2021-03-31-accounts

Company no. 1861434 Charity no. 326859

2021 Annual Report and Audited Accounts

Celebrating 37 years of changing lives

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Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

We are Able Child Africa

The leading UK charity working solely to improve the lives of children and young people with disabilities in Africa.

For over 37 years, we’ve been making lasting change for children with disabilities in Africa, operating across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia.

We break down the barriers to inclusion for children with disabilities and empower them to fight for their rights. We create change on a national scale by influencing governments and other agencies.

We are a small charity making a big impact. We are uncompromising in our mission. We are experts in what we do and are passionate about the approach we take. We are bold and agile, with the courage to innovate and take disciplined risks.

Introduction 3

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

What’s in this report?

Welcome from our Chair	05
Why we exist	06
What we do	08
Protect & Educate	10
Empower	11
Our Impact	12
Uganda	14
Kenya	16
Tanzania	18
Rwanda	20
Malawi	22
Zambia	24
In Focus
Impact of Covid-19	26
Building Local Capacity	27
Luke’s Story	28
Advocating for Change	30
Financial Report	32
Celebrating You	33
Looking Forward	34
Strategic Priorities	35
Report of the Trustees	36
Audited Accounts	46

4 Contents

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Welcome from our Chair

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to our 2021 Annual Report.

Undoubtedly, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to be extremely challenging for ourselves, our partners, and, most pertinently, for the children we work with. But I am incredibly proud of the organisation and our partners who have continued their vital work to protect, educate, and empower children with disabilities during a most difficult period.

We work side-by-side with our six partners and their commitment, vision, and knowledge drive the success of Able Child Africa, without whom none of our work would be possible. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners for everything they have done this year and throughout our many years of successful partnership.

Jim Sellars Chair

We have had some significant successes this year. As well as working with our existing partners in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, we had the first full year of partnership with FEDOMA (Malawi) and ZAPCD (Zambia) and I am delighted to report an excellent start to these partnerships. In May 2021, we also launched the first Disability-inclusive Safeguarding Guidelines, in partnership with Save the Children. The guidelines and training will impact many children, including those beyond the reach of our existing partners.

Looking forward, 2022 marks the start of our next five-year strategy cycle. In preparation, we have launched a strategic review of Able Child Africa in conjunction with our partners and wider stakeholders. The new strategy aims to ensure that the organisation will support the children we work with in the best way possible over the long term and we look forward to sharing our new strategy in next year’s Annual Report.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the entire Able Child Africa team. Karl, our CEO, provides both inspirational leadership to the whole organisation and drives the long-term vision of Able Child Africa; and never have we been more aware of the calibre and dedication of the team as during this challenging period. We are also indebted to the Board of Trustees, whose diverse skillsets and experiences have been crucial in navigating the challenges of the last 18 months.

Despite the organisation's continued growth, the external fundraising environment remains challenging. We do not underestimate the challenge ahead, and my final thanks are reserved for all our donors, whether individual, corporate or institutional, small and large. Your generosity is the lifeblood of the organisation, and we remain indebted to your continued support. This has enabled Able Child Africa to deliver all the work described in the following pages and to continue our vital mission to improve the lives of children with disabilities and enable them to fulfil their potential.

While this has been a challenging 18-month period, the organisation remains well placed to flourish and ultimately support many more children who need our support. I am tremendously excited about the future and sincerely hope you will continue to feel moved to support us in our vital work.

Best wishes,

Jim Sellars

Welcome from our Chair 5

60 million

people with disabilities live in Africa, the vast majority of which are children.

Only 1 in 10 attend school This impact is worsened for girls with disabilities.

Fighting for rights & change for children in Africa.

Children and young people with disabilities are among the most marginalised in the world. Those living in poverty are disproportionately affected. Many continue to spend much or all of their lives in institutions, away from their families and are vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse. They are forgotten, hidden and have been systematically excluded.

Children with disabilities are 4 times more likely

to suffer abuse

or violence

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Why we exist

Up to 80% of children with disabilities from low-income countries will not live to be 5 years old. The children that do are four times more likely to suffer abuse and eight times less likely to go to school.

Our vision is a world in which all children with disabilities are fully included as equal members of society.

We believe that every child is able. Able to learn. Only half of the children who begin go Able to participaton to complete th e . Able to ir primary education. Most drop out after a few months due to feelings of exclusion, isolation or stigma.

Local disability-focused organisations are severely underfunded and under-resourced, so Able Child Africa plays a key role in supporting local partners to protect, educate and empower children with disabilities so they are able to fulfil their potential.

Every day, these children are facing barriers such as stigma and discrimination just for being who they are. They are some of the most vulnerable children in the world.

Denying children with disabilities their equal rights has a lifelong impact. It leads to a life of poverty, abuse, dependence and discrimination. We believe every child is able: able to learn, able to contribute to society and able to shape their own future.

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

What we do

We work with local partners to protect, educate and empower children with disabilities so they are able to fulfil their potential. We do this by...

Delivering high Strengthening Fighting for quality local rights & programmes organisations creating change We deliver high-quality We strengthen local We fight for the rights of children programmes alongside local organisations on the ground with disabilities, creating change partners that break down the which ensures they can deliver on a national scale by barriers to inclusion for children lasting change in the countries influencing governments and with disabilities. where we work. agencies.

. ‘4 Se

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Zambia

----- Start of picture text -----
Uganda
Tanzania
Kenya
Malawi
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Rwanda

We have over 37 years’ experience working with local organisations across Africa to improve the lives of children with disabilities.

Our mission is to promote the realisation of equal rights for children and young people with disabilities in Africa and to facilitate their meaningful inclusion in all aspects of life.

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Protect.

Ensuring the protection of children with disabilities in Africa.

Children with disabilities are at a higher risk of violence, abuse or exploitation due to the multiple barriers that prevent them from protecting themselves or reporting incidents of abuse. We work with all our partners to improve and support local safeguarding practices and ensure the protection of children in the areas where we work.

By supporting local families and organisations to break down the stigma and discrimination around disability, we ensure the protection and inclusion of children with disabilities within their communities. We have been working to do this in Kenya...

Improving Child Safeguarding in Kenya

We worked with our partner Action Network for the Disabled (ANDY) in Kenya to build their capacity to safeguard children with disabilities. Much of ANDY’s early work had focused on supporting young people, however, they were increasingly looking for ways to work with younger children with disabilities, as they identified large numbers of children who were out of school. ANDY sought Able Child Africa’s support to include children with disabilities in their five-year strategy, and together we developed a new child protection and safeguarding policy for the organisation.

The full involvement of both ANDY and Able Child Africa in this process ensured that both national and international standards were considered. Crucially, we have been able to apply our extensive experience and knowledge of the considerations needed for inclusive safeguarding, specifically for children with disabilities.

Educate.

Changing the lives of children with disabilities through education.

Across the world, over 90% of children with disabilities do not attend formal school. To tackle this problem we have developed inclusive education projects that support children with disabilities to access mainstream education alongside their peers, improving their educational outcomes and ensuring they are able to fulfil their potential.

We have been working in Uganda to change the lives of children with disabilities through education…

10 What we do - Protect & Educate

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Child to Child Inclusive Education in Uganda

We teamed up with our partners Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC), to implement an Inclusive Education Project using an innovative Child to Child approach. Together with teachers, they identify barriers to exclusion and work with schools and communities to ensure that children with disabilities are in education, and importantly stay in school.

Using the Child to Child approach, children already attending school are encouraged to identify and engage with out-of-school children with disabilities in their communities. Together with teachers, they identify barriers to exclusion, and work with schools and communities to ensure that children with disabilities are in education, and importantly stay in school.

We worked with 27 schools across three districts (Lira, Adjumani and Nebbi) over 5 years, enabling us and USDC to get over 1,500 children with disabilities into school.

Empower.

Empowering children with disabilities in Africa to fight for their rights.

For too long children with disabilities have been forgotten, hidden and systematically excluded. A key reason is that the children and their parents have been unaware of their rights and are disempowered in the fight for justice. By empowering children and young people with disabilities with knowledge of their rights, they are able to break down the barriers to their inclusion for themselves and their peers.

Raising Aspirations in Rwanda

With funding from the UK Government, we joined the fight to ‘leave no one behind’ in Rwanda, partnering with UWEZO Youth Empowerment to empower children and young people with disabilities to demand inclusion within the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Alongside UWEZO, we developed and implemented a youth-led model, where we trained young people with disabilities to mentor and work with younger children with disabilities. Through this approach, we provided a platform to develop youth-led solutions for meaningful inclusion, where young people themselves become the key advocates for inclusion at the community and government level.

This has created new mechanisms and networks, where young people with disabilities are empowered to campaign for their inclusion across society.

What we do - Empower 11

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Our impact

Ld Objective 1: Support African-led organisations to help children with disabilities and their families realise their full potential

We directly supported children and young people with disabilities through enrolling out-of-school children into schools, providing disability aids, making school premises more accessible, establishing mentoring networks and activities to break down damaging myths about disability.

In 2020/21, we have been working with six partners across six countries in Africa to improve the lives of children with disabilities.

Children we directly supported

Uganda: 461 children & young people supported LC Kenya: 180 children & young people supported Rwanda: 623 children & young people supported Ld[| Tanzania: 370 children & young people supported eS Malawi: 50 children & young people supported Zambia: no stats available as yet

Total 1,684

12 Our Impact

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

We trained teachers in inclusive teaching

methods, providing the necessary training and tools to help teachers support all children in the classroom and ensuring children with disabilities can participate in lessons alongside their peers.

