partnership agreement setting out the respective rights and obligations of each partner. Within this legal framework, the Trust and its partners seek to develop a fully cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship, in which the organisations act as genuine partners in the implementation of projects which both parties consider are relevant to the achievement of our objectives.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

The pay of the Trust’s Director is set by the Board of Trustees, as represented by the Chair and Vice Chair. The Director sets the pay for the Senior Management Team, and – in consultation with the Senior Management Team – all other members of staff. Staff pay bands are set with regards to salaries for similar positions in similarly situated organisations. Pay for all staff is reviewed at annual performance reviews.

Funds held as custodian Trustee on behalf of others

The Trust does not hold any funds as custodian Trustee on behalf of others.

Statement of responsibilities of the Trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of The Equal Rights Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

24

The Equal Rights Trust

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 30 September 2020

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

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 United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 30 September 2020 was 9 (2019: 9). The Trustees are members of the charity, but this entitles them only to voting rights. The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditor

In 2017, following a review of its needs, the Trust tendered for the appointment of a new audit firm. Following a competitive process, Sayer Vincent LLP was appointed as the charitable company's auditor for the financial year 2016-17. Following the successful completion of that audit and per the terms of the competitive process, Sayer Vincent LLP was retained as the Trust’s auditor.

The Trustees’ annual report has been approved by the Trustees on 18 August 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Evelyn Collins Chair, Board of Trustees

25

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

The Equal Rights Trust

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Equal Rights Trust (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 30 September 2020 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

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 charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the 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 to you where:

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and,

26

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

The Equal Rights Trust

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 the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement 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 misstatement 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 the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of 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

27

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

The Equal Rights Trust

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 charitable 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 charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s 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 misstatement, 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. Misstatements 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.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

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 auditor’s 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.

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor) 19 August 2021 for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

28

The Equal Rights Trust

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Note
Income from:
2
3
4a
4a
6
Reconciliation of funds:
Advocacy
Donations and legacies
Grant funding for specific charitable
activities
Litigation & Legal Services
Raising funds
Total expenditure
Charitable activities
Movement Building
Research and Resources
Research and Resources
Advocacy
Litigation & Legal Services
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:
Movement Building
Total funds brought forward
Net income / (expenditure) for the
year and net movement in funds
Total funds carried forward
Transfers between funds:
Net movement in funds		 Unrestricted
£
128,470
-
-
-
-
79		 Restricted
£
-
-
33,839
73,279
53,127
-		 2020
Total
£
128,470
-
33,839
73,279
53,127
79		 Unrestricted
£
71,805
-
-
-
-
822		 Restricted
2019
Total
£
£
5,755
77,560
178,392
178,392
216,202
216,202
332,076
332,076
292,915
292,915
-
822
1,025,340
1,097,967
-
24,436
274,884
280,309
142,773
149,348
341,668
351,766
332,125
341,033
1,091,450
1,146,892
(66,110)
(48,925)
43,874
-
(22,237)
(48,925)
643,341
711,878
621,104
662,953
128,548 160,245 288,793 72,627
28,335
33,529
22,343
43,406
32,028		 -
101,238
77,427
173,003
105,360		 28,335
134,767
99,770
216,409
137,388		 24,436
5,425
6,575
10,098
8,908
159,641 457,028 616,669 55,442
(31,092)
3,126		 (296,783)
(3,126)		 (327,875)
-		 17,185
(43,874)
(27,966)
41,849		 (299,909)
621,104		 (327,875)
662,953		 (26,689)
68,537
13,883 321,195 335,078 41,849

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 16a to the financial statements.

29

The Equal Rights Trust

Balance sheet

Balance sheet
As at 30 September 2020 Company no. 05559173
Note
Fixed assets:
11
Current assets:
12
Liabilities:
13
16a
Total unrestricted funds
Total charity funds

Cash at bank and in hand
Tangible assets
Net current assets
Unrestricted income funds:
Designated funds
Restricted income funds
The funds of the charity:
Total net assets
General funds
Debtors
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year		 £
247,434
256,434		 2020
Total
£
£
1,959
1,959
405,593
475,399
880,992
(223,327)
333,119
335,078
321,195
5,288
36,561
13,883
335,078		 2019
Total
£
5,288
5,288
657,665
503,868
(170,748)
1,959
11,924
662,953
621,104
41,849
662,953

