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2020-12-31-accounts

GIRLS NOT BRIDES:

THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

INDEX

2 Trustees’ report 27 Independent auditor’s report 31 Statement of financial activities 32 Balance sheet 33 Statement of cash flows 34 Notes to the accounts

Company Registration Number: 8570751 Charity Registration Number: 1154230

GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Trustees: Mabel van Oranje (Chair) Ann Cotton Nick Grono Karin Forseke Georgia Arnold Emma Puig De La Bellacasa (appointed 1 December 2020) Rita Sarin (appointed 1 December 2020) Zipporah Jean Alaroker (appointed 1 December 2020) Michael Feigelson (appointed 9 April 2021) Chief Executive Officer: Dr Faith Mwangi-Powell Key management personnel: Dr Faith Mwangi-Powell, Chief Executive Officer Heather Barclay, Director of External Engagement Eleanor Munif, Director of Operations Dr Rachel Yates, Director of Learning and Regional Implementation (left 31 December 2020) Rita Soares, Director of Learning and Impact (appointed 17 May 2021) Contact address and registered office: Seventh Floor 65 Leadenhall Street London EC3A 2AD United Kingdom Auditors: Sayer Vincent LLP Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane London EC1Y 0TL Bankers: HSBC Bank plc 21 Kings Mall London W6 0QF Solicitors: Bates, Wells and Braithwaite London LLP 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1BE

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INTRODUCTION TO GIRLS NOT BRIDES

The vision of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage (Girls Not Brides) is a world without child marriage where girls and women enjoy equal status with boys and men and are able to achieve their full potential in all aspects of their lives. We support a comprehensive approach to ending child marriage, and addressing the underlying economic and social drivers of child marriage, including harmful gender and social norms that deny girls opportunities and their rights. By taking a holistic approach we not only contribute to ending child marriage, but also achieve progress across a number of global development goals including health, education and poverty reduction. Our belief is that addressing child marriage in a holistic and comprehensive manner helps create a safer world for girls and leads to benefits far beyond simply delaying the age of marriage.

About child marriage

Every year, child marriage denies 12 million girls their rights to health, education, safety and control over their own lives. This is equivalent to one in five girls around the world.[1] This human rights violation occurs across cultures, countries and religions. Over 650 million women alive today were married as children, and every minute 23 more girls are married. Rooted in gender inequality and discrimination, child marriage disproportionately affects women and girls in terms of both the number of child brides and the life-long impact.

From 2011 to 2020 we saw a decline in child marriage rates globally, but with the onset of COVID-19 experts are predicting an increase in child marriages as a consequence of a variety of factors including school closures, increased violence and domestic poverty. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that we will see 13 million more child marriages by 2030 as a direct consequence of COVID-19, in addition to the 12 million girls already married each year.

Child brides face huge challenges. Isolated and with limited freedom, married girls often feel disempowered. They are at increased risk of dangerous complications in pregnancy and childbirth, and of domestic violence. With little access to education and economic opportunities, they and their families are more likely to live in poverty. Communities and nations also feel the impact of child marriage. Systems that undervalue the contribution and participation of girls and women limit their own possibilities for growth, stability and transformation. The World Bank and International Centre for Research on Women estimate that child marriage costs economies around the world trillions of dollars. Girls affected by humanitarian contexts - including conflict, displacement and natural disasters - are more vulnerable to child marriage due to increased insecurity, greater poverty and weaker social networks.

One of the fundamental beliefs of Girls Not Brides is that if we address child marriage in a holistic and comprehensive manner it is possible to empower adolescent girls and transform societies. Ending child marriage is a global commitment enshrined in Target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to “eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced

1 For more information on child marriage prevalence rates in countries and across regions, please consult our Child Marriage Atlas, which is the only source of consolidated data on the issue of child marriage. It also highlights numbers of girls affected, the legal/policy situation in each country, and the distribution of Girls Not Brides’ members, National Partnerships and civil society coalitions.

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marriage and female genital mutilations”. It is also necessary to achieve almost half of the SDGs, including those related to poverty, education, health and inequalities.

Child marriage is a complex issue with no single solution. We must work collectively across sectors - and from the local to global level - to change the perceptions, norms and experiences that shape and hinder girls’ lives. In 2014, Girls Not Brides worked with 150 members and partners to develop our Theory of Change, which identifies four strategies to end child marriage: working directly with girls; mobilising families and communities; providing services (including health, education and child protection); and creating and sustaining an enabling legal and policy framework.

Our members and partners work across the four key strategies outlined in the Theory of Change, and the Girls Not Brides secretariat plays a distinctive catalytic role within the movement. We mobilise collective action and support at the national, regional and international levels; support member organisations to build their capacity and share their expertise; advocate for financial resources; and synthesise and disseminate learning on ending child marriage. In this role, we create a supportive environment to enable greater change. Currently the Girls Not Brides partnership comprises over 1,500 members worldwide. Nearly 82% work in communities, and 40% identify as youth led. Less than 12% are international organisations.

Note on terminology

In this report, we use ‘child marriage’ as an umbrella term to encompass all forms of child, early and forced marriage and unions. Understanding the practice in the context of this broader term ensures that all girls affected are included, regardless of whether they are in a formal or informal union, and that all aspects of the issue – including culturally specific understandings of childhood and development, and the relationship between age, consent and force – are recognised and expressed.

The movement to end child marriage

This describes the informal global network of civil society and grassroots organisations, national and international non-governmental organisations, activists, academics, UN agencies, funders, governments, leaders and champions who are all working towards a different world – one without child marriage and where girls are free to decide their future.

The Girls Not Brides global partnership

At the end of 2020, the Girls Not Brides partnership comprised 1,527 member organisations from 104 countries committed to working together to end child marriage and support married girls. Girls Not Brides member organisations work across sectors – including health, education, human rights and humanitarian contexts – and range from small grassroots actors to large international organisations.

The Girls Not Brides secretariat

The Girls Not Brides secretariat coordinates, rallies and supports the work of the Partnership and movement. We are a small team with staff members based in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. We play three broad roles in driving change: a central support and coordination body for the only global civil society partnership to end child marriage; a representative of and advocate for civil society on efforts to end child marriage; and an expert resource and central actor in the global movement to end child marriage.

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National Partnerships and coalitions

Many Girls Not Brides member organisations have come together to accelerate progress to end child marriage in their countries by forming National Partnerships and coalitions.

National Partnerships are networks of Girls Not Brides member organisations that believe in the power of collective action to end child marriage and ensure girls can achieve their full potential in all aspects of their lives. They have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Girls Not Brides secretariat to align their work with the Partnership strategy.

Coalitions are networks of civil society organisations that are committed to addressing child marriage and working together at the national level to spearhead this change. They are close allies to Girls Not Brides but have not signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES’ ACTIVITIES IN 2020

What 2020 has meant for girls and child marriage

COVID-19 is threatening progress made over the last decade towards ending child marriage. School closures and increased economic hardship, early pregnancy, and gender-based and domestic violence mean that 13 million more girls could marry as children over the next decade.[2] This is in addition to the 12 million girls who already marry every year.[3]

What this has meant for Girls Not Brides

While 2020 was challenging, it was also an opportunity for us to show our resilience. The movement to end child marriage has lost dedicated activists and friends to COVID-19 and faced new challenges and restrictions to collective action, programming, funding and support for girls. Despite these setbacks, girls and communities continue to demand a better future, and the Partnership has risen to the challenge.

Girls Not Brides member organisations adapted and innovated in their programming, from using social media to reach girls, delivering resources to support at-home learning during school closures, and providing essential food, water and hygiene packages to those in need.

At the Girls Not Brides secretariat, we listened to our members and adapted our work to best support the Partnership through this global crisis. We facilitated peer-to-peer connection and learning; we advocated for girls to be at the centre of the COVID-19 response and recovery; and we developed and shared the latest learning and evidence on child marriage and COVID-19 so our members have the tools to respond and adapt effectively.

What this means for the future

The challenges of the pandemic will continue long after lockdowns are lifted. We are concerned about the projected increase in child marriage and cuts to official development assistance and private funding for effective responses during current economic contractions. We are disappointed to see how in some contexts lockdowns and public health measures are constraining civil society space and limiting opportunities to hold governments to account.

