2021-12-31-accounts

THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

Company Registration Number - 6317151 Charity Registration Number - 1132397

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

INTRODUCTION

The directors, who are the charitable company’s trustees for the purposes of charity law, present their report including the Reports of the Chair and Chief Executive on pages 5 to 7 together with the financial statements of The Elders Foundation for the year ended 31 December 2021. This report has been prepared in accordance with part 8 of the Charities Act 2011 and serves the purposes of both trustees’ report and a directors’ report under company law.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on pages 29 to 39 and comply with the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, applicable laws and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

THE ELDERS WORK

The Elders was founded in 2007 by Nelson Mandela to “support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict and inspire hope where there is despair”.

Charged with this mandate, the Elders use their independence, collective experience and influence to work for peace, justice and human rights worldwide. Working both publicly and through private diplomacy, they engage with global leaders and civil society to resolve conflict and address its root causes, to challenge injustice, and to promote ethical leadership and good governance.

The organisation’s collective identity is strongly rooted in the mandate bestowed by Mandela, years of collective endeavour and a shared sense of mission and values. The Elders’ independence and integrity are fundamental, enabling them to speak freely and boldly, working both publicly and behind the scenes to help tackle complex and seemingly intractable issues.

The Elders’ role is often catalytic: they create space for others whose causes are aligned with their vision for a better future, and aim to strengthen the voices of emerging leaders with integrity.

The Elders also seek to give a voice to some of those who are voiceless, for example through sharing their experiences publicly during a country visit in which they hear directly from marginalised people about the consequences of conflict or other failures of leadership, or bringing those stories into international forums.

The Elders’ range of approaches to their work has included:

• International travel (country visits, speaking at international conferences, holding high-level and grassroots meetings);

• Letters sent privately, sometimes with a public statement issued in parallel;

• Private discussions with government and other leaders;

• Convening or co-hosting meetings and events with select public audiences; and

• Public statements, often with follow-up media work, opinion pieces, blogs or interviews.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

ELDERS’ STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PLAN

The 2018-22 Strategic Framework has been designed to provide institutional coherence to ongoing policy and communications activities.

The Elders’ Strategic Framework is arranged around three key themes:

• Governance and Leadership;

• Conflict, its Causes and Consequences; and

• Inequality, Exclusion and Injustice (particularly for women).

Under the umbrella of these three themes, The Elders focus on six programmes of work:

1. Ethical Leadership and Multilateral Co-operation;

2. Climate Change;

3. Conflict Countries and Regions;

4. Refugees and Migration;

5. Universal Health Coverage; and

6. Access to Justice.

Many of the issues on which The Elders work cannot neatly be contained within one theme, but encompass elements of two or all three. The Elders favour a holistic approach which considers all the diverse aspects to any geopolitical problem, and includes the range of relevant stakeholders when trying to arrive at a sustainable outcome. In particular, equality for women and girls is a theme through every area of our work.

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT

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We also seek to empower young people and promote intergenerational dialogue to arrive at sustainable solutions for current and future generations.

One comparative advantage of the group is that its members represent no vested interest and are free from national or institutional influence. The Elders can “speak truth to power” from a genuinely objective standpoint, and use their position to amplify the voices of marginalised and disempowered groups, particularly victims of conflict and discrimination.

More information about all the work of The Elders can be found online at www.theElders.org

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

2021 was another year of intense activity and readjustment for The Elders, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact every aspect of our work.

Throughout the year and across all initiatives, we remained true to our core values of supporting courage where there is fear, fostering agreement where there is discord and inspiring hope where there is despair – the mandate bequeathed to us by our founder, Nelson Mandela.

We had a poignant reminder of the power of these values at the very end of the year, when our beloved friend and first Chair, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, died on 26 December at the age of 90.

His passing saw a global outpouring of sadness, but also many recollections of inspiring moments from his rich, joyful and courageous life.

“Arch” was a driving force in making The Elders what it is today. His words, his life and his legacy will continue to inspire what we do as Elders in the year ahead.

Arch would often talk of ‘Ubuntu’, the African concept that we are only human through the humanity we show to others. In committing to put this idea into practice in our daily lives, we can all pay tribute to his legacy.

As this report of our annual activities shows, too often in 2021 leaders failed to act according to the values Arch spent his life advocating.

They did not act with boldness and urgency to tackle the pandemic - and the chasms of inequality and injustice it has opened up - as a global challenge that needs global solutions.

They did not constrain the aggressive nationalism and political cynicism Arch deplored, which have continued to drive conflicts and suffering worldwide: from Ethiopia and Afghanistan to Myanmar and Palestine.

They did not respond to the global refugee crisis with the ambition, solidarity and empathy it deserves.

As Elders we have engaged publicly and privately on these challenges. Our aim is to tackle the root causes of global problems, to hold leaders accountable for their actions, and to speak truth to power, however unpopular that may be – as Arch always did.

These values were at the heart of the “State of Hope” series of online dialogues that we launched in July 2021, which brought together Elders, experts, fellow former leaders and young activists to discuss where hope lies now and in the future, and how we can draw inspiration from remarkable leaders like Arch and Nelson Mandela to deliver progress in the future.

Accountability is critical here, especially to secure the action the world needs on the climate crisis in 2022. We welcome the fact that, following COP26 in Glasgow last November, all countries now accept the necessity of limiting their emissions so global temperature rises are kept to 1.5°C. To do so, the promises made at COP26 need to be implemented, or faith in the multilateral process could be fatally undermined.

We also start 2022 with hope. In a statement released on 3 January the world's five nuclear states affirmed that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought” - a statement The Elders have long been calling for, and I have welcomed. These are simple words, but they demonstrate tremendous potential for collaboration between nations to reduce the risks of the unimaginable horrors of nuclear war. It is now time

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for that potential to be realised, and words turned into actions. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 reinforces the importance of that challenge.

2022 will mark the 15[th] anniversary of The Elders. This will be a poignant moment as we reflect on friends and comrades who are no longer with us, including Arch and Kofi Annan, but also a chance to re-engage and recommit to achieving the hopeful, just and peaceful world they fought for all their lives.

As this report shows, The Elders can have meaningful impact on many issues in a variety of ways: sometimes through public advocacy, sometimes through private diplomacy, sometimes immediately and sometimes over time. In the year ahead we will continue to strive with humility to realise Madiba’s vision and honour the legacy of all those noble fighters for justice in whose footsteps we tread.

Mary Robinson

31 March 2022

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S FOREWORD

It is a privilege to write this Foreword as the new Chief Executive of The Elders. I started in my role on 1 November 2021, following the retirement of my predecessor David Nussbaum. I was pleased to inherit a Secretariat in good shape, with dedicated staff, well-established systems and governance, financial stability, and a strong ethos of service to the Elders.