Approved by the trustees on 18 August 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Name: Evelyn Collins Title: Chair

30

The Equal Rights Trust

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Reconciliation of net expenditure to net cash flow from operating activities

2020 2019
£ £
Net expenditure for the reporting period (as per the
statement of financial activities) (327,875) (48,925)
Depreciation charges 3,329 1,321
Dividends, interest and rent from investments (79) (822)
Decrease in debtors 158,159 7,557
Increase in creditors (52,579) 5,257
Loss on disposal of fixed assets - -
Net cash used in operating activities (219,044) (35,612)
Note 2020 2019
£ £ £ £
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and rents from investments 79 822
Purchase of fixed assets - -
Net cash used in investing activities 79 822
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year (218,965) (34,790)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 475,399 510,189
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 17 256,434 475,399

31

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

The Equal Rights Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in England and Wales.

The registered office address is 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9DA.

b) Basis of preparation

The 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 UK 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/Charities Act 2011.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the Trust made a limited number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of the split of income and expenditures between different programmes of activity. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the charity that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution.

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

32

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

1 Accounting policies (continued)

g) Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

h) Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes. In this reporting period, the designated fund is earmarked to fund the depreciation cost of tangible fixed assets in the future.

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

j) Grants payable

Grants payable are made to third parties in furtherance of the charity's objects. Single or multi-year grants are accounted for when either the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and the trustees have agreed to pay the grant without condition, or the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and that any condition attaching to the grant is outside of the control of the charity.

Provisions for grants are made when the intention to make a grant has been communicated to the recipient but there is uncertainty about either the timing of the grant or the amount of grant payable.

k) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to a particular programme of activity where the cost relates directly to that activity, or are split between programmes where an activity results in impact under more than one programme. The allocation of support costs - the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central functions of the organisations - is apportioned between these programmes of activity based on the proportion of total direct programmatic expenditure on each programme.

Where information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is provided to potential beneficiaries, the costs associated with this publicity are allocated to charitable expenditure.

Where such information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is also provided to potential donors, activity costs are apportioned between fundraising and charitable activities on the basis of area of literature occupied by each activity.

Support and governance costs are allocated to each programme of activities on the basis set out below. This is based on the proportion of the organisation's total direct (non-staff) expenditure on charitable activities which falls within each programme.

Advocacy 17.5%
Litigation & Legal Services 17.8%
Movement Building 42.0%
Research & Resources 22.7%

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

33

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

1 Accounting policies (continued)

l) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

m) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

5 years 5 years

n) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

o) Short term deposits

Short term deposits includes cash balances that are invested in accounts with a maturity date of between 3 and 12 months.

p) Cash at bank and in hand

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

r) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

s) Pensions

The charity operates a contributory pension scheme. It is a defined contribution scheme and contributions are charged in the statement of financial activities as they accrue. The charge for the year was £12,375. There were 5 scheme members at 30 September 2020. An amount of £1,577 of contributions was owed to the scheme as of that date.

2 Income from donations and legacies

Income from donations and legacies
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
King Baudouin Foundation
University of Sussex
Sigrid Rausing Trust
Other		 Unrestricted
£
-
18,086
-
100,000
10,384		 Restricted
£
-
-
-
-
-		 2020
Total
£
-
18,086
-
100,000
10,384		 Unrestricted
£
5,000
18,331
1,045
-
47,429		 Restricted
2019
Total
£
£
-
5,000
-
18,331
5,755
6,800
-
-
-
47,429
5,755
77,560
128,470 - 128,470 71,805