Donors and decision-makers at every level must rally together to implement an integrated response to the pandemic that takes into account the needs of girls and those at risk of child marriage, in all their diversity.

Girls Not Brides secretariat objectives

In 2020, the secretariat’s approach to supporting the movement to end child marriage was underpinned by six objectives :

  1. Catalysing and nurturing coordinated effective civil society action at all levels.

  2. Fostering the uptake of evidence-based solutions that have gender equality at their heart.

2 UNFPA, New UNFPA projections predict calamitous impact on women’s health as COVID-19 pandemic continues , 2020. 3 UNICEF, Child marriage database, 2020.

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  1. Increasing the diversity of the global movement to address child marriage, amplifying the voices of youth-led, women-led and community-based organisations.

  2. Influencing governments and other actors to take effective action to address child marriage.

  3. Successfully advocating for more diverse and accessible funding to address child marriage, especially for civil society.

  4. Ensuring the secretariat team is empowered and supported, and has the resources and structures to effectively deliver the secretariat's vision and live its values.

Objective 1: Catalysing collective action

The determination and dedication of Girls Not Brides has shone throughout 2020. Despite navigating many new challenges and restrictions, member organisations continued to reach girls around the world. They collaborated on joint activities and shared learning and advice with each other, supported by the Girls Not Brides secretariat.

The Girls Not Brides secretariat facilitated 90 shared-learning and capacity-strengthening sessions in 2020. This included online and in-person working groups and trainings, webinars and peer-to-peer learning sessions.

Member organisations mobilised around the International Day of the Girl

One highlight of the Partnership’s work in 2020 was our joint action around the International Day of the Girl on 11 October. Over 250 of our member organisations mobilised around this year’s theme of ’My voice, our equal future,’ leading activities to support girls and call for action to end child marriage.

To support their advocacy, we designed, produced and disseminated a comprehensive toolkit with information on the 2020 theme, key messages, campaign ideas and practical resources including animated graphics for social media and template advocacy letters.

We also made small grants to seven of our National Partnerships and coalitions to support their collective activities. These ranged from a press conference on ending gender-based violence – including child marriage in Benin to a Girl Leadership Summit and social media campaign with the participation of over 5,000 girls in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Further details on our members’ campaigns and activities are featured on the Girls Not Brides website.

National Partnerships and coalitions strengthened their work

In 2020, Girls Not Brides National Partnerships and coalitions continued to advocate for – and achieve – meaningful change at the national level. For example, Girls Not Brides Bangladesh worked with legal experts to review the effectiveness and impact of the national legal framework to end child marriage and Girls Not Brides Mozambique trained 132 people for the effective dissemination and coordination of a newly approved law to address child marriage.

The Girls Not Brides secretariat supported and responded to the needs of National Partnerships and coalitions, as identified through capacity self-assessments and ongoing discussions.

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One example of this support is our work with the Working Group to Advance on Girls and Adolescents’ Rights (the Mesa a favor de las niňas y las adolescentes, the Mesa de la Niňa) in Guatemala, with whom we have collaborated since 2018. In 2020, this coalition of 22 civil society organisations requested our support to strengthen their capacity to work together and grow their technical expertise on child marriage. In response, we organised a series of in-person and virtual workshops covering internal capacity strengthening and strategy development. We also coordinated two webinars on the drivers of child marriage in Latin America, the Caribbean and Guatemala, taking into account factors such as gender inequality, poverty and access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.

The Mesa de la Niňa has since identified priorities for its work in 2021. These include improving access to education and sexual and reproductive healthcare, community interventions to address discriminatory gender norms, and social support programmes for pregnant and/or married adolescents. You can find out more about their work in a guest blog on the Girls Not Brides website.

Peer-to-peer learning increased in the context of COVID-19

While Girls Not Brides member organisations work in different contexts, they often face similar challenges and have relevant expertise to share. With the suspension of in-person transnational meetings in 2020, the secretariat facilitated a series of seven online peer-to-peer discussions so that National Partnerships and coalitions could share their learnings, best practices, successes and challenges.

Each session was member-led and covered a range of topics from implementing policy and laws to engaging religious leaders and promoting girl-led research and campaigning. The discussions grew in popularity – with a 153% growth in attendance over the series – and member organisations reported strengthened cross-regional relationships and confidence. We will integrate this popular and effective innovation into our work beyond the pandemic, along with several new initiatives for 2021. These include the twinning of established and nascent National Partnerships for mutual support and the establishment of an online hub for shared learnings.

We also organised an online convening of our English-speaking African National Partnerships, coalitions and member organisations from Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Each of the 10 sessions had between 27 and 40 participants, who shared knowledge on issues such as improving economic security for girls, gender transformative approaches to end child marriage and identifying global and regional advocacy opportunities. As a result, each participating coalition identified lessons learned and priority areas to take forward in their national collective work.

Story of change: Unlocking the power of the collective with Girls Not Brides Uganda

Strengthening national movements

Over the last decade, the movement to end child marriage has made great progress and – before the COVID-19 pandemic started – rates of child marriage were decreasing globally. However, child marriage persists in many countries and gender inequality still restricts girls’ lives around the world.

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Girls Not Brides has proven that collective civil society action at the national and subnational level drives sustainable change. However, our member organisations need more support and resources to build their work and mobilise all the stakeholders that affect girls’ lives.

In 2020, Girls Not Brides launched a new multi-year approach to intensify support for national movements across select focus countries, with the greatest initial focus on Uganda, Niger and India. We believe this work will accelerate progress and provide evidence of what works to end child marriage in these contexts and beyond.

In 2020, Girls Not Brides launched the Accelerating Progress to End Child Marriage Programme in Uganda with Girls Not Brides Uganda (led by Joy for Children) – a National Partnership made up of 90 civil society organisations – in a country where 34% of girls marry before the age of 18.[4] Results include new commitments from government representatives’ grassroots advocacy on ending child marriage and increased media coverage of the issue.

Girls Not Brides Uganda led an integrated programme to end child marriage in the country, while the Girls Not Brides secretariat provided ongoing technical advice and support on issues identified by them: communications, budget advocacy, and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Girls Not Brides Uganda has now developed a communications strategy and established groups to monitor budget development and support media engagement. Girls Not Brides partially funded their National Coordinator, who has helped Girls Not Brides Uganda maintain and build momentum in their work.

Throughout the year, Girls Not Brides Uganda advocated for better implementation of existing laws that protect girls and called for the development of a revised National Strategy on Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy. They secured pledges from 15 members of parliament to champion the strategy. They also implemented subnational activities in refugee-hosting districts, deepening our understanding of the causes of child marriage in humanitarian settings, and fostered a relationship with the office of the prime minister of Uganda.

The programme also promoted community change in focus districts and built public support for the movement. Girls Not Brides Uganda trained youth activists using the Girls Not Brides Stand Up, Speak Out! training manual, with support from district champions. The latter are agents of change who, for example, share messages on radio stations and follow up on cases of child marriage in their communities. Girls Not Brides Uganda also contributed to media coverage and engaged with radio stations, journalists, national TV and social media to build public awareness of child marriage. The Accelerator Approach pilot in Uganda was supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Objective 2: Sharing evidence and learning

To address gaps in the evidence base and avoid the duplication of research and learning on child marriage, Girls Not Brides spearheaded a major learning initiative with the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage in 2020: the Child Marriage Research to Action Network (the CRANK). Other highlights include contributing to broader global learning opportunities and consortia, sharing evidence from the Partnership, disseminating new accessible resources –

4 Girls Not Brides , Child Marriage Atlas, 2020. The Atlas is based on UNICEF data for 2020. It is updated every two years, with the next review taking place in June 2022.

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including on the impact of COVID-19 – and increasing the understanding of how child marriage intersects with related issues and sectors.