The past twelve months were a time of transition for The Elders. COVID-19 restrictions on travel and meetings continued to restrict what we could do. This meant much of our work was done through digital public advocacy, rather than in-person private diplomacy. But as the year went by, the world’s slow, erratic and partial emergence from the worst of the pandemic created opportunities, and gave us fresh energy and hope to face further changes ahead. This report shows how The Elders continued to work in 2021 towards the goals of the existing strategy, but showed agility in adjusting to a changing world.

In our conflict work, we continued our long-standing engagement on Israel/Palestine with a notable public intervention by Ban Ki-moon, calling for a fresh approach to the conflict that recognises the current Israeli occupation arguably constitutes apartheid. We also responded to new crises as they emerged, including in Myanmar, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. We used Elders’ strong multilateral relationships to shine a light on the need for concerted international responses in accordance with the UN Charter.

Our health work continued applying learning from our support for Universal Health Coverage to argue for better pandemic preparedness and response, particularly pushing G7 and G20 leaders to implement the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (co-chaired by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf).

The Elders’ meetings with the UN Security Council in New York, our two Board meetings in Washington DC, and Mary Robinson’s high-profile presence at COP26 in Glasgow were the first opportunities for Elders to do face-to-face meetings since the pandemic began. These meetings underscored the huge value of personal contact in achieving the Elders’ challenging objectives.

We will learn from and consolidate the innovations in digital communications we have practised of necessity in 2020 and 2021. But we look forward to 2022 being a year when we will be able to not only visit major cities to do face-to-face diplomacy, but get Elders back to the countries where conflicts and crises are happening, to hear from the vulnerable people our mandate obliges us to serve.

2022 will be a year of further transition, as we review progress against our 2018-22 strategy, and design a new strategy for 2023-27. We will be consulting widely on that, in a spirit of humility and learning. I look forward to hearing a range of views from around the world on how best The Elders can use their distinctive experience and wisdom to help the planet become a safer, fairer and more sustainable place.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

Following the end of the year under review, Russia invaded Ukraine. At the time of writing, The Elders have started responding to this major geopolitical event. The full consequences of the Russian invasion and reactions to it, including the impact on The Elders’ work in 2022 and beyond, is currently hard to predict.

Alistair Fernie 31 March 2022

REVIEW OF PROGRAMMATIC INITIATIVES

Ethical Leadership and Multilateral Co-operation

Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

The Elders continued to focus on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament in 2021, even though COVID-19 caused the further postponement of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference originally planned for April 2020.

The year started on a positive note with the decision in January by the new Biden Administration in the United States to renew the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) with Russia for five years, ending months of uncertainty. The Elders welcomed this in a statement, and urged all nuclear powers to take further steps towards disarmament in light of the entry into force of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

In March, the United Kingdom announced its intention to raise the cap on its nuclear warhead stockpile from 180 to 260. In response, Mary Robinson released a statement on behalf of The Elders criticising this decision, and emphasising that this would have a negative impact on the NPT Review Conference.

The statement was picked up by Reuters and received widespread coverage, with a potential global audience of 700 million people. The Elders’ tweet on the statement was liked by the Biden Administration’s nominee for Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security (Bonnie Jenkins). The statement was also specifically welcomed by ICAN, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign for the Nuclear Ban Treaty. Such traction of The Elders’ statement highlights how an intervention on digital platforms can resonate with policymakers and opinion-formers.

Throughout the year, Elders used public and private meetings to keep the spotlight on the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons, alongside other threats higher up policymakers’ agendas such as climate change and pandemics. This included Mary Robinson’s address to the UN Security Council in September, private meetings with UNSC members in June and September, and the Elders’ meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington DC in October.

In December, concerned at reports that the US Nuclear Posture Review was being overly influenced by hawkish elements in the Pentagon and the military establishment, Gro Brundtland wrote an op-ed in the

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Financial Times urging President Biden to stick to his campaign pledge of introducing a “sole purpose” policy for the US nuclear arsenal based only on deterrence and retaliation. As a former leader of a NATO member state, her views resonated with policymakers and helped counter the argument, put forward by those seeking a more aggressive stance from President Biden, that US allies were opposed to a “sole purpose” doctrine.

The Elders have a long-standing position that all P5 nuclear states should recommit to the Reagan-Gorbachev maxim that “a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought”. When a joint P5 statement backing this position was eventually agreed in early 2022, The Elders welcomed the decision and urged all nuclear powers to treat this as a prompt for further positive steps towards multilateral disarmament in the year ahead.

UN and P5 ENGAGEMENT

The Elders’ long-standing engagement with the P5 states and other members of the UN Security Council gained fresh momentum in 2021, as relaxations of COVID-19 restrictions meant it was possible again to hold in-person meetings in New York.

The Elders sent letters to all the members of the Security Council in February, emphasising the importance of collaboration on the Security Council and of leadership in tackling global threats and strengthening the multilateral system. The letters also emphasised the Elders’ interest in maintaining close dialogue with the Council.

These letters garnered positive responses and Elders addressed the Council on three separate occasions in 2021: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf addressed an open virtual debate in January on women, peace and security; Ban Ki-moon spoke at a high-level open debate in April to condemn the coup in Myanmar and urge a collective response from the Council; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi jointly addressed the Council in September at the invitation of the Irish Presidency.

On this occasion, Mary Robinson spoke about the broad topic of the Council’s responsibilities with regard to conflict prevention, while Lakhdar Brahimi spoke specifically about the situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban had seized control following the precipitous withdrawal of US and other foreign forces. This event marked Lakhdar Brahimi’s last public engagement as an Elder before assuming Emeritus status.

Alongside these public sessions, delegations of Elders also held private meetings with Permanent Representatives in New York in both June and September. These in-person meetings were an opportunity to renew contacts and present the Elders’ collective identity and agenda to the Council. The meetings led to productive side-discussions with both permanent and non-permanent members which continue to inform programmatic planning across a wide range of initiatives. Many Permanent Representatives followed up afterwards with the Elders’ Secretariat to convey the high value they place on these meetings, not only to hear directly from the Elders but also because they offer a space for more candid discussions than formal Council sessions. This underscores the importance of the trust in which The Elders are held at the highest levels of international diplomacy and the value of sustained engagement with the UNSC over several years.

Throughout 2021, The Elders supported initiatives to develop ideas for strengthening the UN system. This helped to inform the UN Secretary-General’s report Our Common Agenda, which was launched in September ahead of the 76[th] General Assembly.

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Our Common Agenda outlines the response of Secretary-General Guterres to the UN75 declaration, and sets out his agenda for his second term in office. The Secretariat submitted an Elders paper to the UN SecretaryGeneral in April outlining a range of proposals for strengthening the UN system, in response to a direct request by the Secretary-General for input from the Elders to his report. In May, Lakhdar Brahimi spoke at a private roundtable event organised by the Stimson Center with experts, UN officials and member state representatives to feed in recommendations to the Our Common Agenda report.