We supported parents of children with disabilities through parent support groups or community events, giving parents the opportunity to discuss the challenges they face, support each other and work together to advocate for their children’s inclusion.

Teachers we trained

Uganda: 484 teachers trained Kenya: 0 teachers trained Rwanda: 24 teachers trained Tanzania: 282 teachers trained Malawi: 37 teachers trained

Zambia: no stats available as yet

Total 827

Parents we supported

Uganda: 853 parents supported Kenya: 199 parents supported Rwanda: 477 parents supported Tanzania: 248 parents supported Malawi: 150 parents supported

Zambia: no stats available as yet

Total 1,927

We worked with government officials and ministers advocating for improvements in disability inclusion at a local and national level in key government services in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Government officials we worked with

Uganda: 47 government officials we worked with Kenya: 14 government officials we worked with Rwanda: 43 government officials we worked with Tanzania: 24 government officials we worked with Malawi: 27 government officials we worked with

Zambia: no stats available as yet

Total 155

Our Impact 13

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Uganda

We have been working in

Uganda since 1984

alongside our partner USDC , supporting children with

disabilities and their families

to break down the barriers to inclusion.

Many people living with disabilities in Uganda continue to face stigma and discrimination . In northern Uganda, where we work, 80% of people with disabilities have been identified as living in chronic poverty. Despite significant progress at a policy level in Uganda, there is an implementation gap. With a policy of Universal Primary Education, school enrolment has reached 90%. However, this is not the case for children with disabilities, where only 2% are graduating to secondary level.

What we’re proud of

We are very proud of our collaboration with Literacy and Adult Basic Education (LABE) in Uganda . Together with inclusive education academics from Kyambogo University we are adapting LABE’s home-based Early Childhood Development curriculum to make it disability inclusive. Once this adaptation is completed, we will have an inclusive curriculum that can be used to give children with disabilities in pre-primary education (ages 3 - 6 years) an equal start in life with their peers. We intend to use this adapted curriculum to open 18 Community Learning Centres (CLCs) in Northern Uganda that will provide free, inclusive early childhood education to children with and without disabilities, an opportunity that is currently denied most children due to poverty and stigma around disability.

Child to Child Inclusive Education in Uganda

In 2016 we teamed up with our partners Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC), to implement an inclusive education programme using an innovative Child to Child approach. In 2021 the first phase of this programme came to a successful end, having enrolled 1,716 children with disabilities into mainstream primary schools over 5 years, and with over 2,000 home visits conducted in the final year alone. The community-based approach brought these children into a safe, inclusive learning environment. The project helped these children tackle environmental, institutional and attitudinal barriers through Child Rights Clubs, teacher trainings, school infrastructure modifications and government advocacy around disability-inclusive policy change. With learnings informing the next phase of work at Early Childhood Education level, we’re excited to support even more children with disabilities to access inclusive education from an early age.

14 Our Impact - Uganda

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Advocating for Change How we in Uganda

Following on from our work with the government to help improve the quality of inclusive education for children

with disabilities , we are now working on a new innovative pilot project with government. This new project looks at combining and piloting an individualised learning plan (ILP) and disability screening tool for use by teachers and education officials. The combined tool will help ensure children with disabilities get the support they need to learn and play on an equal basis with their peers. From the learnings collected from testing the new tool with our partner USDC, we will then work with government to build the evidence needed to take up the model more widely and ensure children with disabilities across Uganda have tailored support, helping to combat widening educational inequalities nationally.

Through our current projects

We registered 853 parents

of children with disabilities into parent support groups

We conducted 2,094 home visits

to vulnerable children with disabilities during the pandemic

We trained 484 teachers

in Child-to-Child approaches for disability -inclusive learning

“ The ILP and disability screening tool will help ensure children with disabilities get the support they need to learn and play on an equal basis with their peers .

Our Impact - Uganda 15

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Kenya

We have worked in Kenya since 2009 with our partners Ld ANDY supporting children

and young people with

disabilities to be included in all aspects of their lives.

While Kenya has a system of free primary education, the curriculum requires basic skills that most children with disabilities do not have. Very few have accessed early education, meaning young people with disabilities are less likely to be employed, and more likely to be living in poverty. With limited access to education or health care, these young people continue to face injustice, stigma and sometimes abuse and violence. This is magnified in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum where ANDY is based, and home to an estimated 100,000 people with disabilities.

What we’re proud of

As part of our Comic Relief funded inclusive education programme with ANDY in Kenya, we’re delighted about the development of an individualised education plan (IEP) guide and an inclusive play programme (IPP) guide for teachers. The IEP guide has been developed to help teachers provide bespoke educational support for individual children with disabilities to help them reach educational goals more easily than they would without this support. Recognising the importance of play for all children’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development in their early years, the IPP sets out practical advice and guidance for teachers on how to deliver an inclusive play programme that equally benefits all children with disabilities. Teachers have received specialist trainings on both tools, and we’re excited to monitor the effectiveness of these approaches, with these learnings informing adaptations later in the project.

Improving access to early years education for children with disabilities

Despite children being eligible to enrol in pre-primary education from the age of 3, assessments in Kenya are only conducted with children from the age of 5. This means that children who need additional support in their early years are missed at this crucial stage in their life, resulting in lower enrolment, retention and attainment numbers among children with disabilities. Together with our partner ANDY in Kenya, and with funding from the British & Foreign Schools Society, we have developed two ‘Early Years Child Functioning Assessment Tools’, one for children aged 2 to 4 years and the other for children aged 5 to 17 years. Adapted from the Washington Group on child functioning, the assessment tools have been developed for use by government education officials and teachers to assess different functional domains of individual children such as vision, hearing, mobility, learning, communication, dexterity and playing, and emotions. The full involvement of both ANDY and Able Child Africa in this process ensured that both national and international standards were considered, whilst a situational analysis with Ministry of Education officials, schools, children with and without disabilities and parents of children with disabilities has ensured its suitability. Crucially, we have been able to apply our extensive experience and knowledge of the considerations needed for inclusive education, specifically for children with disabilities at pre-primary level.

16 Our Impact - Kenya

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

The effect of Covid-19 How we on Alfred and his family

The effect of Covid-19 was felt by Alfred’s family in a big way, especially the loss of income for his parents. It was difficult for Alfred’s mother, Ruth, to provide the basic needs for the Alfred and his siblings. Alfred’s parents noticed a regression in his progress. Before schools closed, Alfred was able to communicate well with others and complete simple school activities such as colouring. He had acclimatised to a regular schedule, going to school during the week and church on the weekends. But this routine was greatly disrupted because of Covid-19. It has been difficult for Ruth to explain to Alfred why schools were closed, why children were staying at home, and why he could not play with other children. It has been especially challenging to explain the importance of social distancing and why and how to wash your hands effectively and regularly.

Through our current projects

We educated 38,814 community members

on the importance of early childhood development for children with disabilities

Ruth was part of the home-based care training that we set up in November 2020. The training outlined how to support the early childhood development of children with disabilities in their homes, with topics on early identification and interventions, nutrition and health, and inclusive learning. Ruth incorporated these teachings, preparing activities such as ball games, colouring and reading exercises, and cooking healthy and nutritious meals. Despite the challenges that Covid-19 brought, Ruth did her best to support Alfred and with schools now open again in Kenya, Alfred has been enrolled in a day-care nursery and is back on track with his education at a

nearby school .

We trained 199 ‘parent champions’

of children with disabilities into parent support groups

We advocated for the rights of children with disabilities with

14 government officials

“ Ruth incorporated these teachings, preparing activities such as ball games , colouring and reading exercises , and cooking healthy and nutritious meals.

Our Impact - Kenya 17

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Tanzania

We have been working in Tanzania since 2007 alongside our partners

(CST) to change the lives of children and young people with disabilities through

inclusive education.

Many children and families in Mbeya are living in poverty, often exacerbated by disability , HIV/AIDS and high mortality rates . Here, services for children with disabilities are severely lacking and poorly resourced. Although primary education is free in Tanzania, children with disabilities often do not develop the basic early learning skills needed to succeed in this environment and are continually left behind when it comes to accessing primary education.

What we’re proud of

Take All My Friends To School

We are very excited that the second phase of building CST's brand new inclusive Early Childhood Education centre is drawing to a close after experiencing delays due to Covid-19 and other factors, and that the next phase of work is now underway . To date, CST's new school has two fully accessible classrooms, an accessible toilet block and a multi-functional assembly hall. The next phase of work will realise the construction of another accessible classroom and a physiotherapy room to ensure children with disabilities have access to the necessary support they need to stay in school. CST's school currently hosts just under 200 children with and without disabilities, and we're extremely proud that this fully accessible early learning centre has been commended by the Tanzanian government as a beacon for inclusive education.

This year we brought our five-year inclusive education ‘Take All My Friends To School’ project to an end with our partner Child Support Tanzania (CST). This project was one of our largest to date and enabled us to work actively with government to increase the access, quality, and quantity of inclusive education provision in Tanzania through the project’s work with 8 primary schools in Mbeya area.

This project supported 370 previously out-of-school children with disabilities to enrol into inclusive mainstream education, giving them the support they need to develop academically, socially and emotionally. Wrapped around this work within schools was a focused advocacy campaign with CST working in consortium with other civil society organisations to help government to adapt its policies to ensure quality inclusive education for children across Tanzania.