The Child Marriage Research to Action Network (the CRANK)

The CRANK is a joint initiative by Girls Not Brides and the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage and brings together leading global researchers and organisations working on child marriage to ensure that the research community is aligned, responds to gaps in knowledge and is connected with practitioners so that new evidence can be taken forward in policy and practice. The first meeting in December 2020 brought together 54 participants from civil society, the United Nations (UN), research institutes and Girls Not Brides member organisations to discuss the latest evidence and research on the impact of COVID-19 in India and sub-Saharan Africa. In 2021, the CRANK will continue to bring child marriage researchers, practitioners and policy makers together every three months to share and discuss the latest evidence on priority learning topics. It is also a knowledge management mechanism through which we track ongoing and upcoming research by CRANK members, monitor patterns and identify gaps. The CRANK is open to all. Those who sign up can participate in quarterly calls, receive the biannual research digest, and share their work through the CRANK’s online research tracker.

We deepened knowledge on how child marriage interacts with other sectors

In 2020, Girls Not Brides continued to build relationships with partners working across different sectors, including humanitarian contexts, education, and sexual and reproductive health. One highlight from our cross-sectoral collaboration is our work with the movement to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girls Not Brides worked with member organisations and partners in Kenya to increase the evidence on the shared drivers of – and solutions to – child marriage and FGM/C. We reviewed these links by documenting the work of two member organisations in Kenya (the Association of Media Women and Msichana Empowerment Kuria), and carrying out a review of the global evidence to address child marriage and FGM/C. The review of the global evidence found that many approaches work better as part of a comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy, and that poor implementation can often be a challenge; it also found that some approaches known to be effective from the global evidence are not well documented in Kenya. We shared our findings at a webinar co-hosted with Amref Health Africa, attended by 49 Kenyan stakeholders – including government representatives – and at a UNICEFhosted webinar with a global audience of over 150 researchers, UN agencies and donors.

We promoted gender-transformative approaches

Child marriage happens because girls are perceived as less valuable than boys. In all areas of life, systematic discrimination perpetuates unequal gender norms, which are reinforced by other forms of discrimination. Addressing these harmful gender norms and unequal power relationships is key to ending child marriage.

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In partnership with the Child Marriage and Sexuality Working Group,[5] which focuses on showing how control over adolescent girls’ sexuality is a root cause of child marriage, we documented the positive, lasting impact that gender-transformative interventions can have on girls’ lives. This regional work, which focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, adds to our 2019 work in Africa and Asia. The Working Group will expand this work throughout 2021 by developing a framework that provides guidance to strengthen programmes to take a more gender-transformative approach and put girls’ agency at the centre of ending child marriage.

We also supported Girls Not Brides Rajasthan to host a workshop for 27 young people on gender, sexuality and discrimination, in collaboration with UNICEF. The workshop encouraged youth workers to use storytelling to share their experiences and communicate with other young people. As a result, youth workers created seven stories and reported increased capacity in using social media and storytelling to explore gender and discrimination with the adolescents they work with at the community level.

We produced and disseminated new resources

We produced and disseminated 24 new resources in 2020. This included online resources and toolkits, thematic briefs, position papers, literature reviews and case studies.

This year, Girls Not Brides member organisations, partners and stakeholders continued to access the latest evidence and learnings to guide their work, through the Girls Not Brides online resource centre. We produced several new and updated resources this year, including a series of thematic briefs on child marriage and COVID-19, gender equality, the SDGs and humanitarian contexts, and a regional brief on child marriage in Latin America and the Caribbean. This year we expanded the reach of our resources by translating into more languages, including Arabic, Bangla, French, Hindi, Spanish and Portuguese.

Our child marriage and COVID-19 brief

For the movement to respond to COVID-19, we needed to understand its impact on girls and communities around the world. Early in the pandemic, the Girls Not Brides secretariat sent out a survey for member organisations to share their concerns and experiences, adapted our work to respond to their needs, and rapidly published the COVID-19 and child, early and forced marriage: An agenda for action brief. This document provides insights, recommendations and resources to support girls during and after the crisis. It is one of our most downloaded briefs in 2020, and it has been circulated and quoted by other partners including SheDecides, the World Health Organization and the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage.

5 Members and partners of the Child, Early and Forced Marriage and Unions, and Sexuality Working Group are as follows:

Aahung, American Jewish World Service, CARE, CREA, Firelight Foundation, Global Fund for Women, Girls First Fund, Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage , GreeneWorks, International Center for Research on Women, International Women’s Health Coalition, The Kendeda Fund, MADRE, Nirantar Trust, Plan International, Population Council, Promundo, The Summit Foundation, UNFPA, UNICEF, and The YP Foundation and Empower.

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We supported girl- and youth-led research in India

In 2020, young members of the Girls Not Brides State Partnership in Rajasthan and state coalition in Uttar Pradesh designed and undertook research to understand the impact of COVID-19 on young women and girls. With financial support from Girls Not Brides , researchers aged 15 to 25 years gathered data from over 700 young people across the two states to build an accurate picture of how girls have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Their findings will be used to inform the Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh coalitions’ advocacy and ensure that the movement to end child marriage represents the voices of young women and girls.

Objective 3: Amplifying voices

Amplifying the voices of under-represented groups is critical to ensuring that the movement to end child marriage not only represents the needs of all girls but also takes into account the expertise of those working at a community level. In 2020, Girls Not Brides supported our member organisations, young people and girls to share their experiences and solutions with broad audiences.

We helped girls and members tell their stories

Girls Not Brides member organisation stories featured in a range of global, regional and national media outlets. To ensure their experiences reached a broad audience , the Girls Not Brides secretariat secured global coverage for stories from our member organisations, partners and girls themselves. This included features in a range of top-tier media, including the BBC World Service, the Guardian and Thomson Reuters. We also ensured the work of member organisations in Uganda and the Middle East was covered in regional and national media.

We focused on sharing girls’ stories, told in their own voices. We published two long-form multimedia stories on our website, spotlighting the work of two of our member organisations – the Mariposa DR Foundation in the Dominican Republic and International Rescue Committee in Lebanon. With support from Ignite Philanthropy: Inspiring the End to Violence Against Girls and Boys, we also produced two illustrated stories and accompanying animations, which brought to life the personal experiences of girls who experienced child marriage in Colombia/Venezuela and Uganda. We also created an animation to accompany a 2019 illustrated story from India.

Social media continued to be an effective way to further amplify the voices of some of the world’s most marginalised communities. For example, we collaborated with the Association of Indigenous Lawyers ’Chomija‘, Ixoqib Miriam, Kinal Antzetik Guerrero, Mano Vuelta and the National Network of Indigenous Lawyers, to reach over 2,000 people with Facebook Live, broadcasting a webinar on sexual violence and child marriage in indigenous communities in Mexico and Guatemala.

We supported young people

Thanks to social media and our connected world, we are seeing more young people than ever engaging with the issue of child marriage around the world. Young women and girls are the group most affected by child marriage, and 40%[6] of Girls Not Brides member organisations are selfidentified youth-led organisations. We must support these young people to influence the movement to end child marriage and create meaningful change for girls everywhere.

In 2020, we delivered a range of in-person and online training sessions and workshops to support

6 Based on a data set of 1199 members

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young people in taking effective action to end child marriage. We partnered with Restless Development India to train over 50 youth staff of Girls Not Brides member organisations, and the feedback from this training also contributed to the development of our youth strategies with young people and civil society leaders in Rajasthan and Jharkhand states. We also trained 17 young activists in Zambia and 12 in Uganda on using our youth activism toolkit, Stand Up, Speak Out! Participants can now facilitate and support youth-led collective action in their communities.

Story of change: Young women leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean design and deliver a successful campaign

This year we collaborated with Jóvenas Latidas, a collective of youth activists based in 11 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. We supported the design and delivery of their campaign to highlight the impact of COVID-19 on gender equality – specifically on increasing gender-based violence, including child marriage – and adolescent girls’ and young women’s rights.

The Jóvenas Latidas campaign messages were co-created and shared through four blogs on the Girls Not Brides website – covering the topics of engaging young activists, child marriage in the region, girls’ and adolescents’ rights and the power of collective work – three podcasts, numerous illustrations, infographics and videos for Instagram and Facebook, five audio clips broadcast on the radio, and a campaign statement. The campaign – which was built from the ground up – sparked 195,000 impressions on Facebook and a further 298,000 on Instagram; Jóvenas Latidas were able to reach their target audience of young women aged between 18 and 34.

The campaign was developed by its young leaders, with financial support and technical guidance from Girls Not Brides throughout the design and delivery process. This included the production of four toolkits to strengthen the campaign team’s skills; technical guidance on how to edit audio and video content for radio and podcasts; the development of key messages and priorities for the campaign; and a suite of original illustrations and animations for their online content.