34

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

3 Income from charitable activities

Income from charitable activities
Undisclosed Project 4
Undisclosed Project 3
Other Grants
Multi-country "GSP+" Advocacy &
Monitoring Project - EIDHR
Advocacy Activities
Yemen - EIDHR
Jordan - EIDHR
Kazakhstan - EIDHR
Egypt - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 5
Undisclosed Project 5
Movement Building Activities
Multi-country "GSP+" Advocacy &
Monitoring Project - EIDHR
Kazakhstan - EIDHR
Rohingya (2) - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 1
Yemen - EIDHR
Sub-total for Advocacy Activities
Egypt - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 3
Litigation & Legal Services Activities
Central Asia - EIDHR
Serbia (2) - EIDHR
Russia FCO (2)
Kazakhstan - EIDHR
Egypt - EIDHR
Serbia (2) - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 5
Multi-country "GSP+" Advocacy &
Monitoring Project - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 2
Yemen - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 4
Undisclosed Project 3
Research & Resources Activities
Undisclosed Project 1
Egypt - EIDHR
Kazakhstan - EIDHR
Total income from charitable activities
Undisclosed Project 4
Undisclosed Project 2
Other Grants
Sub-total for Litigation & Legal
Other Grants
Sub-total for Research & Resources
Sub-total for Movement Building
Yemen - EIDHR
Serbia (2) - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 1
Undisclosed Project 2
Other Grants
Serbia (2) - EIDHR		 Unrestricted
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 2020
Total
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Unrestricted
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
2019
Total
£
£
141,762
141,762
31,171
31,171
(2,087)
(2,087)
-
-
-
-
-
-
4,450
4,450
1,738
1,738
1,358
1,358
178,392
178,392
-
-
23,913
23,913
77,903
77,903
2,225
2,225
(2,087)
(2,087)
6,952
6,952
31,171
31,171
30,729
30,729
43,026
43,026
2370
2,370
216,202
216,202
47,254
47,254
129,078
129,078
103,871
103,871
17,081
17,081
-
-
31,171
31,171
40,973
40,973
(2,087)
(2,087)
4,450
4,450
(39,715)
(39,715)
332,076
332,076
47,254
47,254
77,903
77,903
27,329
27,329
11,126
11,126
43,026
43,026
8,690
8,690
30,729
30,729
31,171
31,171
(2,087)
(2,087)
17774
17,774
292,915
292,915
1,019,585
1,019,585
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
18,698
14,888
253		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
18,698
14,888
253		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 33,839
-
33,657
12,824
-
-
-
-
-
-
26,798
-		 33,839
-
33,657
12,824
-
-
-
-
-
-
26,798
-		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 73,279
-
12,824
-
-
22,438
-
-
-
-
17,865
-		 73,279
-
12,824
-
-
22,438
-
-
-
-
17,865
-		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 53,127 53,127 -
- 160,245 160,245 -

35

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Undiclosed projects are not disclosed due to the sensitivity of these projects.

The Trust allocates restricted income between our four programmes of activity based on assessment of the proportion of activities within each restricted grant-funded project which fall within that programme.

Note 3 above sets out restricted income received during the year and so does not include any income carried forward from previous years. Income for restricted grant-funded projects is frequently provided in advance, with unspent funds carried forward as restricted reserves (see Balance Sheet - £621,104 in restricted income funds was carried forward into the financial year 2019-20). Due to the slow-down in activities and expenditure from February 2020 onwards, following the onset of COVID 19, almost all of the Trust's expenditure on our restricted income projects was funded by restricted income carried forward from the prior year.

36

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Staff costs (Note 7)
Rent, rates, utilities & insurance
Office supplies, maintenance, IT Costs
Partners' expenses
Sub-grants (Note 6)
Workshops, forums & roundtables
Research & publications
Project travel
Project consultants
Litigation fees and costs
Audit and accounting fees
Bank charges
Depreciation and loss on disposal of fixed assets
Intern stipend/volunteer expenses
Forex movement
Other costs
Total direct costs
Allocation of support costs
Allocation of governance costs
Total expenditure 2020
Total expenditure 2019		 Raising
funds
£
28,335
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Governance
costs
£
8,989
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,619
3,709
-
-
-
748		 Support
costs
£
8,356
53,295
2,723
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3,875		 2020
Total
£
225,282
53,295
2,723
12,405
116,956
17,555
7,849
29,724
60,118
-
14,339
3,709
3,329
11,330
16,059
41,994		 2019
Total
£
261,791
49,557
4,139
38,505
296,720
79,781
37,064
85,827
194,096
17,672
48,642
7,949
1,321
9,541
873
13,414
Advocacy
£
62,860
-
-
-
23,391
-
-
5,945
6,012
-
3,180
-
832
4,532
4,015
9,343		 Litigation &
Legal
Services
£
26,940
-
-
-
23,391
5,266
-
5,945
6,012
-
3,180
-
832
-
4,015
9,343		 Movement
Building
£
44,901
-
-
6,202
46,783
12,288
-
17,835
36,071
-
3,180
-
832
-
4,015
9,343		 Research
and
Resources
£
44,901
-
-
6,202
23,391
-
7,849
-
12,024
-
3,180
-
832
6,798
4,015
9,343
28,335
-
-		 120,110
12,007
2,650		 84,924
12,161
2,684		 181,450
28,638
6,322		 118,536
15,443
3,409		 15,065
-
-		 68,249
-
-		 616,669
-
-		 1,146,892
-
-
28,335 134,767 99,770 216,409 137,388 - - 616,669 1,146,892
24,436 280,309 149,348 351,766 341,033 - - - 1,146,892