Po Mother of a beneficiary of our work

18 Our Impact - Tanzania

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

James’ Story

James was one part of the first cohort of children with disabilities enrolled in one of the target primary schools back in 2017. His enrolment came about as the result of the work of the Parent Support Group (PSG) set up with the school. James acquired a disability following birth complications, making his parents worried about their son. Before joining the PSG, they were facing challenges supporting their child. When James first enrolled in school, he could not communicate through verbal or write methods easily. However, with the right support from his teacher, who had been trained in inclusive education teaching methods and disability rights and friends in his Child Rights Club (CRC), James has been able to cope and break down disabling barriers to education and social inclusion. James attends physiotherapy once a month and his mental and physical health is improving greatly. James is now one of the best pupils in his class, acting as a trailblazer for children with disabilities and showing his undeniable talent and potential .

Through our current projects

288 teacher home visits

to children with disabilities to help parents with early education and childhood development guidance

367 children were educated

on their rights through Child Rights Clubs (CRCs) at their school

We trained 282 teachers

on Child-to-Child teaching practices

Le Advocacy/ influencing in the country: [

Our partner CST was selected by the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MOEST) to be among the panel of drafting the new National Strategy of Inclusive Education (NSIE) 2022. This has demonstrated CST’s developing role as a trusted advisor to government in the development and implementation of inclusive education policy. This involvement will build on CST’s previous co-ordination of the national NGO Director’s Forum, which helped lobby for the national implementation of the previous strategy.

Our Impact - Tanzania 19

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Rwanda

We have been working in Rwanda since 2016

alongside our partners

UWEZO Youth Empowerment, empowering children and young people with disabilities to fight for their rights and access inclusive education.

Nearly half of all people with disabilities in Rwanda are under 35. Two-thirds are not in education or employment and over 90% fall below the national poverty line. Children with disabilities comprise less than 1% of all primary school students, and this rate drops further at secondary level. As they grow older, these inequities remain; Rwandan youth with disabilities are far less likely to participate in the workforce, with less than 1% in employment. While Rwanda has a good track record of inclusive policies and has taken many strides towards better inclusion of its population, many children with disabilities are still unable to access basic services and face stigma and discrimination.

What we’re proud of

This year saw the conclusion of two of our big projects in Rwanda. In our Raising Aspirations project, funded by the UK government, we empowered 80 young people with disabilities to become national advocates for disability inclusion and mentors for younger children with disabilities. This project targeted children with disabilities, their communities and Rwandan government to work together to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals were made a reality in Rwanda. We also saw the conclusion of our youth-led Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project, funded by Jersey Overseas Aid, in Musanze, northern Rwanda. A major challenge for young girls with disabilities attending school is having confidence in managing their own sanitation and hygiene. These fears mean girls with disabilities are often not in school, and when they are, they are not included in learning about hygiene, health and reproductive practices. We created a more accessible environment so that inaccessible facilities and information sharing are not the reasons why girls with disabilities are not in school. We trained teachers on

inclusive teaching methods and educated the girls about good hygiene and reproductive health practices. We also trained a group of 12 young women with disabilities to become peer mentors, providing individual support for those out of school and group mentoring for those who are in school.

Covid-19 Rapid Response

Acting early, Rwanda was one of the first countries in East Africa to impose a strict lockdown. While this helped them avoid the worst results of Covid-19, the impact of the lockdown had severe consequences for children with disabilities. We secured additional funding from the UK Government for a Covid-19 Rapid Response project, which aimed to keep children with disabilities safe, happy and clean during the pandemic. Working with our established Youth Disability Advocates from our existing projects, we developed a home mentoring package to support children isolated by the lockdown. The advocates were trained in mental health and wellbeing support techniques, in addition to their disability inclusive hygiene training. They undertook home mentoring visits to children with disabilities to help support their mental wellbeing during the pandemic and ensure they received the support they need. As part of this funding we also created inclusive child-friendly materials with vital Covid-19 hygiene information to be distributed to children with disabilities as part of the project.

20 Our Impact - Rwanda

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Female Sanitation How we _ and Hygiene

Through our current projects

We registered 477 parents

of children with disabilities into parent support groups

We provided 135 children with disabilities

with emergency hygiene supplies and psychosocial support during COVID-19

We trained 24 teachers

in Child-to-Child approaches for disability -inclusive learning

Elizabeth is a 15-year-old girl with a physical impairment. She used to frequently miss classes in her lower primary years due to several health issues, which meant that she was often having to go into hospital for treatment. Because of this, Elizabeth did not start primary school until she was 11 years old, alongside classmates who were 6 or 7 years old. Despite her late start to education, Elizabeth’s teachers frequently said she was one of the best-behaved students and she excelled in her studies. However, by the time Elizabeth was in Primary 3 class, she was already a teenager and dealing with her body changing, whereas most of her classmates were not, and she became increasingly isolated. After being identified to take part in our inclusive WASH project, funded by Jersey Overseas Aid, Elizabeth began receiving group mentoring as part of the school health clubs. This provided Elizabeth with the opportunity to speak openly about her experiences among peers, and receive crucial information about water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and sexual reproductive health. All the information shared was done so in a disability inclusive way, meaning that for the first time the conversation was relevant and sensitive to Elizabeth’s experiences.

The open and honest conversations around hygiene and sexual reproductive health have increased her confidence and removed much of the stigma that she previously felt. Furthermore, she was given materials as well as education on how to use them correctly, which has allowed her to manage her hygiene safely and effectively. In turn, this has all led to her spending more time with her classmates and feeling more included in her class. Elizabeth now visits other girls with disabilities who are currently out of school, helping them to understand the importance of good hygiene practices. She loves her role as a WASH ‘hero’, saying that she hopes every girl with disabilities can get a chance to access the training in the same way she has. She says, “I want to become a health worker when I grow up so that I get to teach other people about inclusive practices. I know this would also make my mother very proud of me.”

Our Impact - Rwanda 21

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Malawi

We began working in Malawi in 2020 with one of our newest — partners, Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi (FEDOMA), following an extensive partnership call and partnership process, with FEDOMA chosen as a partner organisation who can help us further our collective mission and add value to each other’s work.

Malawi has an extremely young population, with children under 18 accounting for more than 50% of the total population. 63% of these youth live in multidimensional poverty where education, nutrition and health are scarce. Affecting disability prevalence rates, Malawi also has one of the highest pre-term birth rates globally, with many of Malawi’s large populace of young people living with disabilities. To support its young population, Malawi’s government has taken significant strides forward in provision of Early Childhood Education, including a 20% allocation of the national budget to education and the innovative implementation of community-based early years’ services. Despite these efforts, disability inclusion remains largely unconsidered in these service provisions, with the specific support considerations of young children with disabilities often left out of these plans.

We value the partnership with cs Able Child Africa as it goes beyond project implementation, to support organisational development and build our capacity — Chris, FEDOMA Project Manager

What we’re proud of

We are proud to support FEDOMA in their national advocacy activities, with several activities targeting key government changemakers. This includes a meeting with the Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare to lobby his support for the recognition of a link between disability and poverty. As a result, the Minister agreed to engage the Ministry of Health who took part in the World Health Assembly to deliver the message during the assembly including writing a letter to the WHO regional director and Malawi UN representative, stating the link between poverty and disability. This was a significant step in ensuring the government recognise the additional support that children with disabilities and their families need, especially during a pandemic. Furthermore, the national Malawian police service has pledged its support and dedication to work with FEDOMA to raise awareness on the protection and safeguarding of children with disabilities through joint media campaigns, an ongoing collaboration.

22 Our Impact - Malawi

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Improving access to early childhood development in Malawi

In September 2020, we launched a new and exciting project with our partner FEDOMA. Together, we are delivering a new three-year project to improve access to early childhood development (ECD) services for young children with disabilities (aged 3-5 years old) through quality community-based inclusive early childhood interventions .

Through our current projects

We enrolled 150 parents

of children with disabilities into parent support groups

We enrolled 50 young children with disabilities

into early childhood education

We trained 37 teachers

(CBCC workers) in disability inclusive teaching methods

In the project’s first year we have worked with ten community childhood centres to ensure that the services they offer are inclusive of all children, including those with disabilities. We have made the centres more accessible, trained staff on disability inclusion, and have identified several children with disabilities who were out of school to be enrolled in the centres. We have also screened several children with disabilities to ensure that they receive any assistive devices that they need to ensure their equitable inclusion and continued attendance to school. We have also been working with a number of actors responsible for the early years’ development of children with disabilities, including government, communities and parents of children with disabilities. Through targeting all these groups simultaneously, we have seen exciting cooperation and enthusiasm to achieve the project’s aims and ensure long-term systemic change.

We are really proud of the success that we have already seen in the project’s first year and are looking forward to continuing this.

Our Impact - Malawi 23

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Zambia

As one of our newest partners, we began working in Zambia with Zambia Association of

Disabilities (ZAPCD) last year, with ZAPCD chosen as a partner organisation who can help us further our collective mission and add value to each other’s work.