Jóvenas Latidas will continue their collective action and campaigning into 2021, as they move into new advocacy and activism spaces such as the Argentine Ministry of Health’s Advisory Council on Adolescent and Youth Health. United by their strong group identity, Jóvenas Latidas will share their key messages and advocate for governments across the region to put the needs of young women at the centre of their pandemic responses, so they can live free and full lives.

Objective 4: Advocating to decision-makers

With the COVID-19 pandemic and global climate crisis front and centre for many leaders and decision-makers, it is more important than ever that girls are listened to and their needs are integrated into all the policies and programmes that affect them. In 2020, Girls Not Brides and partner organisations advocated for – and secured – political commitments and action on ending child marriage at the global, regional and national levels.

Global highlights

Girls Not Brides member organisations advocated to their governments to take action and deliver on their commitments to end child marriage, including the need for governments to implement their SDG promise to “eliminate all harmful practices including child, early and forced marriage” (SDG 5.3).

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As a result of the advocacy of member organisations, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on girls was recognised by the 114 governments who co-sponsored a new UN General Assembly resolution on child marriage. This resolution was passed by consensus and maintains international pressure on governments to implement their commitment to ending child marriage and ensure that girls are not disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

The Generation Equality Forum (led by UN Women to mobilise governments and civil society to accelerate gender equality and deliver on the commitments of the 1994 Beijing Platform for Action) benefitted from the participation of girls and young people after we worked with partners, including the Adolescent Girls Investment Plan[7] and the Mexican government, to broker a relationship between the Forum’s Action Coalition leaders and over 150 youth and adolescent girls. By establishing an open space where girls and young people were able to speak directly to leaders and provide recommendations based on their expertise and lived experiences, we contributed to their voices being part of the Generation Equality process.

Regional highlights

Child marriage was recognised as one of the priorities on the gender equality agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, following advocacy by Girls Not Brides members and partners. The Girls Not Brides secretariat supported member organisations to participate in the Regional Conference of Women 2020 and held collaborative side events with UN agencies and governments to drive interest in – and action on – the issue. Child marriage was acknowledged in commitments to advance gender equality in the region, and SDG 5.3 was formally included in the Gender Equality Observatory of the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean.

In Africa, Girls Not Brides worked with multiple partners and at regional forums to share learning and technical expertise with a number of high-level processes and initiatives. We highlighted the importance of comprehensive sexual education and sexual and reproductive health and rights services in West and Central Africa during discussions with the Economic Community of West African States Regional Child Protection Working Group. We engaged the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum in dialogue around the links between child marriage and education.

We engaged with the Forum for African Women Educationalists, Plan International and the Rozaria Memorial Trust as regional partners in Africa working on girls’ education to influence regional bodies, including through an open letter to the African Union, advocacy events and outreach. We also published a joint op-ed with the Global Partnership for Education on the links between child marriage, education and COVID-19. As a result, addressing child marriage was included in the African Union’s pandemic response. In addition, we strengthened our engagement with nontraditional regional partners – including the International Centre for the Education of Girls and Women in Africa – to ensure that a cross-sectoral approach to addressing child marriage was included on the regional agenda.

In the Middle East and North Africa, Girls Not Brides and regional partners contributed to the UN Regional Accountability Framework of Action on Ending Child Marriage. We contributed to the priorities outlined in the framework and sponsored a representative from Iraqi member the Khairat

7 The Adolescent Girls Investment Plan brings together 11 partners to drive the political commitment and evidenceinformed investments required to have impact, and to shift outcomes for adolescent girls on a global scale.

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Al-Nahraeen Human Organization to participate and share their experiences and learning from programming in humanitarian contexts at the Regional Accountability Workshop in Amman, Jordan.

National highlights

Across the world, Girls Not Brides member organisations have advocated to national governments to implement existing commitments to end child marriage and to secure new ones.

For example, the Girls Not Brides secretariat worked with Girls Not Brides Kenya and Parliamentarians for Global Action to advocate for the Kenyan government to develop a national plan of action to end child marriage and implement their commitments to the African Union on ending child marriage. In total, 36 members of parliament and civil society and Girls Not Brides representatives were present at the virtual meeting, which also included contributions from Ugandan and Zimbabwean parliamentarians on developing national child marriage strategies. This meeting was a valuable opportunity to introduce the work of Girls Not Brides Kenya to national legislators and to present key asks, including increased budget allocations to end child marriage, strengthened child protection frameworks, and closer links between addressing child marriage and FGM/C. This is particularly important as we build our work to end child marriage in Kenya in 2021, where we will be working with a range of stakeholders at the national and subnational levels, including with government representatives, civil society organisations, young people and community-based organisations.

Girls Not Brides member organisations in a number of countries advocated to their governments to secure funding for national and subnational work to end child marriage. Following a successful workshop in 2019, the secretariat directly supported six member organisations from Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and Togo in their advocacy to secure budget lines related to preventing and responding to child marriage. In 2020, we provided follow-up funding for five of those organisations. As a result of the 2019 pilot in Nigeria, the Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP) secured the equivalent of $6.8 million in the Enugu State 2020 Budget for child and social protection, primary and secondary schooling for girls, and the provision of sanitary products. In 2020, one of SIRP’s key areas of focus was to track this budget to ensure the government delivered on their commitments in the context of COVID-19. For example, SIRP’s budget monitoring ensured the renovation of classrooms in three schools, in line with original budget commitments. SIRP’s achievements – and those of the other five member organisations – provide key learnings for how budget advocacy can increase investment by governments by ensuring that budget lines support girls and address child marriage.

Story of change: Young people and civil society mobilise around changes to the legal age of marriage in India

Laws and policies are only one part of ending child marriage – reaching this goal also means addressing community attitudes, social norms and service provision for girls.

Focusing only on laws and age risks criminalising boys and girls who are already married and driving the practice underground. It also overlooks the social and economic changes needed to ensure girls and their families have alternatives to child marriage and to challenge existing gender norms and promote gender equality.

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In India – the country with the highest absolute number of child brides in the world – laws prohibiting child marriage have been in place since 1929, but the practice continues. In 2020, a government task force proposed increasing the minimum age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 to delay when girls have their first child. In response, Girls Not Brides joined a group of 96 civil society and youth organisations in India to ensure the voices and needs of young people were heard by this task force.

With these organisations, we surveyed 2,500 young people on the potential impact of increasing the legal age of marriage. Young people were concerned that, if other aspects of their realities are not addressed, changing the law could lead to an increase in child marriage and greater gender bias. For example, if parents with limited means are expected to support their daughters for longer, they may marry them off in secret or with forged documents.

The survey responses, formally recorded and published in the Young Voices National Report, highlighted young people’s nuanced understanding of marriage. A common thread emerged: young people lack choices and freedom to have aspirations and make decisions on the matters that impact their lives the most – marriage, relationships, education and careers.

As a result of this process, four young women directly addressed the government task force and submitted a series of demands. These included the right to complete their education; employment opportunities that are safe and close to their homes; incentives that enable girls to realise their aspirations; comprehensive sexuality education in schools and communities; and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Young people also shared their experiences in regional and national media, and through taking part in Facebook Live sessions reached over 1,000 people. Find out more in our blog covering this process.

The Young Voices movement in India illustrates the importance of civil-society-led advocacy in challenging governments to move away from protectionist policymaking – which threatens the autonomy and agency of adolescents and young people – towards decision-making that takes into account the experiences and needs of young people and addresses the systemic and complex causes of child marriage.

Objective 5: Securing funding for the movement

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the already-limited resources available to the movement to end child marriage, and it continues to have an impact in 2021 and beyond. We are concerned about the impact of cuts to official development assistance and government and foundation funding, particularly on our smaller community-based and national member organisations. From available data, half of our member organisations have reported annual budgets of under $50,000. It is more important than ever that donors invest in and support civil society organisations, and that Girls Not Brides member organisations have the support they need to access these opportunities.