Elders have also continued to highlight the importance of multilateral co-operation, for instance through Mary Robinson’s video address for an event organised by the President of the General Assembly for the International Day of Multilateralism in April, and in a public event organised with the International Peace Institute (IPI) in June, where Mary Robinson and Zeid Raad Al Hussein were interviewed by James Bays, diplomatic editor for Al Jazeera in New York.

CLIMATE CHANGE

The over-arching focus of the Elders’ engagement on climate issues in 2021 was working to support a successful outcome to the COP26 climate negotiations hosted by the UK in Glasgow in November.

To this end, the Elders made public and private interventions, ranging from speeches and op-eds to bilateral meetings with heads of state and government and sharing platforms with young activists from civil society, all with the aim of pushing for progress to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and the $100 billion target for climate finance for developing nations.

Throughout the year, Elders published op-eds in diverse national and regional media to maintain pressure on critical countries in the run-up to COP26. On the global level, Ricardo Lagos published a call in El País in January for a “fossil fuel registry” to spur the decarbonisation of the global economy.

In April, Ban Ki-moon authored two geographically-specific op-eds; firstly in the South China Morning Post calling on China, Japan and South Korea to end coal use and funding, and secondly in the German financial daily Handelsblatt calling on then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel to use her final months in office to show bold leadership on climate finance.

As scientific warnings and extreme weather events intensified over the year, and as worries grew that progress at COP26 could be stifled by certain interests particularly wedded to a fossil-fuel economy, the Elders chose to be even more direct in urging laggard governments to step up.

Australia was a prominent example of such a country, and Mary Robinson gave several interviews to Australian media in the latter half of the year directly urging Prime Minister Scott Morrison to join other leaders in raising ambition.

Ban Ki-moon also authored an op-ed in The Canberra Times in August, urging Australia to halve its emissions this decade and commit to net zero by 2050. These interventions were appreciated by Australian climate activists and civil society.

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The Elders maintained a steady drumbeat of activity and advocacy in the months prior to the Glasgow conference and the G20 summit in Rome which immediately preceded it. This included a meeting with US Special Envoy on climate John Kerry in Washington in June, and a live press event at the National Press Club in Washington DC in October, where Mary Robinson and Ban Ki-moon addressed a global audience of climate journalists on the steps that leaders needed to take to make COP26 a success.

The two Elders spent an hour briefing around 30 international journalists, and the event resulted in around 40 articles in US, European, Australasian and African outlets, including prominent coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

As the summit got underway in November, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf authored a front-page op-ed in the New York Times emphasising the African perspective and the need for climate justice for developing countries in general, particularly with regard to climate finance.

These interventions were also complemented by a series of guest blogs published on the Elders’ website by a diverse selection of young climate activists, including indigenous voices and campaigners from small island states particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels. This blog series not only enabled the Elders to publicly amplify the activists’ voices but also led to private discussions between Elders and activists that deepened the trust and esteem in which The Elders are held by this critical constituency.

At COP26 itself, the Elders contributed to wider efforts to influence the pledges that important countries brought to the summit. On climate finance, The Elders were credited as being influential in encouraging donor countries to meet their commitments; whilst on reducing emissions, Australian civil society thanked the Elders for their work pressing the Australian government to lift their ambition.

Throughout the summit, Mary Robinson had a specific role as co-host of Sky News TV’s rolling coverage. This was a role that had been cultivated throughout the year on the basis of her distinctive and powerful voice, and recognition of the unique position The Elders enjoy in the climate advocacy and activist ecosystem.

Through her daily broadcasts, Mary Robinson was able to shape the reporting of the negotiations. One of her interviews – an emotional response to the news that national commitments amounted to a terrifying 2.4 degrees world – went viral on social media and was re-broadcast on CNN and Channel 4.

On the closing day of COP26, the Elders’ verdict that Glasgow “ represents some progress, but nowhere near enough to avoid climate disaster… People will see this as a historically shameful dereliction of duty ”, was picked up by the world’s biggest news agency - the Associated Press - in their concluding report of the summit, and syndicated over 500 times across 27 countries.

CONFLICT COUNTRIES AND REGIONS

With COVID-19 restrictions curtailing possibilities for country visits and bilateral meetings for most of 2021, the majority of the Elders’ work on conflict was focused on engagements at a multilateral level and public interventions such as statements, speeches and op-eds.

Three conflicts dominated the Elders’ agenda in the period: Israel/Palestine , Myanmar and Ethiopia , with a surge of activity on Afghanistan following the US withdrawal and Taliban takeover in August. This included

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public statements and Elders’ addresses to the UN Security Council focused on the humanitarian and human rights situation, and the need for inclusive government to build stability.

On Israel/Palestine , the decision by the Palestinian Authority in April to cancel long-overdue elections was another example of the political stagnation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the challenges in attempting to renew any political dialogue. The Elders conveyed their disappointment at this step via a public statement in April and private exchanges with stakeholders.

In May, a major escalation in violent conflict between Israel and Gaza led to widespread destruction and civilian deaths. The Elders issued a statement calling for urgent action by the UN Security Council, and for the root causes of the conflict to be addressed to avoid further cycles of violence.

In light of this escalation and the decision by the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into war crimes by all sides in the conflict, Ban Ki-moon published an op-ed in the Financial Times calling for a new approach to the conflict by the international community.

He argued that this approach should acknowledge the fundamental asymmetry of the conflict between the occupier and the occupied. It should be based on equal rights, respect for international law and an end to the occupation. It amplified the growing calls for a new approach that avoids perpetuating the status quo, and drew on evidence published by credible sources that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories arguably constitutes apartheid.

Ban Ki-moon’s op-ed received significant attention from a wide range of stakeholders, including Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups, as well as expert observers and campaigners in the US and Europe. As acknowledged by one high profile international expert on the Middle East, it has helped place the question of apartheid at the centre of legitimate debate on Israel/Palestine.

Throughout the period, the Elders continued to work closely with The Carter Center, participating in online workshops to hear directly from Israeli and Palestinian civil society organisations about the challenges they face and the shrinking political space on both sides for independent voices and campaigning.

Lakhdar Brahimi joined these sessions, offering his perspective and reflecting on his past experience in the region. Participants expressed their gratitude that the Elders continue to advocate on issues of civic space and rights in the Israel/Palestine context, and valued the workshops as a tangible sign of solidarity.

On Myanmar , the Elders’ planned focus on the continuing plight of the Rohingya people within the country and those forcibly displaced into refugee camps in neighbouring countries was disrupted by the military coup on 1 February. The Elders issued a statement condemning the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy, and the violent crackdown against protesters that has persisted since the coup.