The Trust applies a consistent methodology in designating expenditure between programmes of activity. Staff costs are allocated based on assessment of the proportion of total staff time spent on activities within each programme of activity. This is informed by staff time recording during the course of the year, though the final proportions are estimated, given that many of our activities sit across multiple programmes of work. For non-staff costs, expenditure items are allocated by the senior management team, based on the programme of work which each activity contributes to; this is informed by allocations made by budget holders. Again, a degree of estimation is required, given that many activities contribute to multiple programmes of work. Differences in the proportion of staff costs and non-staff costs attributed to each programme reflect the fact that certain programmes of work require a higher proportion of staff expertise, while others involve higher levels of direct expenditures. As set out in note 1k, support and governance costs are reallocated to programmes of activity based on the proportion of direct expenditures in each programme.

37

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Staff costs (Note 7)
Rent, rates, utilities & insurance
Office supplies, maintenance, IT Costs
Partners' expenses
Sub-grants (Note 6)
Workshops, forums & roundtables
Research & publications
Project travel
Project consultants
Litigation fees and costs
Audit and accounting fees
Bank charges
Depreciation and loss on disposal of fixed assets
Intern stipend/volunteer expenses
Forex movement
Other costs
Total direct costs
Allocation of support costs
Allocation of governance costs
Total expenditure 2019		 Raising
funds
£
24,436
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Governance
costs
£
6,316
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,767
-
-
1,431
7,949
-
-
-
3,355		 Support
costs
2019
Total
£
£
5,972
261,791
49,557
49,557
4,139
4,139
-
38,505
-
296,720
-
79,781
-
37,064
-
85,827
-
194,096
-
17,672
-
48,642
-
7,949
-
1,321
-
9,541
13,182
873
1,271
13,414
74,121
1,146,892
-
-
-
-
-
1,146,892
Advocacy
£
56,267
-
-
6,737
118,688
19,945
-
14,708
38,819
-
8,260
-
231
-
(2,154)
2,197		 Litigation &
Legal
Services
£
56,267
-
-
8,165
-
-
-
17,825
19,410
17,672
10,011
-
280
-
(2,610)
2,197		 Movement
Building
£
45,013
-
-
12,541
103,852
59,836
-
27,378
58,229
-
15,377
-
430
-
(4,009)
2,197		 Research
and
Resources
£
67,520
-
-
11,062
74,180
-
37,064
24,149
77,638
-
13,563
-
380
9,541
(3,536)
2,197
24,436
-
-		 263,698
12,969
3,642		 129,217
15,717
4,414		 320,844
24,141
6,781		 313,758
21,294
5,981		 20,818
-
-
24,436 280,309 149,348 351,766 341,033 -

The Trust applies a consistent methodology in designating expenditure between programmes of activity. See above, at Note 4a.

38

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

5a Grant making (current year)

Undisclosed grant 4
Undisclosed grant 2
At the end of the year
Cost
Multi-country "GSP+" Advocacy
& Monitoring Project - EIDHR		 Grants to
institutions
£
17,767
87,644
11,546		 Grants to
individuals
£
-
-
-		 Support
costs
2020
£
£
-
17,767
-
87,644
-
11,546
-
116,956
116,956 -

As part of our grant contracts, we work with partner organisations to implement our charitable activities across the world. In order to deliver certain activities and objectives, this includes either ourselves or our partners making sub-grants to third parties, within the framework of grant agreements with them. This note discloses those sub-grants made to third parties, with reference to the overall grant under which they took place.

Undiclosed grants are not disclosed due to the sensitivity of these grants.