The Girls Not Brides secretariat works closely with donors to share information and evidence and discuss funding flows. In partnership with Global Affairs Canada, we convened a meeting of 33 representatives from key donors to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on girls and the movement to end child marriage, and to share recommendations that emerged from conversations with Girls Not Brides member organisations. We also worked with the Ford Foundation to host a virtual event, which amplified the experiences of young women and girls working at the community level to end

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

child marriage. Participants shared insights and recommendations on how donors can support girlled, youth-led and community-based organisations working to end child marriage during the pandemic. The event was attended by 133 participants, including donors and civil society organisations.

In 2020, Girls Not Brides member organisations accessed funds from diverse sources, including grants and crowdfunding with the GlobalGiving, JustGiving and W4 platforms. Over the year, the Girls Not Brides secretariat compiled and sent member organisations eight newsletters sharing relevant funding opportunities. We also organised a webinar and email outreach on digital fundraising with GlobalGiving, which is a popular method of fundraising for our community-based members. In total, 30 member organisations successfully joined the platform, and the projects that were featured on the Girls Not Brides website secured over $25,000.

Girls First Fund and VOW for Girls

In 2018, the Girls Not Brides secretariat helped to catalyse a new donor collaborative – the Girls First Fund – to increase funding and support for community-based organisations working to end child marriage. In 2020, we provided expertise as part of the Girls First Fund’s Board Committee and connected its work to the latest developments in the global movement to end child marriage. In its first granting year (2019-2020), the Girls First Fund granted funds to 150 community-driven, girlcentred organisations across six countries. The secretariat also collaborated closely with VOW for Girls, an innovative initiative to mobilise the wedding sector to raise money for the Girls First Fund.

Objective 6: Ensuring the secretariat is effective

The collective work of Girls Not Brides and the movement to end child marriage is supported by a global secretariat with staff based across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. To best serve the needs of the movement, the secretariat made a number of changes in 2020, including strengthening our systems, structures and policies, and diversifying our governance.

Governance

This year, we expanded our Board of Trustees by appointing three additional board members. These are Emma Puig De La Bellacasa, Rita Sarin and Zipporah Jean Alaroker, who bring a wealth of experience and expertise from their work in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Member voices

We created a Member Advisory Committee, comprised of 12 individuals from Girls Not Brides member organisations across the globe, selected through an open application process. Playing an advisory role, the committee ensures another channel for the knowledge, perspectives and interests of Girls Not Brides member organisations to inform relevant decisions and projects by the Girls Not Brides secretariat. This is particularly important to our global Partnership Strategy and Theory of Change refresh process, the results of which will be launched in 2021.

Changes at the secretariat

We established an internal diversity, inclusion, voices and equity (DIVES) taskforce to ensure that commitments in these areas are set and translated into action throughout our work. The DIVES taskforce has identified the following priority areas: human resources, policy and recruitment; organisational culture and ways of working; learning and reflection; governance and decisionmaking; and language and communication.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

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To ensure the secretariat can effectively support our growing global partnership, we restructured the now over 40-strong secretariat team into three directorates to streamline decision-making and improve cross-team communication.

We also updated and implemented a robust safeguarding framework focused on ensuring that all children, young people and adults at risk who come into contact with Girls Not Brides are safe from harm. The framework comprises a Staff Safeguarding Policy, a Code of Conduct for all secretariat staff and a Safeguarding Standards Policy for all Girls Not Brides member organisations.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

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PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

At the start of 2020, we made a commitment to deepen our work and redouble our efforts to make a world without child marriage a reality. With the guidance of Girls Not Brides member organisations, partners, donors and allies, we reframed our strategy and embarked on a pathway to zero child marriage. However, with the onset of COVID-19, we realised 2020 would not allow for business as usual; it quickly became a time of great uncertainty. But through this uncertainty one thing remained clear – the work of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage is needed now more than ever. The realisation that COVID-19 threatened the gains we have delivered over the last decade fuelled our resolve and led to our actions and achievements this year.

As we move into the future, our ethos remains the same and will continue to guide us in our mission. We believe that:

Working under this ethos, our resolve for getting to zero child marriages remains unchanged. We will continue to work closely with our members and partners, across the globe who, although working virtually, have reenergised us and increased our commitment to deepen these collaborations with both old and new allies. We simply cannot get to zero child marriages alone. Our focus in the coming year will be to strengthen our global movement, find new allies and continue our journey to a world where each and every girl is able to live her dreams. Specifically, we will deepen how we work in countries so that we deliver change for girls and demonstrate where change is happening. We will strengthen relationships and be intentional in seeking global partners. We will work with a wider set of actors – through education, humanitarian and HIV sectors – to ensure that those programmes with the biggest potential impact on child marriage are implemented. This will mean greater prioritisation in our advocacy and working in broader coalitions. We will also be persistent in building our position as a thought leader on behalf of the movement. We will support the generation and uptake of evidence on what works to end child marriage throughout the movement. We will be bold in measuring our impact so that we can understand the difference we are making in girls’ lives.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Girls Not Brides was incorporated as a company in the United Kingdom on 14 June 2013 and registered as a charity in England and Wales on 17 October 2013. It transferred its assets and activities from what was once an initiative under The Elders Foundation to the independent entity on 10 December 2013.

Board of Trustees

Girls Not Brides is governed by a Board of Trustees (the Trustees) who are responsible for overseeing the management of all Girls Not Brides’ affairs. The Trustees are selected and elected according to procedures set out in the Articles of Association. The Trustees ensure that all activities fall within the charitable objectives. The Trustees’ main responsibilities are related to administrative and financial governance, management of reserves and investments as well as guiding and overseeing strategy development and planning. In particular, the Trustees are responsible for ensuring the legal and financial compliance of Girls Not Brides , including compliance with the Charity Commission’s guiding principles and charity law.

The Trustees meet regularly throughout the year and act on advice and information provided by the Chief Executive Officer and the senior management of the charity. All Trustees are provided with an individual induction covering all aspects of the Girls Not Brides organisational structure and roles and responsibilities of the Trustees within the organisation, as well as Charity Commission guidance on governance, and the duties of Trustees in the UK. Trustee-specific trainings are organised to ensure that the Board remains compliant with the Charity Commission and up to date on current trends within the non-governmental sector. For example, in 2020, the Trustees received a comprehensive training on all aspects of safeguarding as relevant to Girls Not Brides .

Company Members

Girls Not Brides is a charitable company and its Company Members have a constitutional role, including legal responsibility to approve the Articles of Association (and any amendments) and to appoint and, if necessary, dismiss the Trustees of Girls Not Brides . The term ‘Member’ in this context has a specific legal meaning and should not be confused with the organisations working on child marriage that have joined the Girls Not Brides partnership (below).

Members of Girls Not Brides

The Girls Not Brides secretariat supports the global partnership of member organisations. Membership is open to non-governmental organisations that endorse its mission statement and agree to its membership principles. These organisations are publicly and commonly referred to as ‘members’ (as opposed to the Company Members described above).

Members contribute to the Partnership and engage with one another, as well as with the secretariat, in a variety of ways depending on their interests and capacity. The work and interests of members help define the strategy of Girls Not Brides , and the secretariat requests feedback from them on various issues on a regular basis.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Secretariat

Girls Not Brides’ day-to-day operations are run by its staff based in its London office, with additional individual staff members based in New Delhi (India), Nairobi (Kenya) and Mexico City (Mexico). The secretariat is made up of three directorates, with a Chief Executive Officer overseeing their work. The Chief Executive Officer reports to the Trustees. The Trustees delegate the day-to-day running of the organisation to the Chief Executive Officer.

Risk management

The organisation reviewed and developed its approach to risk management throughout 2020. This included redesigning the organisational risk register, with oversight from the Board of Trustees and input from all senior staff, and updating risk management guidance for staff. Girls Not Brides views risk management as a continuous process that must be considered at the forefront of all activities by all staff members.

In December 2020, the Trustees conducted the annual review of the risk register and were satisfied with the controls and procedures the secretariat had put in place. The Trustees were also satisfied with progress in monitoring and mitigating previously identified potential risks, including financial risks related to its ability to raise sufficient funds, impact of currency fluctuations and management risks.