Ban Ki-moon used an address to the UN Security Council in April to urge a coordinated response to the coup by the UNSC, ASEAN and the wider international community, with the aim of restoring civilian-led rule and democracy, and averting further bloodshed and civil war.

Subsequent efforts have been focused on the role of ASEAN as the chief multilateral actor, which was raised publicly by Mary Robinson in her address to the UN Security Council in September.

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On Ethiopia , the Elders remained deeply concerned about the continuing violent conflict and reported human rights abuses in Tigray, and the conflict’s spill over into other regions of the country. They issued two statements on the conflict in May and November, and also used their various addresses to the UN Security Council throughout 2021 to highlight the issue. Elders also undertook private diplomacy on the conflict, and it was raised in conversations with US government officials during their two board meetings in Washington DC, in June and October.

The Elders will remain engaged on these three conflicts in the year ahead, as well as other countries included in the existing strategic plan. On Iran , the Elders will continue to encourage a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, building on their public statement in November calling for all parties to show leadership and a willingness to compromise. We will continue to monitor developments and maintain our stakeholder relationships in Zimbabwe where there has been prior engagement in the strategic period. In all cases, the Elders will carefully consider the balance of public and private interventions in light of the wider geopolitical context.

REFUGEES AND MIGRATION

Promoting greater compassion for refugees and migrants, and safe and legal pathways for those forcibly displaced from their homes, has been an area of focus for The Elders for the past five years.

A crucial element of this agenda is promoting and empowering the voices of refugees and migrants themselves. To this end, in June 2021 Mary Robinson participated in a virtual training workshop series for refugee-led organisations around the world, organised by Independent Diplomat in partnership with the Global Refugee Network. Mary Robinson focused on encouraging refugees to tell their own compelling stories to decision-makers, and to forge new alliances with different groups across the public and private sectors. Her intervention was warmly received by all participants.

On the diplomatic front, the Elders wrote in October to the leaders of ASEAN calling for greater responsibilitysharing across the bloc for resettling Rohingya refugees. To mark World Refugee Day in June, quotes calling on European Union states to also step up on responsibility-sharing were issued by Mary Robinson and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ahead of the EU’s Resettlement Forum in July.

In July, Ban Ki-moon published an op-ed in TIME magazine to mark the 50[th] anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. He criticised policies including the forcible returns of Afghan refugees whose asylum claims have been refused by several European countries, and Australia and the UK’s promotion of off-shoring of asylumseekers and discrimination against those arriving through irregular routes.

The op-ed was well received by leading advocacy groups such as International Rescue Committee and by UNHCR, and helped position The Elders as a powerful voice on these issues ahead of the High Level Officials Meeting on the Global Compact on Refugees in December.

Hina Jilani was invited to address this meeting, and demanded that wealthy countries finally meet their obligations in terms of responsibility sharing for refugee resettlement and asylum, and greater financial support for the countries hosting the highest numbers of refugees worldwide.

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UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

COVID-19 continued to dominate the global health agenda in 2021, and the Elders’ focus was to support the work and recommendations of bodies addressing the impact of the pandemic and seeking to prepare for future health emergencies.

The Elders also continued to advocate for the implementation of Universal Health Coverage as one of the best ways of strengthening the resilience of public health systems to cope with COVID-19 and future pandemics, drawing on their report “Building Back Better for Universal Health” published in December 2020.

The fundamental arguments for and imperatives behind UHC remain the same and will continue to apply once the threat of COVID-19 has passed: providing a safety net for the poorest and most vulnerable members of society is in everyone’s interests as it strengthens social cohesion, economic productivity and healthy communities.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Ernesto Zedillo were both significantly involved in the work of the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response (co-chaired by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark), and Gro Brundtland served until July as the Co-Chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, which warned about the threat of a global influenza-style pandemic back in September 2019.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Ernesto Zedillo also addressed the virtual Skoll World Forum in April to discuss the IPPPR’s work and broader issues pertaining to the global response to COVID-19 and the need to achieve UHC as part of a broader holistic path to global health and sustainable development.

Throughout 2021, the Elders provided collective support for the work of the International Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) and the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB). The IPPPR cochairs requested two separate meetings with all the Elders to provide feedback and counsel ahead of their report in May, indicating the value of the group’s collective deliberations and the esteem in which they are held by their peers.

Pandemic preparedness and response was a prominent agenda item in the Elders’ meetings with the UN Security Council in New York, and in discussions with UN Secretary-General Guterres in September.

The Elders also spoke out publicly on vaccine equity and access to medicines in Africa with a letter to G7 leaders in September, building on consultations between Graça Machel, Mary Robinson and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf spoke of the threat of pandemics at the global virtual unveiling of the 2021 Doomsday Clock in January. She also addressed the COVID-19 Summit convened by the White House on 22 September in her capacity as Co-Chair of the Independent Panel, repeating her call for the IPPPR report’s recommendations to be implemented in full.

Although travel restrictions made it harder to follow up on the country-specific advocacy that The Elders had undertaken prior to the pandemic, the Secretariat remained in dialogue with government officials and health

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experts in South Africa – where Gro Brundtland and Ricardo Lagos had visited in 2019 in support of President Ramaphosa’s UHC reforms.

If conditions allow, there may be the possibility of a return visit to South Africa in 2022 to renew support for the National Health Insurance (NHI) agenda and highlight the critical importance of vaccine equity in fighting COVID-19 and preparing for future pandemics.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE

The Elders’ work on access to justice in 2021 was structured around two main pillars: supporting the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) events that had initially been planned for 2020 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on women’s rights, and highlighting the ways in which COVID-19 has exacerbated global inequalities and made it harder for vulnerable groups to access justice.

Ahead of the GEF, in February The Elders and Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies hosted a high-level advocacy convening in which 44 experts, activists and advocates from four continents formulated messages and policy recommendations to enhance access to justice for women.

Mary Robinson joined leading figures from government, the private sector, youth movements and civil society to make recommendations in the form of sample commitments on gender-based violence and on feminist movements and leadership.

During the convening participants identified five recommendations for advocacy messaging ahead of the GEF: to i) increase women’s leadership in the justice sector; ii) increase funding for legal empowerment and justice services for women; iii) provide people-centred justice services to survivors of gender-based violence; iv) invest in data and analysis of women’s justice problems and experiences; v) reduce incarceration of women by increasing the use of alternative sentences.

These recommendations, as well as one focused on the nexus between climate justice and access to justice to women, were also captured in a series of infographic posts that were shared with participants and partners, as well as on social media, in the run-up to the main GEF events.

The Elders also published on their website a guest blog by Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Special Envoy on Youth, on the need to change the global narrative on gender-based violence and access to justice. The Special Envoy had participated in the February convening and directly approached the Elders’ Secretariat about the blog, indicating the value that senior officials and opinion-formers place on having their messages appear on Elders-branded platforms.