In Zambia, it is estimated that there are just over 1

million people with disabilities, which equates to 7.2% of the population. Lack of access to services are cited as one of the main barriers people with disabilities face. For children with disabilities, no inclusive education policy or statements that outline the need for inclusive education at any level exists in Zambia. As few as 22% of children with disabilities are in Early Childhood Education (ECE), 52% in primary education and only 12% are recorded as having completed secondary education. The needs of children with disabilities are not fully considered in government plans, with national data and evidence desperately needed to inform and influence the government to address the ECE needs of children with disabilities in Zambia. Recognising that education starts at pre-primary level, focusing on efforts to improve the accessibility and inclusiveness of ECE for children with disabilities offers a real opportunity to give children the best start possible to progress through their educational journey.

What we’re proud of

Earlier this year, Able Child Africa and ZAPCD received funding from Vitol Foundation to begin delivery of our very first project together. We are currently conducting a national review of the availability and accessibility of Early Childhood Education (ECE) services for children with disabilities in Zambia. The review will identify barriers children with disabilities face, what successful approaches for inclusive early childhood education in Zambia already exist, and what are perceived to be the most sustainable solutions for furthering inclusive early childhood education in the current context. Through consultations with children with disabilities, parents of children with disabilities, community leaders, Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), government officials, teachers, and other education professionals, the review will help produce a detailed evidence paper and clear project outline for a multi-year inclusive ECE programme we hope to begin delivering together next year.

24 Our Impact - Zambia

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Challenge ofHow we Covid-19 on our partnerships

Our partner model is fundamental to the way we work, as we believe the most effective way to support children with disabilities is to partner with organisations in the countries where we work . We build long term partnerships that go beyond any funding relationship, as we invest in the long term growth of an organisation to ensure they remain able to support and fight for the rights of children with disabilities.

The Covid-19 pandemic however, has placed great challenges on our ability to maintain and manage our partnerships, particularly our new partnerships with ZAPCD in Zambia and FEDOMA in Malawi. We have been working hard to support both organisations remotely through this time and secure funding for their work. We have been identifying areas of organisational development where we can support to improve their capacity to do their work.

“

We are delighted by the investment of both ZAPCD and FEDOMA into this process and look forward to be able to visit them in person over the next year to progress our partnerships.

Our Impact - Zambia 25

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

In Focus:

Impact of — Covid-19

The impact of Covid-19 on the countries where we work has been severe, even though the spread of the virus and the response in each country has differed. One thing that has been consistent across all countries, is the disproportionate impact on people and children with disabilities. Worryingly, over the last year it has become clear that children with disabilities have been routinely forgotten, ignored and abused, falling even further behind. Over the last year we have therefore adapted and redirected our programmatic delivery to ensure we have been flexible and responsive to these challenges, supporting children and their families as effectively as possible.

But we have also seen an increased demand on services from our partners, alongside a shortfall in funding and a lack of support for delivery. This has been a particular challenge for Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) who work with children and young people with disabilities, as these organisations tend to be underfunded, smaller and therefore more fragile organisations. We recognise the vital role that OPDs play in supporting children with disabilities and have therefore provided one-off unrestricted grants to our partner organisations that have enabled them to pay staff and overheads and continue to provide the crucial support for children with disabilities.

In 2020 we collated evidence from across our partnership network in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia which identified five main ways in which children and young people with disabilities in Africa are specifically impacted by Covid-19.

Lack of disability and child-friendly resources and equipment

There has been an obvious lack of disability-inclusive and child friendly information on Covid-19, including health updates, hygiene advice and social distancing guidance. In addition, many of the hand-basins, sinks and communal water pumps people are expected to use for handwashing during the pandemic are inaccessible and only provided in adult sizes. We have worked with partners in Rwanda and Tanzania to advocate for the provision of disability and child-friendly hygiene facilities providing training and guidance to schools, communities and local government.

how many children and young people with disabilities with complex and life-threatening conditions have been unable to access the vital healthcare they need. We have worked with our partners in Uganda, Kenya and Malawi to train parents on Home Based Care (HBC), teaching parents to provide physiotherapy and occupational therapy, while working with local health providers to adapt services so that children with disabilities and their families can access them.

Increased financial pressure on families of children with disabilities.

Parents of children with disabilities are usually engaged in informal, unreliable employment. Continued restrictions on movement, and therefore paid work, has meant many families of children with disabilities are on the brink of starvation. In Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya we have provided emergency packages of essential food items and hygiene equipment for families of children with disabilities and have been working with local governments to ensure Covid-19 response funds are directed towards these families.

Inaccessible education for children and young people with disabilities

Global gains made in inclusive education have been cut short by the current pandemic. Global school closures have seen a rise in alternative education being used to support remote learning, most of which are not disability inclusive. Across our education portfolio we have been working with partners to train parents in home-based schooling and set up Covid-safe, low-cost community learning hubs. We have also been supporting partners to advocate to governments for accessible home-based education methodologies including radio broadcast and adaptations of education materials.

Increased safeguarding risks for children and young people with disabilities

The context of the current pandemic has put many children with disabilities at additional risk. The closures of schools and increased time spent at home has meant children with disabilities are more likely to experience physical or psychological abuse or sexual assault in their homes and are more likely to be abused by those who care for them.

Children and young people with disabilities are unable to access vital healthcare There have been several reports from our partners describing ~~_~~

26 Our Impact

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Building Local Capacity

Building the capacity of our local partners is a core part of the work we deliver and . central to our impact strategy

It is a distinct objective in our strategy and outlines a commitment to provide focused and measured organisational development support to each of the organisations we work with. We only work with organisations where both parties feel they can add value to each other, and we ensure that a willingness to take part in this reciprocal capacity building is considered in the selection of new partners.

Objective 2: Build the capacity of a network of African-led disability organisations, both individually and collectively, to maximise the impact and sustainability of their work

This year marked a new partnership cycle for our overseas partners and ourselves. We signed new partnership agreements with all partners, who selected their top three capacity building priorities in areas where they would like to strengthen their organisational development. These priorities have been structured into delivery plans involving trainings, mentorship and workshops aimed at helping our partners sustainably develop their organisations over the next three years.

by supporting them to conduct their first external final evaluation following the conclusion of our four-year inclusive education project this year.

In Rwanda , we supported UWEZO to strengthen their capacity to deliver disability inclusive trainings, supporting them as they took over the delivery of multiple trainings on sanitation and hygiene, disability inclusion and advocacy to their youth with disabilities network, based on trainings we had previously held with UWEZO staff. We also worked with UWEZO to expand their MEL capacity by supporting them to conduct two final evaluations of our two major multiyear projects, which both concluded this year.

In Uganda , we supported USDC to develop a set of inclusive education tools aimed at supporting children with disabilities multiyear projects, which both concluded this year. through early identification processes and supporting them to follow In Malawi individualised learning plans (ILP). This innovative, combined tool is now going to be piloted by USDC in our new project to see if the in-depth organisation policy audit, as well as writing a new Support African-led organisations to help children with disabilities and their families realise model is suitable for scaling across Uganda’s primary school constitution and new finance and governance policies. We their full potential system on a national level. ! In Kenya , we worked with ANDY to develop a number of programmatic tools for use by teachers and education officials, including a new inclusive play programme guide, an individualised education plan guide, a child functioning assessment tool and a handbook for teachers on disability inclusive sexual and baseline study. reproductive health for girls with disabilities. Collectively, these tools In Zambia have strengthened our combined ability to create long-lasting change for children with disabilities in Kenya.

In Malawi , we worked with our new partner FEDOMA to strengthen their financial and governance systems, supporting them through an in-depth organisation policy audit, as well as writing a new constitution and new finance and governance policies. We supported FEDOMA to hold an extraordinary General Assembly to launch their new governance policies and are assisting them to recruit new Trustees. We also worked with project staff to build their capacity in financial management and MEL through a series of trainings, supporting them as they implemented their project baseline study.

In Zambia , we worked with our new partner ZAPCD to build their knowledge and capacity to design an initial theory of change for an inclusive early childhood education (ECE) project for children with disabilities. Through a series of workshops and meetings we worked with ZAPCD to develop problem statements, design outcomes and activities that respond to the barriers identified. ZAPCD are now testing this theory of change by conducting a national review of ECE provision in Zambia and consulting with organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) across four provinces of Zambia.

In Tanzania, we continued to support Child Support Tanzania (CST) to improve their financial management and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) capacity, supporting their finance team and Board of Trustees to operationalise their rolling set of management accounts to improve financial tracking. We also worked with CST to improve their MEL capacity and MEL culture within the organisation

Building Local Capacity 27

Able Child Africcj 2021 Annual Report ryT 28 Luws Story

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Luke’s story

Luke was born blind, and for the first 5 years of his life never left his mother’s side .

He was completely dependent and attached and couldn’t develop any communication skills. He didn’t even have the confidence to walk on his own. He was left isolated from other children his age and his parents didn’t believe he would be able to have a positive future.

This is where Able Child Africa came in.

As soon as he was enrolled in school through our Child-to-Child Inclusive Education Project, however, Luke’s prospects completely turned around. The teachers at Luke’s school had been trained in inclusive education and worked hard with him to develop his communication skills. Fantastically he can now signal to his friends and teachers whenever he needs anything, and his social skills are growing daily.

The project has provided Luke with a white cane, meaning he is finally able to enjoy independence, walk around and navigate his environment on his own ; and most importantly, make friends . Luke’s parents are thrilled and amazed.

His parents’ outlook has completely changed, and they now have really positive hopes for Luke’s future . They have even joined the local parent’s group, supporting other parents of

children with disabilities in their community.