The risk register is classified into six categories (external engagement, finance and due diligence, fundraising, governance and leadership, operational and partnership) that are further defined into specific potential risk elements. Within this, significant risks are identified and summarised. This includes the following risks and mitigation strategies:

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Girls Not Brides was the victim of a fraud in 2020. The charity acted promptly to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident with the support of specialist external parties and the misappropriated funds were duly recovered in full. Investigations into the matter have confirmed that the incident did not arise as a result of any staff misconduct, cyber security breaches or IT system failures on the part of Girls Not Brides . The charity has worked to adhere to all of its legal and regulatory reporting obligations relating to this matter and has put in place additional controls to further protect the charity against any future incidents of this nature.

Fundraising

In 2020, Girls Not Brides actively fundraised from a small pool of organisations, primarily made up of governments and foundations. Activities were led by our Senior Leadership Team, Donor Engagement Team and the Chair of the Board of Trustees, drawing on other colleagues’ and Board Members’ expertise and support as needed. Activities included researching prospective government and foundation funding, a variety of communications with existing and prospective donors, and preparing concept notes, proposals and reporting for these donors.

During the year under review, Girls Not Brides did not use professional fundraisers or commercial participators and did not actively solicit funds from the general public, including vulnerable people, for the secretariat’s work. We complied with fundraising regulation and codes in 2020 and we did not receive any complaints.

Remuneration policy

Girls Not Brides is guided by the following remuneration principles:

Salary bands are approved by the Board of Trustees. Individual salary decisions are made collaboratively by the Chief Executive Officer, Director of Operations and the individual’s manager.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

The Chief Executive Officer’s salary is decided by the Board. The directors’ salaries are decided by the Chief Executive Officer and the Treasurer or Chair.

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of Girls Not Brides 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:

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.

The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Objects

The charity’s objects are all regarded as exclusively charitable under the laws of England and Wales including, but not limited to:

Public benefit

The Trustees’ report sets out Girls Not Brides’ charitable activities contributing to ending child marriage, which we have carried out in line with our charitable objects, being the promotion of equality and human rights, the prevention and relief of poverty, the advancement of health, the advancement of education and the relief of those in need by reason or youth and/or ill health. The Board has considered the issue of public benefit and are confident that Girls Not Brides’ activities comply with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Income

In 2020 Girls Not Brides income was £3,362,142 (2019: £6,651,735), of largely unrestricted income. Government grants formed more than half of the unrestricted income, with most other donors being private foundations. Restricted income was 20% of total income, and saw a small decrease on 2019 in absolute terms – this was largely because Girls Not Brides’ work on the VOW initiative came to an end in early 2020, and this project represented the majority of the 2019 restricted income.

The majority of 2020 income was agreed in the first quarter, and thus not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, however we have strategically deferred draw-downs from some grants into 2021 to better reflect our anticipated expenditure phasing.

In 2020, the work of Girls Not Brides was made possible through the generous support of many, including:

Expenditure

Expenditure on charitable activities in the year was £3,514,753 (2019: £4,886,126). This was

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GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

significantly lower than in 2019 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Girls Not Brides’ work. As a result of the pandemic, we had to review our planned activities and find new ways to deliver work that would have involved travel, conferences and large meetings. This involved significant savings as activities were moved online or delayed until they are possible in person in 2021. This impacted both restricted and unrestricted funding, and so we are carrying forward £234,840 restricted funding and £3,074,607 unrestricted funding into 2021.

Reserves policy

The Board aims to build up a reserve equivalent to six months of committed costs and three months of planned but uncommitted costs as unrestricted free reserves, based on budget projections. The aim of this policy is to ensure that Girls Not Brides meets all its obligations and contractual liabilities, and continues to operate smoothly, in case of income shortfalls or unexpected expenditures. This target amounts to £1,978,834 at 31 December 2020. Each year the Board reviews the level of reserves and the risks the reserves are held to mitigate against to ensure that the reserves kept are sufficient but not excessive.

As of 31 December 2020 unrestricted free reserves were £2,969,209, which is above our reserves range due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our expenditure in 2020. We intend to spend down this balance over the next few years to bring us in line with our reserves policy.

Funds held as a Custodian Trustee

In 2018, the charity received €2,000,000 to be transferred to Capital for Good USA. The funds will be used to make sub-grants to local community organisations working at a grass-roots level to tackle child marriage. This is aligned with the vision of Girls Not Brides , and in this way the arrangement advances Girls Not Brides’ charitable objectives.

In 2019 and 2020 €1,500,000 (£1,270,185) was transferred and £445,088 (2019: £1,269,143) is included in creditors at the year-end. These funds were transferred to Capital for Good USA in June 2021. In 2020 the funds were held securely in Girls Not Brides’ EURO bank account and tracked through the monthly bank reconciliations. At all times, the balance held as a Custodian Trustee was maintained in the bank account.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the small companies’ regime under the Companies Act 2006.

This report was approved by the Board on …………………. and signed on its behalf by

……………………………………………………….

Mabel van Oranje (Trustee)

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Girls Not Brides (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 December 2020 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 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

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 Girls Not Brides' 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.

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 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

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

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:

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 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

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

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 are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF GIRLS NOT BRIDES: THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP TO END CHILD MARRIAGE

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an 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) 23 June 2021

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

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Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

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

For the year ended 31 December 2020

For theyear ended 31 December 2020
Note
Income from:
2
3a
3a
3a
5
Total funds carried forward
Total funds brought forward
Net (expenditure) / income for the year
Raising funds
Total expenditure
Charitable activities
Promotion of equality and human rights
Prevention and relief of poverty
Donations (grants)
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:		 Unrestricted
£
2,682,251
1,260		 Restricted
£
678,630
-		 2020
Total
£
3,360,881
1,260		 Unrestricted
£
Restated
5,732,035
2,649		 2019
Restricted
Total
£
£
Restated
917,051
6,649,086
2,649
917,051
6,651,735
-
137,765
733,876
3,287,204
408,605
1,461,157
1,142,481
4,886,126
(225,430)
1,765,608
298,066
1,696,440
72,636
3,462,048
2,683,511 678,630 3,362,142 5,734,684
205,466
1,894,485
898,365		 -
384,829
131,597		 205,466
2,279,314
1,029,963		 137,765
2,553,328
1,052,552
2,998,317 516,426 3,514,743 3,743,645
(314,806)
3,389,412		 162,204
72,636		 (152,602)
3,462,048		 1,991,038
1,398,374
3,074,607 234,840 3,309,447 3,389,412

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 15a to the financial statements.

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Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Company no. 8570751

Balance sheet

As at 31 December 2020

Note
Fixed assets:
10
Current assets:
11
Liabilities:
12
14a
Total unrestricted funds
Net assets
Debtors
Restricted income funds
The funds of the charity:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Cash at bank and in hand
Tangible assets
Total charity funds		 £
209,811
4,049,947		 2020
£
£
105,399
105,399
214,025
5,021,260
5,235,285
(1,920,641)
3,204,049
3,309,448
234,840
3,074,607
3,309,447		 2019
£
Restated
147,405
147,405
3,314,644
4,259,758
(1,055,709)
3,462,049
72,636
3,389,413
3,462,049

Approved by the trustees on 17 June 2021 and signed on their behalf by

Mabel van Oranje Trustee

32

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 December 2020

Note
Cash flows from operating activities
Net (expenditure) / income for the reporting period
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation charges
10
Loss on the disposal of fixed assets
Decrease / (increase) in debtors
11
Decrease in creditors
12
Net cash provided by operating activities
Payments for property and equipment
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents and of net debt
Current accounts
Deposit accounts
Total cash and cash equivalents
Net cash used in investing activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the
year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year		 £
£
(152,602)
62,757
136
4,214
(864,932)
(950,427)
(20,885)
(20,885)
(971,312)
5,021,260
4,049,947
At 1
January
2020
Cash flows
£
£
3,569,491
(2,302,921)
1,451,769
1,331,608
5,021,260
(971,313)
2020		 £
£
(152,602)
62,757
136
4,214
(864,932)
(950,427)
(20,885)
(20,885)
(971,312)
5,021,260
4,049,947
At 1
January
2020
Cash flows
£
£
3,569,491
(2,302,921)
1,451,769
1,331,608
5,021,260
(971,313)
2020		 £
£
1,765,608
58,272
424
(18,330)
(1,224,497)
581,478
(34,846)
(34,846)
546,632
4,474,628
5,021,260
Other non-
cash
changes
At 31
December
2020
£
£
1,266,570
2,783,377
4,049,947
Restated
2019		 £
£
1,765,608
58,272
424
(18,330)
(1,224,497)
581,478
(34,846)
(34,846)
546,632
4,474,628
5,021,260
Other non-
cash
changes
At 31
December
2020
£
£
1,266,570
2,783,377
4,049,947
Restated
2019
(950,427)
(20,885)		 581,478
(34,846)
At 1
January
2020
£
3,569,491
1,451,769		 Other non-
cash
changes
£
(971,312)
5,021,260		 546,632
4,474,628
4,049,947 5,021,260
Cash flows
£
(2,302,921)
1,331,608		 At 31
December
2020
£
1,266,570
2,783,377
5,021,260 (971,313) 4,049,947

Of the cash balances held, £445,088 (2019: £1,269,143) is held by the charity as custodian trustee and is not available for use by the charity.