A filmed message from Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani and Graça Machel was shown during the first week of GEF events in Paris in May. The film highlighted each of the calls to action that came out of The Elders’ February convening as a route to building a better world for all, and was welcomed as “an important and timely intervention” by the GEF event moderator on its pre-release preview. Additionally, released the week before the GEF, an Elders’ Finding Humanity podcast episode with Hina Jilani and Mary Robinson focused on access to justice for women as an essential tool for ending the scourge of gender-based violence.

The film was also delivered as a keynote message at a high-level event on the first day of the forum and featured in the official “Virtual Village” of the GEF. It was shared via social media by organisations and

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

individuals including Anita Bhatia (Deputy Executive Director of UN Women), ATLAS Women, Michelle Morse (Vice President for Girls and Women Strategy at the UN Foundation) and UN Women’s HeForShe campaign.

These advocacy discussions were complemented by public engagement from male Elders to highlight the need to tackle violence against women at all levels and in all countries. Ban Ki-moon wrote an op-ed in El País in June calling on women’s rights to be at the heart of the global recovery from COVID-19, and a subsequent commentary in The Independent (UK) in December to mark Human Rights Day by highlighting the importance of women’s rights and the need to combat institutionalised misogyny, prejudice and discrimination.

As part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence, The Elders produced a series of digital interventions, including infographics and personal reflections, in which Ban Ki-moon, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, Juan Manuel Santos, Mary Robinson and Graça Machel offered their reflections on how leaders must meet their responsibilities, regardless of gender, to end this persistent injustice. The campaign also included an Elders’ Finding Humanity podcast episode where Ban Ki-moon and Mary Robinson reflected on their personal motivations on gender equality and feminism.

This digital campaign was shared widely on social media by activists with whom the Secretariat had built trusted relationships over the course of the year, helping to position The Elders as a respected source of leadership and inspiration on justice and gender.

The culmination of a year-long focus during 2021 on the impact of COVID-19 on an already precarious situation was the publication in January 2022 of a new policy paper on access to justice and the rule of law for women. This will set the tone for continued advocacy in 2022.

COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT

Public communications was at the heart of most Elders’ activities in 2021, given physical travel and private meetings remained significantly constrained due to COVID-19. As well as supporting individual programme objectives, The Elders’ communications work also broadcasts the organisation’s wider messages, profile and values to a range of target audiences.

The central focus of this form of organisational communications in 2021 was the “State of Hope” series of online talks, articles, debates and exchanges, which placed Elders’ reflections on the nature of contemporary challenges in the context of the mandate bequeathed to the organisation by its founder, Nelson Mandela, to “inspire hope where there is despair”.

Launched on July 18, Mandela’s birthday and the anniversary of the founding of The Elders, the State of Hope series featured specially-filmed lectures by Mary Robinson, Ban Ki-moon, Graça Machel, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, Hina Jilani and Juan Manuel Santos.

Each lecture focused on a different aspect of hope, and how it pertains to specific questions of human rights, conflict resolution, the space for civil society and efforts to tackle climate change, the pandemic and the broader challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Each Elder’s intervention was responded to by notable global figures to spark a wider digital conversation, including former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate, NASA astronaut and scientist Commander Chris Hadfield, and former UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour.

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These digital conversations were streamed to over 82 million people worldwide on social media. There were 1.5 million views of The Elders’ social media State of Hope content, delivering 46,000 comments, ‘likes’ and shares. In the launch week 36 media articles were published with a potential audience of 66 million people, including specially-commissioned op-ed articles by Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani and Juan Manuel Santos for Project Syndicate which also included links to the online lectures.

This and other significant digital engagements – including a second series of the “Finding Humanity” podcast collaboration, with episodes focusing on access to justice, gender-based violence, the role of the UN Security Council and future pandemic preparedness – resulted in further growth in reach on the Elders’ digital channels.

In the second half of the year, since the State of Hope launch in July 2021, the Elders’ website saw a 36% increase in traffic on the same period last year, and a 61% increase on the previous four months.

The State of Hope talks remain accessible for all on www.stateofhope.live and continue to be shared and engaged with. They will act as a foundation for conversations that emerge in State of Hope gatherings in 2022 and beyond.

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE ELDERS

Governance

The Elders Foundation (‘The Elders’) is a charitable company limited by guarantee, the governing document being the charity’s Articles of Association. The charity’s objectives as set out in the Articles are to: prevent and relieve poverty; relieve sickness and ill health; advance environmental protection and improvement; advance conflict resolution and reconciliation; promote human rights, education and any other charitable purpose. The members of The Elders are the Board of Trustees, and no Trustee has any interest in the charity’s funds.

The Elders is governed by its Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees meets twice a year and is responsible for setting strategic direction and the governance of The Elders. The Board of Trustees has delegated the oversight of the organisation between Board meetings to an Executive Committee made up of four or five Trustees. The Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee have delegated the day-to-day management of the organisation to the Chief Executive and Senior Management Team. The Audit, Finance and Governance Committee, chaired by Gro Brundtland, provides a further level of scrutiny.

New Trustees are appointed by the Board, and are selected based upon their skills, track record and experience. There is an aim for geographical and gender balance across the Trustees. Each year a third of the Trustees, being those longest in office, retire. Retiring trustees may be reappointed. The Board of Trustees may appoint Emeritus Elders and Patrons. The Board of Trustees has appointed an Advisory Council which provides support and advice to the Trustees and the Chief Executive.

During 2017 the Board of Trustees approved a five year Strategic Framework for 2018-2022. Annual objectives are agreed by the Chair and the Chief Executive based on the Strategic Framework, and reviewed along with the budget and financial performance.

Small Company Provisions

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Small Companies Regime under the Companies Act 2006.

Public Benefit

The Elders exists and operates for the public benefit through its private and public advocacy and other activities. The Trustees confirm that they have paid due regard to the guidance published by the Charity Commission under section 17 of the Charities Act 2011.

Fundraising

The Elders Foundation does not carry out direct fundraising with the public, or use any third party organisation for that purpose. No complaints were received about its fundraising activities during the financial year. If a complaint were to be received, it would be handled by a senior member of staff or Trustee.

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees (who are directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ 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 company and of the income and expenditure of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102);

• make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable United Kingdom Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the 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 company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Each of the trustees confirms that:

• so far as the Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditor is unaware; and

• the Trustee has taken all the steps that he/she ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditor is aware of that information.

This confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of S418 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

FINANCIAL AND RISK REVIEW FOR THE YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2021

Income

The Elders’ income for the year was £3.0 million (2020: £3.0 million). This includes £0.30 million (2020: £0.12 million) of restricted funding used for our Programmatic work. All restricted income was fully expended during the year.

Expenditure

The Elders’ expenditure for the year was £2.8 million (2020: £2.6 million). This relates primarily to the delivery of a global programme of activities agreed by the Elders, supported by a Secretariat based in London. The Secretariat provides the Elders with policy research, conducts advocacy and communications work, and is responsible for logistics and other support activities.