We can’t believe what Luke can now do on his own . We’re so grateful for all the work the teachers have done[“] with him.

– Grace

Luke’s Story 29

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Advocating for Change

We are committed to raise awareness of the unique barriers that children with disabilities face and actively advocate for recognition of their rights and the . funding associated with their inclusion

We believe our partners are best placed to advocate locally and seek to strengthen their capacity to influence change. As such we work primarily through our partners to advocate for the inclusion of children with disabilities in local policies, procedures and budgets. We stand alongside them to hold their Governments to account for their stated obligations and commitments as outlined in national charters, constitutions and international frameworks and ensure it is them, not Able Child Africa who are recognised for projects that deliver local advocacy. We also work with partners to deliver local community level campaigns and awareness raising strategies to ensure children with disabilities grow up in supportive unprejudiced environments.

Objective 3: Effect positive changes in the realisation of the rights of children with disabilities through strengthened policies, improved budgeting and expanded opportunities for child and youth participation.

This year

This year, our partners have we have had some significant success in influencing and strengthening national level policies.

In Uganda , as a result of strong relationships developed with government departments through our inclusive education programme, our partner USDC received special permissions to conduct activities during periods of lockdown to ensure children with disabilities continued to be supported despite schools remaining closed.

In Kenya , through engagement with government officials in newly established Community Based Rehabilitation groups we have seen a significant increase in the number of children with disabilities receiving individual support, such as access to bursaries and assistive devices to enable children to have improved access to primary and secondary education.

In Tanzania , CST continued advocacy to the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) to secure inclusive adaptations to school examinations that enable children with disabilities to be assessed on an equitable basis to their peers. This year CST secured modified examination concessions for 121 children with disabilities for examinations. This is a vital step in reducing educational inequalities and ensuring children with disabilities have the support they need to thrive in education.

In Rwanda , as our result of our work funded by Jersey Overseas Aid, there has been a notable improvement in the provision of disability-inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene support by the Rwandan government, including sustained provision of hygiene kits to girls with disabilities, and commitments to ensuring that future school structures are built to support children with disabilities in an inclusive and dignified way.

In Malawi , our project has enabled sustained engagement with local and national decisionmakers, including meetings with Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare. These meetings have resulted in additional commitments from the government to promote disability inclusive ECD delivery such as a monthly stipend for caregivers. FEDOMA have also been working closely with the national police, who as a result have pledged to work with FEDOMA to raise awareness nationally on the protection and safeguarding of children with disabilities through joint media campaigns.

In Zambia , we have been able to capitalise on consultations with government officials as part of our national review, to secure buy-in for a multi-year inclusive Early Childhood Education programme for children with disabilities in Zambia that we hope to begin next year.

30 Advocating for Change

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

In the UK

In the UK, we work to advocate for children with disabilities by providing training and facilitating workshops for mainstream organisations and donors on child-led disability inclusion. We believe that by influencing larger mainstream organisations with a wider reach across their projects, we create a cost-effective and efficient way of reaching larger numbers of children and their families.

We have continued in our leadership role as a Co-Chair of the UK Bond Disability and Development Group and continue to sit on the Bond Child Rights Working Group Steering Group. This year we have focused on working with the UK INGO sector to oppose the UK Aid budget cuts from 0.7% GNI to 0.5% GNI and advocated for the continued need for the UK government to support children with disabilities. We have also used these platforms to promote the adoption of our disability-inclusive child safeguarding guidelines and continue to ensure that intersectionality of childhood and disability is represented in position papers and evidence given to policy makers on disability inclusive development.

Disability Inclusive Child Safeguarding - We have continued to lead the way this year in disability-inclusive child safeguarding. We have continued to co-coordinate an Inclusive Safeguarding Task Group in the International Development and Disability Consortium and have continued to act as an advisor to the FCDO Safeguarding Resources and Support Hub on issues relating to disability inclusive safeguarding. We have also developed and published the first Disability-inclusive Child Safeguarding Guidelines in partnership with Save the Children, with an accompanying Toolkit and practitioner video for organisations in the sector. We launched the guidelines and toolkit in May 2021 with over 500 attendees from 125 organisations. A podcast spotlighting the guidelines was also released in July by the FCDO Resource and Support Hub. The guidelines and the toolkit

provide advice on how to plan for disability-inclusive child safeguarding, with tangible steps for organisations and practitioners working across the development and humanitarian sectors on how to include children with disabilities in each step of the process.

Momentum Panel Series - This year we launched a new series of public talks on different aspects of our work called ‘Momentum.’ The events provide a unique platform for the children and young people with disabilities to discuss the programmatic approaches that work for them. The panel series also bring together the experience of academics and practitioners on delivery approaches that are specifically designed for children and young people with disabilities. The events are free to attend and are intended to share learnings with the wider sector on some of the key approaches taken in our work. The first panel in March focused on the health and social protection impact of Covid-19 for children with disabilities, with the second panel conversation in July looking at disability inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene for girls with disabilities. The third panel, due later in the year will focus on inclusive sports and play for children with disabilities.

Training and Knowledge Sharing - This year we have provided several trainings and webinars for organisations across the sector. Working with organisations such as Plan International, Right to Play and CBM international, we have delivered sessions on disability-inclusive programming techniques for children with disability, as well as disability-inclusive child safeguarding training. We have also provided support for organisations reviewing their internal child safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure they are disability inclusive.

Recognising that Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) or grassroots civil society organisations that work with children are sometimes excluded from professional trainings due to cost, we also put on a series of three free webinars on disability-inclusive child safeguarding for OPDs. The sessions started in September this year and are based on the recent Disability-inclusive Child Safeguarding Guidelines and Toolkit published in partnership with Save the Children.

Advocating for Change 31

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Financial Report

Overview

Able Child Africa’s total income this year was £957,430 which represents a reduction of 3% from the previous financial year. This is comprised of £675,305 in restricted funding (including grants) and £282,125 in unrestricted flexible funding.

Total expenditure this year was £909,713, which is a 21% growth from the previous financial year.

Income and Expenditure

----- Start of picture text -----
Income and Expenditure Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds
Income £282,125 £675,305 £957,430
Expenditure £196,223 £713,490 £909,713
Net Income (Expenditure) £85,902 -£38,185 £47,717
----- End of picture text -----

Spending on Charitable Activities

----- Start of picture text -----
Expenditure Split Charitable Activities Raising Funds Total Expenditure
Total £826,652 £83,061 £909,713
----- End of picture text -----

Raising Funds

Expenditure on charitable activities amounts to 91p for every pound raised and comprises costs of our projects in Africa, our advocacy and influencing work as well as related support and governance costs.

Charitable Activities

----- Start of picture text -----
9%
91%
----- End of picture text -----

Reserves

We ended March 2021 with £311,015 of unrestricted reserves. This included £85,000 of designated funds, resulting in a net unrestricted reserves figure of £226,015, well above our target of £140,000. This strong level of unrestricted reserves has allowed us to navigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic over the last 18-months and left us in a strong position for 2021/22.

Our full report and accounts are available at the back of this document.

32 Financial Report

Celebrating You

Nothing we do would be possible without the many people who support or fund us, complete challenges for us or provide in-kind support. So, to all of you, a massive thank you!

Lasting Legacies

This year we have been fortunate enough to receive an incredibly generous charitable legacy from the estate of Irma Skeeles. The legacy, which we are putting towards the inclusive school build in Tanzania, will make a huge improvement to the lives of children with disabilities in Tanzania and will be a lasting legacy to Irma’s life.

To American Century and Paul Harrison for their regular donation and matched donations from the U and to Cargill and Juwon Sofola for their amazing donation each year.

We would also like to thank the Trusts and Foundations that supported us this year. To Vascroft Foundation for their continued support and to the Ashla Charitable Trust for their donation.

Virtual Events

Covid-19 has placed an unprecedented challenge on our ability to bring money in, with the cancellation of many of our vital events. While we were not able to stage our in-person Gala, we were so humbled by all the support we received for our virtual gala in 2020. A big thank you to Theo and Gary from Kujenga for their in-kind donation of the digital platform and tech support that allowed us to put all the income we received towards our work. A big thank you also to Daliso Chaponda for hosting the event and to Chris McCausland for joining us for our virtual Who Wants to be a Millionaire game. We were also incredibly privileged to have two special performances on the night from our patron Emeli Sande and from Annie Lennox, who made the night extra special.

We were also very thankful to Damian Lewis for agreeing to put on an event for his new book launch and donate the proceeds of the event to our work. So a big thank you to Damian and to Kate Adie as well for chairing the successful and interesting event.

This year we also secured two new corporate donors, Hassell Inclusion and Dogemoon. We are delighted that they have come on board to support our work and are very grateful for their support. We look forward to a long and impactful partnership.

We would also like to thank Iirth for their continued support with our brand and design and We Are Penelope for their essential IT support during a very challenging time. And to Patricia Balogun for your amazing work with our finances. We think of you all as part of the team.

We would like to thank the following donors for their support in 2021

Aberdeen Asset Management Charitable Foundation

Aletheia Foundation

American Century Investments

Our patrons

We are lucky to have some amazing patrons who continue to support our work. A big thank you to long standing patrons Anne Wafula-Strike and Keith Nethercot for all their support over many years. And to our new patrons, Emeli Sande and Ellie Robinson. We are very excited to have them on board and look forward to working together to further our work.