33

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

Girls Not Brides is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in England and Wales.

The registered office address is Seventh Floor, 65 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 2AD.

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared using the historical cost convention and 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. The charity is a public benefit entity.

c) Public benefit entity

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

d) Presentational and functional currencies

The accounts are presented in sterling. The functional currencies of the charity are sterling, US dollar and euro. The accounts are presented in sterling since that is the currency in which the charity conducts most of its activities. No amounts have been rounded.

e) Going concern

There are no material uncertainties that cast significant doubt upon the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. This assessment includes a consideration of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Girls Not Brides.

f) Income

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

g) 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 only for use of the purposes prescribed by the donors.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Trustees for particular purposes.

34

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

1 Accounting policies (continued)

h) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates:

i) Operating leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged in the income and expenditure account on a straight line basis over the lease term.

j) Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their useful economic lives.

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:

over 3 years over 3 to 5 years over length of lease

Fixed assets with a value less than £1,000 are not capitalised.

k) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.

l) Creditors and provisions

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if the charitable company does not have an unconditional right, at the end of the reporting period, to defer settlement of the creditor for at least twelve months after the reporting date. If there is an unconditional right to defer settlement for at least twelve months after the reporting date, they are presented as non-current liabilities.

Trade creditors are recognised at the transaction price.

Provisions are recognised when the company has an obligation at the reporting date as a result of a past event, it is probable that the company will be required to settle that obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation.

35

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

1 Accounting policies (continued)

m) Pensions

The company operates a defined contribution scheme for the benefit of its employees. The costs of contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which they are payable.

n) Foreign currencies

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate as at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities are re-translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Any differences are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities.

2 Income from donations (grants)

Government grants
Other grants and donations		 Unrestricted
£
1,332,519
1,349,733		 £
-
678,630
Restricted		 2020
Total
£
1,332,519
2,028,363		 Unrestricted
£
Restated
3,167,745
2,564,290		 2019
Total
£
£
Restated
-
3,167,745
917,051
3,481,341
917,051
6,649,086
Restricted
2,682,251 678,630 3,360,881 5,732,035

36

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

3a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

Staff costs (Note 6)
Premises costs (rent, utilities)
Travel and workshops / meetings
Consultancy
Grants
Professional fees
IT and communications
Office and other
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2020
Total expenditure 2019		 Raising
funds
£
140,413
-
455
-
-
-
162
1,882
142,913
61,899
655
205,466
137,765		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Governance
costs
£
-
-
73
-
-
9,840
-
1,283
11,196
-
(11,196)
-
-		 Support
costs
£
474,283
235,401
3,785
50,797
51,164
19,071
83,224
141,130
1,058,855
(1,058,855)
-
-
-		 2020
Total
2019
Total
£
£
1,719,083
1,699,783
249,215
202,337
73,302
697,676
659,218
1,264,396
367,938
253,328
28,911
137,996
206,503
170,901
210,573
459,710
3,514,743
4,886,126
-
-
-
-
3,514,743
4,886,126
Human
Rights
£
831,777
6,907
57,835
473,623
296,547
-
62,436
46,440
1,775,565
498,478
5,271
2,279,314
3,287,204		 Relief of
Poverty
£
272,610
6,907
11,152
134,798
20,228
-
60,681
19,838
526,213
498,478
5,271
1,029,963
1,461,157

37

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

3b Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

Staff costs (Note 6)
Premises costs (rent, utilities)
Travel and workshops / meetings
Consultancy
Grants
Professional fees
IT and communications
Office and other
Support costs
Governance costs
Total expenditure 2019		 Raising
funds
£
100,441
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
100,441
36,945
379
137,765		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Governance
costs
£
-
-
-
-
-
11,100
-
-
11,100
-
(11,100)
-		 Support
costs
2019
Total
£
£
318,778
1,699,783
193,324
202,337
4,256
697,676
188,242
1,264,396
-
253,328
41,252
137,996
111,734
170,901
223,003
459,710
1,080,589
4,886,126
(1,080,589)
-
-
-
4,886,126
Human
Rights
£
995,765
4,506
561,070
758,634
170,694
42,822
50,598
175,933
2,760,022
521,822
5,360
3,287,204		 Relief of
Poverty
£
284,799
4,506
132,350
317,519
82,634
42,822
8,570
60,774
933,975
521,822
5,360
1,461,157

38

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

4a Grant making (current year)

Grant making (current year)
Cost
Joy for Children Uganda
VOW for Girls
Other small grants
At the end of the year		 Grants to
institutions
£
184,685
51,164
132,089		 2020
2019
£
£
184,685
-
51,164
102,740
132,089
150,588
367,938
253,328
367,938

During the year Girls Not Brides paid grants to Joy for Children Uganda totalling £184,685 from restricted funding.

During the year Girls Not Brides paid a grant to VOW totalling $65,000 (£51,164) from restricted funding received for activities related to VOW.

During the year Girls Not Brides made a number small grants to member organisations, with an average value of approximately £5,000.

4b Grant making (prior year)

VOW for Girls
Cost
Other small grants
At the end of the year		 Grants to
institutions
2019
£
£
102,740
102,740
150,588
150,588
253,328
253,328

During the year Girls Not Brides paid grants to VOW totalling $130,000 (£102,740) from restricted funding received for activities related to VOW.

During the year Girls Not Brides made a number small grants to member organisations, with an average value of approximately £6,000.

39

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

5 Net (expenditure) / income for the year

This is stated after charging / (crediting):

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
2020 2019
£ £
Depreciation 62,892 58,272
Loss or profit on disposal of fixed assets 135 424
Operating lease rentals payable:
Property 210,025 153,177
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 8,700 9,250
Other services - 5,218
Foreign exchange gains or losses 4,713 (37,164)

40

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

6 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:

Salaries and wages
Redundancy and termination costs
Social security costs
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
Other forms of employee benefits (medical, life and travel insurance)
Relocation		 2020
2019
£
£
1,360,455
1,312,023
-
28,067
157,240
159,529
134,087
134,759
67,301
57,404
-
8,000
1,719,083
1,699,782

Girls Not Brides makes contributions to a defined contribution scheme. The amount of contributions due to the scheme at the year ended 31 December was £nil. (2019: £11,631).

Retirement benefits are accruing to one Trustee (2019: 1) under a money purchase pension scheme.

The number of employees whose remuneration for the year fell within the following bands was:

2020 2019
No. No.
£60,001 - £70,000 - 2
£70,001 - £80,000 4 1
£80,001 - £90,000 - 1
£90,001 - £100,000 - -
£100,001 - £110,000 - 1
£110,001 - £120,000 - -
£120,001 - £130,000 1 -

The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £423,373 (2019: £971,859). In 2020 the Chief Executive Officer and the three Directors were responsible for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the charity.

Mabel van Oranje, Chair of Trustees, received remuneration of £75,868.74 (2019: 102,874) in the year, as permitted by the charitable company’s Articles of Association. The charitable company also paid pension contributions of £7,080 (2019: 10,004) and reimbursed or paid on her behalf travelling, accommodation and office expenses of £3,841 (2019: £72,439).