Reserves

The approach of The Elders is to maintain sufficient available reserves to enable normal operating activities to continue for a period of time, should a shortfall in income or unexpected expenditure occur, taking account of potential risks that may arise. The policy is to maintain available reserves sufficient to meet at least 12 months’ normal operating expenditure.

Reserves at the end of 2021, all unrestricted, were £3.4 million (2020: £3.1 million), of which £0.3 million were represented by fixed assets, leaving available reserves of £3.1 million which represents about 11 months’ normal operating expenditure. This is less than the amount determined by the reserves policy described above. Normal operating expenditure for The Elders is considered to be £3.4 million a year. This represents pre-pandemic operating expenditure and is in line with post pandemic expectations and anticipated levels of travel.

The coronavirus pandemic continued to impact travel in 2021, with costs lower than anticipated. Whilst still somewhat challenging, the fundraising environment improved from the previous year. As a result, £1.1 million of our 2022 income is unrestricted and contracted and a further £1.5 million is anticipated in unrestricted income. This will help to underpin the financial resilience of the organisation.

Key Management Pay Policy

The charity aims to pay staff at comparable levels to other charities operating in the United Kingdom, taking into account the global reach, experience and gravitas needed by the Secretariat and the responsibility of serving a Board of eminent global leaders. The Trustees consider that they, together with the Senior Management Team, comprise the key management personnel in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day to day basis. Members of the Senior Management Team are listed on page 23. None of the Trustees received any remuneration for their role as a member of the key management personnel during the year. The salary of the Chief Executive is agreed by the Nominations Committee on appointment, while other salaries are approved by the Chief Executive on appointment. Annual salary increases for all staff are approved by the Executive Committee, and the Chief Executive has delegated authority to adjust the salaries of individual staff.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

Carbon-offsetting

The Elders have partnered with UK-based charity Climate Stewards to offset the carbon emissions generated by business flights. Although travel was restricted again in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Elders donated £4,622 to Carbon Stewards, based on total flight emissions of 231.1 tonnes of CO₂. Carbon Stewards will use these funds across its portfolio of community-based projects in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Mexico. These projects include tree-growing schemes in schools, fuel-efficient cooking stoves and water filter construction, and all are designed to reduce carbon emissions in a sustainable, inclusive way for the benefit of local communities.

Risk Management

The main risks to which The Elders are exposed are identified, recorded in a risk register and reviewed annually by senior management and the Board of Trustees. Each risk is assessed according to its likelihood and potential impact, together with actions or controls that have been, or may be, taken or put in place in order to mitigate the risk.

The principal risk to the charity is the potential inability to deliver its Strategic Plan and therefore its charitable mission. The main risks considered by the Board during the year, along with mitigating actions, were:

Risk	Mitigation	Remarks
Further disruption cause by the global pandemic, limiting Elders ability to travel, hold face to face board meetings or participate at in- person events.	Use of on-line platform for Board meetings; increased use of communications, particularly social media, for advocacy purposes.	Virtual and hybrid board meetings; some virtual meetings with leaders.
Inability to retain an appropriate number of Elders who are willing and able to assist in the successful delivery of the Strategic Plan.	Ensure a robust policy to recruit new Elders as and when required, maintaining high ethical standards, and geographical and gender balance. Existing Elders attend bi- annual Board meetings where engagement on issues is discussed substantively.	New Elders discussions held at each Elders Board Meeting.
Loss of reputation or adverse publicity leading to an inability to convene, influence or raise funds. Defamation action brought against The Elders.	Rigorous monitoring of policy, protocol and communications by the Secretariat. Risk management policy and conflict of interest policies are in place and reviewed by the Board annually. Insurance in place where possible.	Due diligence maintained by Communications Director.
Capture or death of an Elder or staff member whilst engaged in Elders’ work.	Adequate policies and insurances in place.	Reviewed annually.
Loss of strategic direction, working outside of our charitable objectives and Strategic Plan, or the occurrence of non-charitable activities leading to adverse reputational or regulatory issues and/or our abilityto raise funds.	A Strategic Framework is in place. The Secretariat proposes engagement to the Board at and in between Board meetings. The Secretariat takes legal advice as appropriate. The audit firm was reviewed in 2019.	Strategic Framework approved by the Board; new strategy process underway.

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

Failure to seize opportunities for engagement, leading to low mission impact or reputational issues.	Consistent ‘horizon scanning’ by the Secretariat; potential opportunities are raised and discussed extensively with the Board and the Advisory Council at bi-annual Board meetings.	To be further reviewed as part of new strategy process.
Concentration of funders, or an inability to maintain sufficient funding, leading to significant financial risk to the charity’s ability to fulfil its mission and Strategic Plan.	Regular monitoring of the financial situation. Continuing focus on retaining and diversifying funding streams.	Focus maintained by Development Director.
Secretariat unable to deliver the Strategic Plan due to inadequate capacity, staff skills or organisational structure.	Delegated to CEO and SMT. Staff have an annual performance review. The Board of Trustees receive an organisational update from the CEO at the bi-annual Board meetings.	Staff capability re- assessed in the strategic review. Further review as part of new strategy process.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees:

Ban Ki-moon Lakhdar Brahimi (became Elder Emeritus on 29 June 2021) Gro Brundtland Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein Hina Jilani Ricardo Lagos Graça Machel Mary Robinson (Chair) Juan Manuel Santos Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Ernesto Zedillo

Executive Committee

Mary Robinson (Chair) Graça Machel (Deputy Chair) Ban Ki-Moon (Deputy Chair) Gro Brundtland Ernesto Zedillo

Patrons: Richard Branson Peter Gabriel

Elders Emeritus: Martti Ahtisaari Ela Bhatt Fernando H Cardoso Jimmy Carter Desmond Tutu (died 26 December 2021)

Chief Executive: David Nussbaum (until 31 October 2021) Alistair Fernie (from 1 November 2021) Senior Management Team : Mark Hilton (Operations Director) Vanessa Smye (Development Director) Sheelagh Stewart (Programmes Director – until 31 May 2021) Claire Ireland (Programmes Director – from 4 January 2022) Luke Upchurch (Communications Director)

Registered Office: 3 Tilney Street, London, W1K 1BJ

Auditors: Buzzacott LLP Bankers: HSBC Bank plc 130 Wood Street 21 Kings Mall, King Street London, EC2V 6DL London, W6 0QF Lawyers: Bates Wells Braithwaite Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP 10 Queen Street Place Adelaide House, London Bridge London, EC4R 1BE London EC4R 9HA

By order of the Board of Trustees

Mary Robinson Chair

On 31 March 2022

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Independent auditor’s report to the members of the Elders Foundation

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the Elders Foundation (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 December 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, and statement of cash flows, the principal accounting policies and the notes to the financial statements. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and 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:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at [date] and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the 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

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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Other information

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

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 course of 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 this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. 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:

• the information given in the trustees’ report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the trustees’ report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

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

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

• the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, 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 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.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

How the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities including fraud

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

• the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• we identified the laws and regulations applicable to the charitable company through discussions with management, and from our commercial knowledge and experience of the sector;

• we focused on specific laws and regulations which we considered may have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the charitable company, including the Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006, data protection legislation, anti-bribery, employment, health and safety legislation;

• we assessed the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations identified above through making enquiries of management and inspecting legal correspondence; and

• identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION

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

• making enquiries of management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and

• considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

• performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;

• tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions;

• assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates set out in the accounting policies (note 1a) were indicative of potential bias; and

• used data analytics to identify any significant or unusual transactions and identify the rationale for them.