Ashla Charitable Trust

Azad Ayub Ltd Barclays Charitable Trust

Cargill

Comic Relief

Department for International Development (now FCDO)

Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC

Corporate and individual supporters

We are very fortunate to have some amazing corporate partners, whose continued support during a challenging period have been so vital. To the Exile Group (formerly TXF), a big thank you for continuing to be friends of the charity and understanding the challenges we face. The Exile Group have also offered us a free office space from November 2021, which means more of our funds will be able to go towards our activities with children with disabilities, so a big thank you to Dan, Katy, Dom and all the team for their support.

To Azad Ayub Ltd for his sponsorship of our events, and generosity to the cause. To PenCarrie and Clare Persey both for their donation to our work and for their support of what we do.

Harold Benjamin Solicitors

Ineke Feitz-Stichting

Jersey Overseas Aid Commission Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Network for Social Change

PenCarrie Limited

The British and Foreign School Society The Commonwealth Foundation The Exile Group – TXF and Kujenga The Marr-Munning Trust

Vascroft Foundation

Celebrating You 33

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Looking Forward

The last 18-months has been somewhat of a perfect storm for our sector. While the impact of Covid-19 placed unprecedented challenges on all charities, the merger of the Department for International Development (DFID) with the FCO, along with the severe cuts to funding across the sector has left many organisations under threat. While we have been able to navigate the period in a strong position, we do not underestimate the challenges ahead, and understand that we may need to change to remain both sustainable and relevant.

Karl Hankinson Chief Executive Officer

However, it is not just organisations in the UK that have been affected. Cuts to UK aid budgets and programmes have had a significant impact on all of our partners across Africa, who have suddenly lost funding or found themselves unable to secure new funds. There is an existential threat to the survival of these organisations, who are essential if we are to maintain the fragile social structures that protect children and young people with disabilities across Africa and so we remain committed to support our partners, ensuring they are here to continue their vital work.

The true impact of Covid-19 on children with disabilities across the world is not yet known but we know from experience it is the most disadvantaged who suffer through any crisis. The likelihood of abuse and violence to vulnerable children increases, and yet the structures that protect children with disabilities barely exist in the communities where we work. Disability movements are young, and organisations that focus on children with disabilities are few and so the need for us to continue our work, in partnership with local organisations, is more important than ever.

But going forward, it is likely to be a changing role. As we enter a new strategic planning period, we are consulting with a wide range of stakeholders, including our partners to understand where we add most value. Through this process I believe we are brave enough to be self-critical and take the required decisions to ensure that Able Child Africa can thrive and continue to make a vital difference for children with disabilities in Africa.

We need you all there with us, fighting for the rights of every child with a disability, to ensure that no child is left behind. So once again, I would like to thank everyone for continuing to support us this year and I look forward to what we can achieve together over the next year.

Many thanks

Karl Hankinson

Chief Executive Officer

34 Looking Forward

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Strategic Priorities

We have four key strategic priorities outlined over the next 12-months.

1. New strategy development

3. Disability-inclusive child safeguarding

We are coming to the end of our latest strategic period, with our current strategy running to March 2022. After our two most successful years to date, our year-on-year growth that we have seen over the last seven years is expected to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside the significant changes we are seeing within the sector. This process was evident prior to Covid-19, but it has been accelerated by the changes we have seen recently. With that firmly in mind, we had already begun a comprehensive review of the organisation, formulating ideas of how we might need to change over the next strategic period to remain impactful and resilient. Over the next year, this will be our focus as we undergo extensive consultation both internally and externally to plan out our next steps forward, with a new strategy expected in place by June 2022. This work is going on alongside a drive to improve diversity and representation from a governance perspective to ensure we remain fit for purpose and accountable to the people that we work with.

2. Impact through advocacy

During and following a global crisis it is inevitably the poorest and most marginalised who will suffer the most. So, our role in raising the voice of children with disabilities is as important as ever. It is vital that the needs of children with disability and the progress that has been made over the last 30 years is not lost through Covid-19. We will therefore continue to advocate for the inclusion of children with disabilities in local policies, procedures and budgets both here in the UK and alongside our partners in Africa. We will take on a larger role in international networks ensuring that the rights of children with disabilities are considered in all decision making.

We are looking to build on the expertise we have developed, particularly in the area of inclusive safeguarding, as we continue to position ourselves as experts in our field. We have already shown that we add value to large mainstream organisations, and we want to continue to show that we add value across the sector. We will continue our strategy to position ourselves as thought leaders on the issues surrounding children with disabilities, particularly around inclusive safeguarding and continue our work developing products and tools that assist other organisations to include children with disabilities in their work. This positioning will be vital if we are to be in a position to effectively advocate for the inclusion of children and young people with disabilities.

4. Diversifying income portfolios

The impact of Covid-19 and the widespread cuts across the sector will have a significant impact on our organisation that is expected to last for the next few years. While we expect most of our fundraising events to return to normal over the next 18-months, the need to diversify our income portfolios remains to make us more resilient to change. This is particularly true when we look at our historic grant-based funding. The last 12-months has seen a significant drop in large multi-year funding opportunities, meaning all organisations are having to consider how they continue to bring funds in. We are not immune to this and will be looking at how we maintain funding for projects with partners by building new relationships across different sectors.

Strategic Priorities 35

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Report of the Trustees

The Trustees present their report along with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021. The financial statements have been prepared based on the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with Able Child Africa’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, applicable law, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

1. Structure, Governance and Management

1.1 Legal Status

Able Child Africa is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, not having a share capital, incorporated under the Companies Act 2006 (company number 01861434). The company is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 326859). Able Child Africa was previously known as the Uganda Society for Children with Disabilities.

1.2 Trustees

The Trustees (who are also Directors of Able Child Africa for the purposes of Company law) who held office during the financial year are set out in this document. They represent a diverse skill set with experience in finance, law, HR and the third sector, including programme delivery, safeguarding and advocacy. The Board of Trustees is led by the Chair, James Sellars. The Trustees delegate the day-to-day operation of the charity to the staff team, managed by the CEO, Karl Hankinson. The CEO also acts as Company Secretary. During the year two Trustees left the Board, and one new Trustee was appointed. This transition included a change to the Treasurer position, with Mitul Shah joining the Board in September 2020 and taking over as Treasurer from Chloe Chik in February 2021.

Trustees are appointed in accordance with the provisions in Able Child Africa’s Articles of Association, which allow for appointment at any time. New trustees are nominated by current members of the Board of Trustees, following an open and competitive recruitment process, and approved by a majority vote of the Board. Once appointed, Trustees undergo a thorough induction process. Trustees do not receive any remuneration but may claim for incidental expenses, such as travel to board meetings.

The full Board meets on a quarterly basis. We also have one sub-committee, the Resources Sub-Committee that meets quarterly to oversee finance, unrestricted fundraising and give recommendations to the board. The Resources Sub-Committee has its own identified terms of reference, nominated chair and reports to the full board. The chair of the Resources Sub-committee is currently Martin Hill, appointed in March 2020.

The Board of Trustees is primarily responsible for setting and maintaining the strategic direction of Able Child Africa, setting policies and managing resources, risk and staffing. Trustees ensure appropriate procedures and safeguards are in place and take reasonable steps to ensure that these are followed, and they review the Articles of Association, last revised in 2017, to ensure they remain fit for purpose. They carefully monitor finances to ensure viability and sustainability of existing commitments and future plans; they oversee decisions relating to non-budgeted commitments in excess of £1,000; and budgeted commitments in excess of £5,000. Trustees also oversee and ensure compliance of statutory and legal requirements, both internally within Able Child Africa as well as to our beneficiaries and donors.

The Board oversees staff remuneration and sets the pay scales and any benefits package, currently limited only to pension payments, for the organisation. Salary scales are benchmarked using the Croner Charity Rewards Report, which provides the most comprehensive set of data on salary and benefit packages for the Charity Sector in the UK. The last pay scale review was completed in 2017 and amended in 2020.

Audited Accounts 37

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

1.3 Staffing

Able Child Africa maintains a small staff team in the UK. For most of the financial year we had nine staff members, which included the Chief Executive, a Head of Programmes, a Senior Programme Officer, two Programme Officers, a Finance & Operations Executive and Fundraising & Communications Officer. We also had one part-time Advocacy & Communications Assistant for the full year.

Able Child Africa is an equal opportunities employer, committed to equality of opportunities regardless of gender, disability, race, religion, or sexual orientation. We are also proud to be a registered ‘disability confident’ committed employer. In our recruitment processes we particularly encourage applications from people with disabilities and people with direct experience of living or working with children with disabilities; those meeting essential criteria are guaranteed an interview.

1.4 Fundraising Performance

Able Child Africa has experienced consistent growth over the last few years, averaging 20% growth for each of the last five years up to this year. 2020/21 saw us maintain our fundraising performance from the year before at just under £1million, as we invested in our unrestricted fundraising team.

We have over £400,000 of multi-year grants secured for delivery over the next year and we are in a strong position to deliver against our strategic objectives. We do however, see challenges in securing continued large scale grant funding over the next three years following the Covid-19 pandemic and are therefore looking to strategically diversify our restricted fundraising going forward.

1.5 Public Benefit Statement

Able Child Africa works for the public benefit through its international development and advocacy work, in support of children with disabilities in Africa.