5b Grant making (prior year)

EU-Serbia 2 380-160
EU-Yemen 346-630
EU-Egypt 348-176
Multi-country "GSP+" Advocacy
Kazakhstan - EIDHR
At the end of the year
Cost
Undisclosed grant 3
Undisclosed grant 2
Undisclosed grant 1		 Grants to
institutions
£
20,516
81,756
3,307
61,676
(13,479)
46,561
4,294
92,089		 Grants to
individuals
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Support
costs
2019
£
£
-
20,516
-
81,756
-
3,307
-
61,676
-
(13,479)
-
46,561
-
4,294
-
92,089
-
296,720
296,720 -

6 Net expenditure for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
2020 2019
£ £
Depreciation 3,329 1,322
Loss or profit on disposal of fixed assets - -
Operating lease rentals:
Property 45,709 43,628
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 7,100 8,340
Other services - 31,750
Foreign exchange losses or (gains) 16,059 (12,310)

39

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

Staff costs were as follows:

Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
Social security costs
Salaries and wages		 2020
2019
£
£
196,339
225,374
16,568
20,574
12,375
15,843
225,282
261,791

No employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer's national insurance) during the year above £60,000 (2019: none).

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £62,090 (2019: £112,818).

The charity trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2019: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2019: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represents the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £664 (2019: £3,355) incurred by 2 members relating to attendance at quarterly meetings of the trustees.

8 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 5 (2019: 6).

Staff are split across the activities of the charitable company as follows (full time equivalent basis):

Management and administration
Charitable activities		 2020
2019
No.
No.
4.0
4.0
1.0
2.0
5.0
6.0

9 Related party transactions

The Trust received a grant from one entity in which trustees had an official role: the King Baudouin Foundation - of which Luc Tayart de Boums is Chief Executive - made a grant of £18,086 (2019: £18,331).

Aggregate donations from related parties were £5,000 (2019: £12,775), which comprise donations from members of the board and senior management.

10 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

40

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

11
At the start of the year
Cost or valuation
Disposals in year
At the start of the year
Additions in year
All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.
At the end of the year
Tangible fixed assets
Depreciation
Net book value
Eliminated on disposal
At the end of the year
At the end of the year
At the start of the year
Charge for the year		 Office
equipment
£
6,066
-
-		 Computer
equipment
£
28,926
-
-		 Total
£
34,992
-
-
6,066 28,926 34,992
3,824
1,131
-		 25,880
2,199
-		 29,704
3,329
-
4,955 28,079 33,033
1,111 847 1,959
2,242 3,046 5,288
Other debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income		 2020
2019
£
£
175,624
214,538
1,558
2,122
70,252
188,933
247,434
405,593

Other debtors included a provision made for bad debt of £46,134 (2019: £21,814).

All of the charity’s financial instruments, both assets and liabilities, are measured at amortised cost. The carrying values of these are shown above and also in note 13 below.

13 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Accruals
Trade creditors
Taxation and social security
Other creditors		 2020
2019
£
£
5,458
11,654
5,937
3,176
137,901
116,586
21,452
91,911
170,748
223,327

41

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

14 Pension scheme

The charity operates a defined contribution scheme. Contributions are charged in the statement of financial activities as they accrue. The charge for the year was £12,375. (2019: £15,843). There were 5 (2019: 3) scheme members at the balance sheet date. £1,577 (2019: £1,985) of contributions was owed to the scheme as of that date.

15a Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)

Tangible fixed assets
Net current assets
Net assets at 30 September 2020		 General
unrestricted
£
-
11,924		 Designated
£
1,959
-		 Restricted
Total
funds
£
£
-
1,959
321,195
333,119
321,195
335,078
11,924 1,959

15b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)

Net current assets
Tangible fixed assets
Net assets at 1 October 2019		 General
unrestricted
£
-
36,561		 Designated
£
5,288
-		 Restricted
Total
funds
£
£
-
5,288
621,104
657,665
621,104
662,953
36,561 5,288

42

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

16a Movements in funds (current year)

Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
Total funds
Tangible Fixed Assets
Unrestricted funds:
General funds
Undisclosed Project 1
Undisclosed Project 3
Total unrestricted funds
Undisclosed Project 2
Designated funds:
Other projects
Restricted funds:
Multi-country "GSP+" Advocacy
& Monitoring Project - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 4
Undisclosed Project 5		 At 1 October
2019
£
-
395,036
-
41,368
185,487
-
(786)		 Income &
gains
£
-
-
25,649
74,793
59,551
253		 Expenditure
& losses
£
13,892
(262,143)
-
(77,783)
(71,443)
(59,551)		 Transfers
£
(13,892)
-
-
10,766
-
-		 At 30
September
2020
£
-
132,893
-
()
188,837
(533)
621,104 160,245 (457,027) (3,126) 321,195
5,288 - (3,329) 1,959
5,288 - - (3,329) 1,959
36,561 128,548 (159,641) 6,455 11,924
41,849 128,548 (159,641) 3,126 13,883
662,953 288,793 (616,668) - 335,078

The narrative to explain the purpose of each fund is given at the foot of the note below.