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

• agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;

• reading the minutes of trustee meetings;

• enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims; and

• reviewing any available correspondence with HMRC and the company’s legal advisors (although none was noted as being received by the charitable company).

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

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

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

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

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.

Edward Finch (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Buzzacott LLP, Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

Date 31 March 2022

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(Incorporating the Income and Expenditure Account) YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

			2021			2020
	Note	Un-			Un-
		restricted	Restricted	Total	restricted	Restricted	Total
INCOME FROM:		£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Donations and grants
- General		2,712	-	2,712	2,845	-	2,845
- Project Funding		-	300	300	-	128	128
Investments		6	-	6	9	-	9
Other		7	-	7	1	-	1
TOTAL INCOME		2,725	300	3,025	2,855	128	2,983
EXPENDITURE ON:
Raising funds	2	309	-	309	306	-	306
Charitable activities	2
Ethical Leadership		454	22	476	401	25	426
Climate Change		472	105	577	624	17	641
Conflict Countries and
Regions		394	18	412	359	8	367
Refugees and Migration		194	10	204	188	5	193
Universal Health Coverage		199	10	209	168	4	172
Access to Justice		469	135	604	392	69	461
Total charitable activities
expenditure		2,182	300	2,482	2,132	128	2,260
TOTAL EXPENDITURE		2,491	300	2,791	2,438	128	2,566
Net income and net movement in funds	3	234	-	234	417	-	417
Fund balances brought
forward		3,162	-	3,162	2,745	-	2,745
FUND BALANCES CARRIED
FORWARD		3,396	-	3,396	3,162	-	3,162

There are no gains or losses other than those shown above.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION BALANCE SHEET

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

				2021	2020
		Note		£’000	£’000
Fixed Assets
	Tangible Assets		7	299	347
Current Assets
	Debtors		8	422	329
	Short term deposit			1,900	1,105
	Cash at bank and in hand			1,528	2,234
Total current assets				3,850	3,668
Liabilities
	Creditors: amounts falling
	due within oneyear		9	(623)	(654)
Net current assets				3,227	3,014
Total assets less current
liabilities				3,526	3,363
	Creditors: amounts falling
	due after more than one year		10	(67)	(149)
	Provision for liabilities		11	(63)	(50)
TOTAL NET ASSETS				3,396	3,162
The Funds of the charity
	Represented By:
	Tangible Fixed Assets			299	347
	General Funds			3,097	2,815
Total Unrestricted Funds				3,396	3,162
TOTAL FUNDS				3,396	3,162

The notes on pages 32 to 39 form part of the financial statements. These were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees

31 March 2022 Mary Robinson Chair

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

		2021	2020
	Note	£’000	£’000
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net movement in funds for the reporting period (as per the
statement of financial activities)		234	417
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges		67	71
Interest income		(6)	(9)
Change in cash and cash equivalents due to exchange rate
movement		-	25
(Increase)/decrease in debtors		(93)	41
(Decrease)/Increase in creditors		(100)	367
Net cashprovided by operating activities		102	912
Cash flows from investing activities:
Loss from the disposal of property, plant and equipment		-	5
Purchase of equipment	7	(19)	(23)
Interest income		6	9
Net cash(used in) investing activities		(13)	(9)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period		89	903
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting
period		3,339	2,461
Change in cash and cash equivalents due to exchange rate
movements		-	(25)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period		3,428	3,339

The Elders Foundation does not have any borrowings or lease obligations. Net debt therefore consists of cash at bank and in hand and short term deposits.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items initially recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policies or notes. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements are presented in sterling and are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds. In the Board’s opinion, there are no significant accounting estimates or areas of judgement in these financial statements.

b) Going concern

The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these financial statements. The trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of at least one year from the date of approval of these financial statements. The trustees have concluded that there are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions that cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. This is because of the reserves position of the charity at the end of the year and indications of the Board and the funders to continue the work of the charity into the foreseeable future.

c) Income

Income is recognised in the period in which the charity is entitled to receipt, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the funds will be received. Income is deferred only when the charity has to fulfil performance related conditions before becoming entitled to it or where the donor or funder has specified that the income is to be expended in a future accounting period. Donations are recognised when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity.

d) Expenditure

All expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis, and is classified in the SOFA according to the activity to which it relates. Expenditure includes VAT, which cannot be recovered, as part of the expenditure to which it relates. Any grants payable are expensed at the point at which the funds are committed. Costs of raising funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income. Expenditure on charitable activities includes all direct and indirect costs of delivering the charitable activities. Support costs are allocated in proportion to the costs of activities undertaken directly, and include the cost of staff, plus allocated overheads, whose primary functions are: financial management, human resources, information technology, office management and general management.

e) Operating Leases

Operating lease rentals are charged in the SOFA on a straight line basis over the life of the lease.

f) Pension costs

Pension contributions paid by The Elders in respect of employees are to a defined contribution scheme and are charged to the SOFA as they become payable.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Cont'd)

g) Foreign currencies

Assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the transaction. Exchange differences are taken into account in arriving at the net movement in funds.

h) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Tangible fixed assets are capitalised at cost and depreciated over their useful economic lives. Depreciation is provided at a rate calculated to write off the cost of each asset over its expected useful life as follows:

• Computers, software and equipment: 3 to 5 years

• Leasehold improvements and furniture: 5 to 10 years taking account of the remaining period of the lease.

i) Debtors

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

j) Cash at bank and in hand

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

k) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.

l) Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objects of the charity. Restricted funds are for use only on the purposes prescribed by the donors.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