The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s objectives and aims and in planning future activities for this year and those contained in the next Strategic Plan.

Our charitable object as outlined in the Articles of Association is:

To relieve charitable need, promote health, advance education and promote the social integration of disabled children for the public benefit, with a focus on (but without limitation) promoting such disabled children achieving their human, social, cultural and economic rights (as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“UNCRC”), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”) and subsequent United Nations conventions and declarations and in regional codes of human rights which incorporate the rights contained in the UNCRC, the UDHR and those subsequent conventions and declarations) by any means the Trustees in their absolute discretion choose and in particular by raising awareness as to the needs of disabled children and advocacy as to how those needs can best be met.

38 Audited Accounts

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

2. Financial Review

We are proud that our work offers real value for money to our donors. Our expenditure on ‘charitable activities’ amounts to 91% of total expenditure. As a small bespoke charity, we recognise the value of every penny donated and reaffirm here our continuing commitment to carefully managing support costs in order to ensure that we maximise expenditure on charitable activities. However, we also recognise the need to invest in new activities as we grow and are committed to making reasonable and timely investments in order to respond to increasing regulatory requirements and securing our own financial sustainability through unrestricted fundraising in an increasingly difficult and uncertain external environment.

2.1 Income

Able Child Africa’s total income this year was £957,430 which represents a reduction of 3% from the previous financial year. This is comprised of £675,305 in restricted funding (including grants) and £282,125 in unrestricted flexible funding.

The higher proportion of income (70%) for the financial year was restricted through grants from institutional donors and corporate partnerships. This year saw a 21% growth in restricted income levels, leading to our largest portfolio of funded work, with our largest institutional projects funded with thanks to Comic Relief, Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA), Department for International Development (DFID) - see note 4 for more details.

Unrestricted income amounted to 30% of total income. This included a £85,000 legacy from the Estate of Irma Skeeles, which is being held as designated funds to be spent in 2021/22. Additional income was raised from individual donors, through unrestricted corporate support from TXF, Cargill Financial Services Europe Ltd, American Century Investments and PenCarrie; and through our fundraising events including our annual gala fundraising event and the London Marathon.

2.2 Expenditure

Total expenditure this year was £909,713, which is a 21% growth from the previous financial year. Restricted expenditure totalled £713,490, which was spent delivering projects to benefit children with disabilities in Africa; these are detailed in note 6.

Expenditure on charitable activities amounts to 91p for every pound raised, and comprises costs of our projects in Africa, our advocacy and influencing work as well as related support and governance costs. Our fundraising costs, 9p for every pound raised, are kept as low as possible whilst still allowing us to raise sufficient funds to deliver against our mission. This year cost of raising funds primarily includes fundraising staff time. Support costs, which cannot be solely attributed to either charitable or fundraising expenditure, are allocated in proportion to estimated staff time spent on each activity.

2.3 Reserves

It is our policy to retain sufficient reserves to safeguard ongoing commitments and operations. Trustees regularly review our reserves policy in line with ongoing plans, budgets and cash flow forecasts.

The reserves policy, as defined in April 2020 states that the organisation should hold a minimum of 3-months of unrestricted expenditure at all times, with the aim to maintain reserves at a level above 6-months unrestricted expenditure. This decision is overseen by the Resources Sub-Committee.

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Based on the 2020/2021 budget this indicated a target reserves of £140k. Having carried forward unrestricted reserves of £225,113 at the start of the year, we ended March 2021 with £311,015 of unrestricted reserves. This included £85,000 of designated funds, resulting in a net general unrestricted funds figure of £226,015, well above our target.

This strong level of unrestricted reserves has allowed us to navigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic over the last 18-months.

2.4 Going Concern

The Trustees reaffirm that Able Child Africa is a going concern, indicated both by the financial review contained here as well as forecasting for the next 12-months.

The current Covid-19 pandemic placed a significant strain on our ability to bring in funds to the organisation, particularly as a large amount of our unrestricted income was sourced from in-person events. By reducing expenditure and diversifying the way we brought money in, we were successful in navigating the worst period of the pandemic. We maintained a strong unrestricted reserves position throughout the year, and with the start-up of the London Marathon once again and the ability to deliver large scale events, we see a normalisation of our unrestricted income levels over the next two years.

Looking forward, the bigger concern is with grant-based funding. A drop in secured funding expected over the next two years as large donors have mostly paused or stopped funding through the pandemic. The impact of this is likely to mean a slight contraction in the size of the organisation and a need to diversify sources of grant-based funding to maintain levels of delivery.

2.5 Voluntary Help and Gifts in Kind

We would like to thank all our generous volunteers and supporters for their work this year. We would like to thank the Exile Group for their continued in-kind support, most notably providing us with the platform to deliver our first virtual Annual Gala. We would also like to thank Latham & Watkins for providing us with pro-bono legal support for GDPR compliance.

2.6 Investment Policy

The Trustees have the power to invest in such assets as they see fit. At the present time we do not have any funds invested but may review this position in future should resources allow.

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3. Risk Management Statement

The Trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring that Able Child Africa has the appropriate systems of control in place, financial and otherwise. Through the implementation of the Strategic Risk Register, the Trustees interrogate and proactively seek to reduce, eliminate or mitigate risks. The major risks to which Able Child Africa is exposed to are identified by the senior management team and nominated board members and reviewed by all Trustees at each quarterly board meeting.

The Trustees remain satisfied that current internal systems provide reasonable assurance that the organisation operates efficiently and effectively, safeguards its assets, maintains proper records and complies with relevant laws and regulations. At present the Trustees consider the two most significant risks are around financial sustainability and preventing child safeguarding incidents. These main risks, together with agreed mitigation strategies, are summarised below.

Risk of insufficient funding and economic instability preventing us from delivering against our mission

In the current Covid-19 climate, risk to income, both restricted and unrestricted is high. At present we have a strong unrestricted reserves position, with over 6-months reserves at March 2021 and a stable unrestricted income portfolio. This has been helping manage us navigate the turbulent period over the last 18-months. However, while unrestricted income streams have been affected in the short term, in the more medium term, the focus is on the risk of reduced grant-based funding and other changes in the sector. While significant reductions in grant-based funding wouldn’t affect our continued operations, it would affect our ability to make impact on scale. Changes in grant donor arrangements or preferences, particularly regarding our largest and most regular donors, will therefore have a significant impact on our output. At present we have approximately £300k of funding already secured for the next year but are working to identify new donors and diversify our funding streams. We are also planning for a new external environment and looking at how we future proof our organisation as the funding and donor landscape changes. All this is being done collaboratively and transparently with the Board of Trustees to ensure proper oversight and a strategic response to a changing situation. Financial oversight is provided by the Treasurer (monthly) and Resources Sub-Committee (quarterly) who review rolling cash flow projections and annual budgets. This regular monitoring ensures we regularly monitor performance against targets, as well as implement strategic shifts early when required.

Risk of compliance in the implementation of projects by our partners

Able Child Africa’s strategy and theory of change both clearly lay out why we have chosen to work in partnership with African-led organisations. Principally, we believe quality, success and sustainability of our work depends on being grounded in the local context; we also believe this offers greater value for money to our donors. However, taking responsibility for the implementation of projects by our African partners, particularly where we are the primary grant holder, carries financial and reputational risk. We seek to mitigate this risk by developing collaborative, working relationships and transparent lines of communication with our partners; and having in place overarching Partnership Agreements and supplementary Funding Agreements in relation to each secured grant. We also conduct multiple in-person visits each year to check compliance of grants and improve systems. Our ability to do this has been affected by the current travel restrictions due to Covid-19, with UK staff not able to travel to Africa. This is expected to be resolved in the beginning of 2022. Even without these in-person checks, the controls and systems in place are robust and work to mitigate risk. The programmes team regularly review activity delivery and project expenditure by partners, interrogating the quality of delivery and spend against outcomes. Project specific risk registers are developed collaboratively with partners for each project; these inform Able Child Africa’s overall risk register and are reviewed and updated on an annual basis with partners. We have also developed a bespoke Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy, as well as a summary for our overseas partners, which is in compliance with the UK Bribery Act 2010.

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Risk of safeguarding incident causing harm to one or more of the vulnerable people we work with

As an organisation working with some of the world’s most vulnerable children and young people, Able Child Africa understands the importance of our role in their safeguarding. As a partner-led organisation we also understand the threat of an incident involving one of our or our partner's staff, volunteers, or Trustees. While we do everything in our power to minimise the risk involving a staff member, volunteer or Trustee, we accept that due to the nature of our work, there is an increased likelihood of the witnessing or reporting of abuse. We aim to deal with this risk in an honest and transparent way that puts the child or vulnerable adult at the centre of any action. This risk is increased during any crisis, like Covid-19.

We have a detailed and robust Inclusive Safeguarding Policy and Procedures that outlines the measures in place to reduce a Safeguarding incident that affects a child or vulnerable adult; and to appropriately act on any reported incident or suspicion of abuse. We have robust recruitment processes, with DBS checks on all staff, Trustees and volunteers upon appointment. All our staff are trained in safeguarding with regular team workshops where staff can discuss thoughts and facilitate learning and we have recruited a Safeguarding professional onto the board as the nominated lead. While our policies and procedures are strong, we are currently undergoing a full review and update of our systems to ensure they not only fit for purpose, but best practice.