43

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

16b Movements in funds (prior year)

Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
Total funds
Restricted funds:
Kazakhstan - EIDHR
Tangible Fixed Assets
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds:
RUSSIA FCO (2)
Other projects
General funds
Total unrestricted funds
Undisclosed Project 2
Undisclosed Project 4
Yemen - EIDHR
Serbia (2) - EIDHR
Egypt - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 1
Multi-country "GSP+" Advocacy
& Monitoring Project - EIDHR
Undisclosed Project 3		 At 1 October
2018
£
103,979
429,294
-
-
18,941
-
2,484
-
69,965
6,711
11,968		 Income &
gains
£
102,432
236,270
68,324
124,684
17,381
22,252
(8,350)
259,677
215,130
-
(12,460)		 Expenditure
& losses
£
(212,152)
(270,528)
(72,615)
(102,044)
(43,125)
(35,790)
(9,763)
(218,309)
(99,608)
-
(27,517)		 Transfers
£
5,741
-
4,291
(22,640)
6,803
13,538
15,629
-
-
(6,711)
27,223		 At 30
September
2019
£
-
395,036
-
-
-
-
-
41,368
185,487
-
(786)
643,341 1,025,340 (1,091,450) 43,874 621,104
6,608 - - (1,320) 5,288
6,608 - - (1,320) 5,288
61,929 72,627 (55,442) (42,554) 36,561
68,537 72,627 (55,442) (43,874) 41,849
711,878 1,097,967 (1,146,892) - 662,953

Purposes of restricted funds

General Restricted Funds

Restricted funds are those provided for various programmes that the Equal Rights Trust is commissioned to perform throughout the world.

Undisclosed project 1 was a grant contract worth approximately £749k over 50 months. It ended in April 2019.

The Multi-Country "GSP" project is funded by the European Comission's EIDHR fund. It is a grant contract worth approximately £1,366k over 51 months and is due to finish in February 2021.

Undisclosed Project 3 was a grant contract worth approximately £973k over 48 months. It finished in December 2018.

Undisclosed Project 2 is a grant contract worth approximately £489k over 44 months and is due to finish in December 2020

Undisclosed Project 4 is a grant contract worth approximately £576k over 45 months and is due to finish in September 2021.

44

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

General Restricted Funds (continued)

Undisclosed Project 5 was a grant contract funded by the UK Government's Foreign & Commonwealth Offfice. It was worth approximately £59k over a period of 8 months and finished on 31 March 2020.

Other Projects comprises restricted funds held at 30th September 2020 other than the specific funds listed above.

Each of these projects aims to promote the realisation of the rights to equality and non-discrimination through the delivery of one or more of the core charitable activities of the Trust - Advocacy, Movement Building, Litigation & Legal Services, and Research and Resources - in one or more jurisdictions. These projects together represent over 95% of the restricted funds held at 30 September 2020.

Purposes of designated funds

Tangible Fixed Assets - This represents the net book value of tangible fixed assets as of 30th September 2020. This fund will cover depreciation charges for the lifetime of all assets held.

Transfers between funds

Undisclosed Projects 1 and 2 are two projects which were implemented in the same country; the projects are undisclosed because of the security risks to human rights defenders if the existence of the projects were to be made public. Both projects came to an end during the financial year and the funds were closed. Funds were transferred from general unrestricted funds to Undisclosed Project 1 to bring this fund to zero, following losses as a result of exchange rate movements; conversely, funds were transferred from Undisclosed Project 2 to general unrestricted funds, following gains made as a result of exchange rate movements.

17 Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash at bank and in hand
Total cash and cash equivalents		 At 1 October
2019
£
475,399		 Cash flows
£
(218,965)		 Other
changes
At 30
September
2020
£
£
-
256,434
-
256,434
475,399 (218,965)

18 Operating lease commitments

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods

Less than one year
One to five years
Over five years		 2020
2019
£
£
11,908
15,548
291
-
-
-
12,199
15,548
Property

45

The Equal Rights Trust

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 30 September 2020

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

46