Analysis of support costs Staff Governance Office running costs Travel Organisational Communications Other 2 EXPENDITURE Cost of raising funds Charitable activities Ethical Leadership Climate Change Conflict Countries and Regions Refugees and Migration Universal Health Coverage Access to Justice Total charitable activities expenditure Total expenditure	2021 2020 Direct costs Support costs Total Direct Costs Support costs Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 114 195 309 102 204 306 91 385 476 106 320 426 162 415 577 105 536 641 97 315 412 125 242 367 31 173 204 37 155 193 35 174 209 35 137 172 153 451 604 124 337 461
	569 1,913 2,482 532 1,728 2,260 683 2,108 2,791 634 1,932 2,566
	2021 2020 £'000 £'000 832 859 30 41 796 862 322 27 116 114 12 29 2,108 1,932 2021 2020 £’000 £’000 67 71 286 281 11 10 - 1
Total
3 NET EXPENDITURE Net expenditure is stated after charging: Depreciation Operating lease rentals Statutory Audit Fees Current year Prioryear

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

4 STAFF COSTS	2021	2020
	£’000	£’000
Wages and salaries	1,041	1,063
Social security costs	122	125
Pension costs	104	106
Other employee benefits	6	7
Total	1,273	1,301

The Elders has a defined contribution pension scheme to which the company contributes 10% of pensionable salary. No employees receive benefits under a defined benefit pension scheme. There were no severance payments included within salaries and wages (2020: £0).

Numbers of employees	2021	2020
	Number	Number
The average number of full time employees for the year was:
Operations and Executive	8	8
Development	1	1
Communications	5	5
Policy& Programmes	4	4
Total	18	18
REMUNERATION	2021	2020
	Number	Number
The number of employees whose remuneration during the year
fell within the following bands were:
£60,001 - £70,000	1	4
£70,001 - £80,000	2	1
£80,001 - £90,000	1	1
£140,001 - £150,000	1	-
£170,001 - £180,000	-	1

Pension contributions totalling £46,000 (2020: £60,000) were paid in respect of these higher paid employees, all of whom were accruing benefits under a defined contribution pension scheme.

5 KEY MANAGEMENT REMUNERATION

Total employee remuneration and benefits paid to key management personnel, being the members of the charity’s Senior Management Team, in the year totalled £564,000 (2020: £572,000).

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

6 TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES

No Trustee received any remuneration in the year.

The charity arranges collectively, and pays directly, for the costs of Trustees to attend meetings and events on behalf of the charity. These costs are attributable collectively to the charitable activities of the charity rather than support costs, as are the costs reimbursed to Trustees.

During the year travel expenses of £215,638 were paid directly to airlines, hotels and other suppliers for 11 Trustees (2020: £22,287 for 8 Trustees) to cover their travel costs whilst on trips delivering the charitable activities of the charity. No individual travel expenses were reimbursed to any Trustee (2020: £0) to cover their travel costs whilst on trips delivering the charitable activities of the charity.

7 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

7 TANGIBLE FIXED	ASSETS
		2021			2020
	Computer,	Leasehold	Total	Computer,	Leasehold	Total
	Equipment	improvements		Equipment	improvements
	& Furniture			& Furniture
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Cost
At 1 January	186	327	513	179	327	506
Additions	19	-	19	23	-	23
Disposals	-	-	-	(16)	-	(16)
At 31 December	205	327	532	186	327	513
Depreciation
At 1 January	77	89	166	50	56	106
Depreciation	34	33	67	38	33	71
Disposals	-	-	-	(11)	-	(11)
At 31 December	111	122	233	77	89	166
Net book value at 31 December	94	205	299	109	238	347
8 DEBTORS			2021	2020
			£’000	£’000
Prepayments and	other debtors		198	147
Trade debtors			42	-
Rent deposit 3 Tilney Street			182	182
Total			422	329

The rent deposit is to be repaid on exit of the lease at 3 Tilney Street.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

9 CREDITORS: AMOUNT FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR	2021	2020
	£’000	£’000
Accruals and deferred income	481	546
Other creditors	60	26
Rent free accrual	82	82
Total	623	654
Included in the above is £439,000 of deferred income (2020: £524,000) for work to be undertaken in future
accounting periods.
10 CREDITORS: AMOUNT FALLING DUE AFTER MORE ONE YEAR	2021	2020
	£’000	£’000
Rent free accrual	67	149
Total	67	149
11 PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES	2021	2020
	£’000	£’000
Provision for dilapidations	63	50
Total	63	50
The Elders Foundation operates from a leased premises, with the contract running until 2028. The estimated cost of
reinstating the premises is recognised as a provision for liabilities, and expensed over the term of		the lease.
12 COMMITMENTS UNDER OPERATING LEASES	2021	2020
	£’000	£’000
At 31 December 2021 the charity had the following future minimum
commitments in respect of non-cancellable operating leases:
-within one year	370	369
-between one and fiveyears	1,091	1,094
Total	1,461	1,463

13 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Key management remuneration is disclosed in note 5.

Trustee remuneration and expenses are disclosed in note 6. At the end of the year no amounts were owed to Trustees (2020: £0).

Payments totalling £2,545 were made to the International Peace Institute in relation to logistical support provided to the charity relating to the charity’s Ethical Leadership and Multilateral Co-operation programme (2020: £0). Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is a Trustee of The Elders as well as being President and CEO of the International Peace Institute.

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

13 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (Cont'd)

£66,220 was received from the UN Foundation in relation to the charity’s Access to Justice programme to help support work during the year on the Gender Equality Forum (2020: £0). Gro Harlem Brundtland is a Trustee of The Elders and member of the UN Foundation Board.

£1,835 was received from the University of Pennsylvania for work undertaken by Gro Brundtland (2020: £0). Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

£5,000 was received from Sky for work undertaken by Mary Robinson at COP26 (2020: £0). Mary Robinson was acting in her capacity as Chair of Elders at the events.

Payments totalling £12,600 were made to UHC Consulting Limited in relation to consultancy services provided to the charity relating to the charity’s Universal Health Coverage programme (2020: £20,700). The principal of UHC Consulting Limited is a close family member of a former member of Key Management Personnel (Programme Director Jenny Yates who left in September 2020). At the end of the year no amounts (2020: £0) were owed for consultancy services carried out in 2020. Expenses of £90 were paid during the year for UHC Consulting by The Elders (2020: £90).

14 RESTRICTED FUNDS

		2020
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
	At 1	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	At 31
	January				December
Access to Justice	-	59	59	-	-
Ethical Leadership and
Multilateralism	-	15	15	-	-
Communications	-	54	54	-	-
Total	-	128	128	-	-
		2021
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
	At 1	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	At 31
	January				December
Access to Justice	-	112	112	-	-
Climate Change	-	83	83	-	-
Communications	-	105	105	-	-
Total	-	300	300	-	-

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THE ELDERS FOUNDATION NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

14 RESTRICTED FUNDS (Cont'd)

Specific grants from Foundations were received during 2021 for our Access to Justice, Climate Change and Ethical Leadership activities. We also received funding for a series of podcasts and activities highlighting the work of The Elders (Communications). These restricted funding donations have been allocated across our programmatic activities to reflect the content of the podcasts and activities.

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