Girls Not Brides paid £nil (2019: £1,691) on behalf of Teresa Shaver for travelling and accommodation expenses related to our activities. Ann Cotton was paid £nil (2019: £227) and Karin Forseke £nil (2019: £697) for travelling expenses reimbursed. Travelling and accommodation expenses incurred in in 2019 were associated with the Trustees attending national and international meetings on behalf of Girls Not Brides . In 2020 all Board of Trustee meetings were virtual. Remuneration to the Chair and payments to Trustees are permitted by the Charity’s Articles of Association.

41

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

7 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 30 (2019: 29).

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

Policy and Advocacy Team
The Executive
Learning & Partnership Team
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
Communications Team
Finance and Operations Team
Africa Team		 2020
2019
No.
No.
4.0
3.0
4.0
3.0
6.0
11.0
8.0
6.0
7.0
5.0
1.0
1.0
30.0
29.0

8 Related party transactions

Related party transactions: during the year Girls Not Brides paid grants to VOW for Girls (previously known as VOW to end child marriage) totalling £51,164 (2019: £102,740) from restricted funding received for activities related to VOW. Mabel van Oranje is Chair of the VOW Board of Trustees.

9 Taxation

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

10 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
At the end of the year
Cost
At the start of the year
At the start of the year
Additions in year
Disposals in year
Eliminated on disposal
At the end of the year
Net book value
At the end of the year
At the start of the year
Charge for the year
Depreciation		 Short
Leasehold
Improvements
£
106,514
-
-		 Computer &
Software
£
110,356
20,885
(6,557)		 Furniture &
Equipment
£
61,256
-
-		 Total
£
278,126
20,885
(6,557)
106,514 124,685 61,256 292,455
34,008
21,303
-		 70,833
28,421
(6,421)		 25,880
13,033
-		 130,721
62,757
(6,421)
55,311 92,833 38,913 187,057
51,203 31,852 22,343 105,398
72,506 39,523 35,376 147,405

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

42

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

11
12
Other debtors
Debtors
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Prepayments		 2020
£
102,918
106,893		 2019
£
90,512
123,513
209,811 214,025
Other creditors
Deferred income (note 13)
Trade creditors
Unpaid pension contributions
Funds held as agent (see below)
Taxation and social security		 2020
2019
£
£
Restated
60,169
51,091
43,673
37,248
-
11,631
445,088
1,269,143
256,779
228,714
250,000
322,814
1,055,709
1,920,641

Funds held as agent

In 2018, the charity received €2,000,000 to be transferred to 'Capital for Good USA.' In the year £824,130 (2019: £446,130) was transferred and £445,088 (2019: £1,269,143) is included in creditors at the year end. The final transfer was made in June 2021.

13 Deferred income

Movements in deferred income during the year are as follows:

Balance at the beginning of the year
Amount released to income in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year		 2020
2019
£
£
Restated
322,814
968,566
(322,814)
(895,752)
250,000
250,000
250,000
322,814

Deferred income represents grants received where the donor has specified this is to fund 2021 expenditure. This will be released to income in the 2021 accounts.

43

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

14a Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)

14a
Analysis of net assets between funds		 (current year)
14b
15a
Plan International
Total restricted funds
General funds
Analysis of net assets between funds
Net assets at 31 December 2020
Tangible fixed assets
Net current assets
Net assets at 31 December 2019
Tangible fixed assets
Net current assets
VOW
New Venture Fund
Movements in funds (current year)
Restricted funds:
Skoll Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
People's Postcode Lottery
Education Out Loud
Total funds		 At 1 January
2020
£
12,384
36,048
24,204
-
-
-
(prior year)		 Income &
gains
£
7,466
-
(7,350)
389,951
250,000
22,431
16,131		 General
unrestricted
£
105,398
2,969,209		 Restricted
£
-
234,840		 Total funds
£
105,398
3,204,049
3,074,607 234,840 3,309,447
General
unrestricted
£
Restated
147,405
3,242,007		 Restricted
£
Restated
-
72,636		 Total funds
£
Restated
147,405
3,314,643
3,389,412 72,636 3,462,048
Expenditure
& losses
£
(12,384)
(36,048)
(16,854)
(190,544)
(233,653)
(22,431)
(4,511)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-		 At 31 December
2020
£
7,466
-
199,407
16,347
-
11,620
72,636 678,630 (516,426) - 234,840
3,389,413 2,683,511 (2,998,317) - 3,074,607
3,462,049 3,362,142 (3,514,743) - 3,309,447

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

44

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

15b Movements in funds (prior year)

Movements in funds (prior year)
Total restricted funds
General funds
New Venture Fund
Total funds
Skoll Foundation
Restricted funds:
VOW		 At 1 January
2019
£
Restated
92,766
205,300
-		 Income &
gains
£
Restated
212,416
647,958
56,677		 Expenditure
& losses
£
Restated
(292,798)
(817,210)
(32,473)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-		 At 31 December
2019
£
Restated
12,384
36,048
24,204
298,066 917,051 (1,142,481) - 72,636
1,398,374 5,734,684 (3,743,645) - 3,389,413
1,696,440 6,651,735 (4,886,126) - 3,462,049

Purposes of restricted funds

In 2018, the Skoll Foundation awarded Girls Not Brides a grant of $500,000 towards supporting and building a movement to end child marriage in Latin America and the Caribbean over two years. In 2020, the remaining £12,384 was expensed. In December 2020 the Skoll Foundation awarded an additional grant of $10,000 (£7,466) towards Typhoon Vamco, and Hurricanes Iota and Eta. This grant was carried forward into 2021.

In 2019, Girls Not Brides received additional grants and donations of $825,040 (£647,958) from donors, including the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Philanthropic Trust UK, towards the continuing development and setting up of VOW for Girls as its own standalone entity. £817,210 was expensed in 2019, and the balance of £36,048 of the Ford Foundation Grant was expensed in 2020.

In July 2019 Girls Not Brides received a grant of $69,160 (£56,677) from the New Venture Fund through its Ignite Philanthropy: Inspiring the End to Violence Against Girls and Boys. £32,473 was expensed in 2019, £16,854 was expensed in 2020 and £7,549 of unspent funds was returned to the donor at the end of the grant period.

In 2020, Girls Not Brides received a grant of $499,976 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for supporting evidence for advocacy in the child marriage movement. £190,544 was expensed in 2020, and the balance of £199,407 is carried forward into 2021.

In 2019, Girls Not Brides received a grant of £250,000 from the players of the People's Postcode Lottery for accelerating progress to end child marriage in Uganda. £233,653 was expensed in 2020, and the balance of £16,347 is carried forward into 2021.

In 2020, Girls Not Brides received a grant of $33,700 (£25,136) from Education Out Loud for £25,136 to develop a final project proposal. £22,431 was expensed in 2020, and the balance of £2,705 is payable to Education Out Loud.

In 2020, Girls Not Brides received a grant of $20,000 (£16,131) from Plan International, Inc for the purposes of implementing various activities as part the Adolescent Girl Investment Plan. £4,511 was expensed in 2020, and the balance of £11,620 is carried forward into 2021.

45

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

16 Operating lease commitments payable as a lessee

Total amount payable in respect of non-cancellable operating leases:

Less than one year
One to two years
Two to five years		 2020
2019
£
£
123,269
179,429
1,995
140,779
-
-
125,264
320,208

In May 2021 Girls Not Brides signed a new operating lease committing to pay £557,781 over a five year period.

46

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2020

17 Prior year adjustment

Income from two grants, totalling £1,492,469, was deferred in the 2019 accounts, however this income could have been recognised in 2019. This has been adjusted in the 2020 accounts to increase the income recognised and the carried forward funds for 2019, and to decrease the 2019 year end deferred income.

This resulted in the following adjustments to prior periods in the accounts.

Impact on income 2019
Income as previously reported
Grants previously deferred and now recognised as income
Income as restated
Reserves position
Total funds at 31 December 2019 as previously stated
Adjustment for year to 31 December 2019
Total funds as at 31 December 2019 as restated		 Unrestricted
£		 Restricted
£		 Total
£
4,242,215
1,492,469		 917,051
-		 5,159,266
1,492,469
5,734,684 917,051 6,651,735
Unrestricted
£
1,896,944
1,492,469		 Restricted
£
72,636
-		 Total
£
1,969,580
(1,492,469)
3,389,413 72,636 3,462,049

47