Risk of loss of business continuity through unexpected sudden departure of key members of the team

The success of Able Child Africa’s results and impact lies with its small and extremely dedicated staff team. The unplanned and sudden loss or departure of staff therefore places a risk to our ability to operate efficiently, particularly given the size of the team. To mitigate this, we have taken a number of steps both to improve staff retention and to ensure the loss of institutional knowledge is reduced. Over the course of the last 18-months, we have placed an emphasis on staff wellbeing and organisational culture to improve staff retention and provide an attractive and supportive environment for staff. To protect institutional knowledge, we have built processes into our new CRM system and have started to implement a change in culture to document the organisational knowledge away from individual staff members. We have revised and updated our Business Continuity Policy this year to improve our oversight of the risk, particularly in light of a global pandemic and are well-equipped to manage this risk.

Risk to Able Child Africa staff or volunteer safety during travel

Although Able Child Africa does not currently work in conflict areas, political instability, the social turbulence, violence and kidnapping risks associated with travel to our chosen countries cannot be completely eliminated. We take our duty of care to our staff and volunteers very seriously through robust travel policies and procedures to manage security risks and provide reasonable but not absolute assurance against any occurrence. Ahead of each trip the Head of Programmes undertakes an internal risk assessment, documents travel plans and movements, and provides a travel briefing. Staff and volunteers who travel have access to a security and emergency travel app on the smartphone they are provided for travel and this is available to download on personal devices. Our latest security procedure review and staff training was undertaken last year, with a new Travel Safety and Security Policy developed following an internal review. Due to the risks of Covid-19, staff are currently on a travel ban, with all work travel ceased from March 2020 until travel is deemed safe. This is expected to be reopened at the beginning of 2022. However, the wellbeing, health and safety of not just staff, but all of our partners and anyone we come in to contact with will be rigorously assessed to ensure that the resumption of travel is safe for everyone.

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Risk of ineffective management of staff, volunteers, supporters’ and/or beneficiaries’ personal data

As a small organisation with limited resource to cover IT infrastructure, we understand the potential risks of ineffective IT systems or a cyber security attack that leads to a potential data breach. This risk is increased while we work remotely during the current extended period. As part of the GDPR regulations, Able Child Africa has improved its IT policies, systems and infrastructure to better ensure that individual’s data held by Able Child Africa is consensual, relevant for its purpose and secure. We have revised Data Protection Policies to bring them up to date with GDPR and ensured their effective implementation across the organisation. We have developed new IT Usage and Security Policies and Procedures to provide effective guidelines to staff on using IT and people’s data within the organisation. We have developed a data register outlining the data we collect, the purpose for collecting it and where it is stored. Staff have received Data Protection training pre- and post-GDPR implementation and we have updated our data retention policies and developed Privacy Notices for all stakeholders to the organisation, including staff and Trustees. All our Privacy Notices and practices underwent an external review by a specialist law firm to ensure we are fully GDPR compliant and to ensure more effective management of all our data. This was completed at the end of 2020.

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4. Statement of Trustee Responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also Directors of the charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (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 charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently

• Observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent

• State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

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

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In so far as the trustees are aware:

• There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware

• The Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

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

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2021 was seven. The Trustees are members of the charity, but this entitles them only to voting rights. The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditors

Godfrey Wilson Ltd were appointed as the charitable company's auditors in 2017 and have acted in that capacity for the last three years. They have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf on 04 December 2021:

James Sellars

James Sellars – Chair

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Able Child Afr￿0 2021 Annual Raport Audited Accounts 45

Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Company no. 1861434 Charity no. 326859

Able Child Africa

Report and Audited Financial Statements Able Child Africa Report and Audited Financial Statements 31 March 2021 31 March 2021

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Able Child Africa

Reference and administrative details

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Company number 1861434 Charity number 326859 Registered office and Unit 6 Madeira Tower operational address 34 Ponton Road Nine Elms London SW11 7BA Trustees Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Abubakar Askira (resigned 24 April 2021) Heather Barr Emily Bueno Catherine Carter Chloe Chik (resigned on 24 February 2021) Martin Hill Catherine Oldridge-Turner James Sellars Mitul Shah (appointed 19 September 2020) Company secretary and CEO Karl Hankinson Bankers CAF Bank Barclays Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue 1 Churchill Place Kings Hill London West Malling E14 5HP ME19 4JQ Solicitors Bates Wells & Braithwaite 2-6 Cannon Street London EC4M 6YH Auditors Godfrey Wilson Limited 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

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Able Child Africa 2021 Annual Report

Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Able Child Africa

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Able Child Africa (the 'charity') for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and the related notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charity's affairs as at 31 March 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

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

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

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

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

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Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Able Child Africa

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

• the information given in the Trustees’ report (incorporating the directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the Trustees’ report (incorporating the directors’ report) have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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

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

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

• we have not obtained all the information and explanations necessary for the purposes of our audit.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement set out in the Trustees’ report, the Trustees 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 they 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 charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Able Child Africa

Our 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 procedures we carried out and the extent to which they are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, are detailed below:

(1) We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, and assessed the risk of non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Throughout the audit, we remained alert to possible indications of non-compliance.

(2) We reviewed the charity’s policies and procedures in relation to:

• Identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations, and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

• ▪ Detecting and responding to the risk of fraud, and whether they were aware of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; and

• Designing and implementing internal controls to mitigate the risk of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud.

(3) We inspected the minutes of trustee meetings.

(4) We enquired about any non-routine communication with regulators and reviewed any reports made to them.

(5) We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and assessed their compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

(6) We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected transactions or balances that may indicate a risk of material fraud or error.

(7) We assessed the risk of fraud through management override of controls and carried out procedures to address this risk. Our procedures included:

▪Testing the appropriateness of journal entries;

▪Assessing judgements and accounting estimates for potential bias;

▪Reviewing related party transactions; and

▪Testing transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

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

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Independent auditors' report

To the members of

Able Child Africa

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charityʼs 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 charityʼs members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditorʼs 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 charityʼs members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Alison Godfrey

Date: 8 December 2021

Alison Godfrey FCA

(Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of:

GODFREY WILSON LIMITED

Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 5th Floor Mariner House 62 Prince Street Bristol BS1 4QD

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Able Child Africa

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

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Note Income from: Donations 3 4 Other trading income 5 Investments Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds Total expenditure 6 8 Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward Charitable activities Charitable activities Net income / (expenditure) and net movement in funds	Restricted Unrestricted £ £ - 271,220 675,305 10,000 - 738 - 167 675,305 282,125 - 83,061 713,490 113,162 713,490 196,223 (38,185) 85,902 220,899 225,113 182,714 311,015	2021 Total £ 271,220 685,305 738 167 957,430 83,061 826,652 909,713 47,717 446,012 493,729	Restated 2020 Total £ 410,648 573,008 3,355 321
			987,332
			89,255 660,216
			749,471
			237,861 208,151
			446,012

The prior period comparatives have been restated as described in note 18 to the accounts.

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 15 to the accounts.

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Able Child Africa

Balance sheet

As at 31 March 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
Restated
2021 2020
Note £ £ £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 11 1,869 7,185
Current assets
Debtors 12 40,051 73,115
Cash at bank and in hand 470,021 382,603
510,072 455,718
Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year 13 (18,212) (16,891)
Net current assets 491,860 438,827
Net assets 14 493,729 446,012
Funds 15
Restricted funds 182,714 220,899
Unrestricted funds
-
Designated funds 85,000
General funds 226,015 225,113
Total charity funds 493,729 446,012
----- End of picture text -----

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

Approved by the trustees on 4 December 2021 and signed on their behalf by

James Sellars

James Sellars - Chair

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Able Child Africa

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Cash used in operating activities: Net movement in funds Adjustments for: Depreciation charges Dividends, interest and rents from investments Decrease / (increase) in debtors Increase / (decrease) in creditors Net cash used in operating activities Cash flows from investing activities: Dividends, interest and rents from investments Purchase of tangible fixed assets Net cash provided by investing activities Decrease in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	2021 £ 47,717 5,316 (167) 33,064 1,321 87,251 167 - 167 87,418 382,603 470,021	Restated 2020 £ 237,861 5,316 (321) 1,271 4,461
		248,588
		321 (3,607)
		(3,286)
		245,302 137,301
		382,603

The charity has not provided an analysis of changes in net debt as it does not have any long term financing arrangements.

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Able Child Africa

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Able Child Africa meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

b) Going concern basis of accounting

The ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic is having an impact on the charity’s ability to both fundraise and, on its partners, to deliver in-country work. The Trustees have considered the impact of this issue on the charity’s current and future financial position. The charity holds unrestricted, general reserves of £226,015 and a cash balance of £470,021. The Trustees consider that the charity has sufficient unrestricted reserves and cash flow to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date on which these financial statements are approved. The Trustees are closely monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the level of restricted funding available for future years following the crisis and have put in measures to protect the charity.

c) Income

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

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

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

Income received in advance of provision of earned income, sales, and consultancy is deferred until criteria for income recognition are met.

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Able Child Africa

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

d) Donated services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item, is probable and the economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), general volunteer time is not recognised.

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

e) Interest receivable

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

f) Funds accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the Trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

g) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

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

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

h) Grants payable

Grants payable are recognised as expenditure on the earlier of a) when the charity has a present obligation to transfer resources; and b) when the charity ceases to control the resource (e.g. via transfering funds to the grant recipient).

i) Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity, including the costs of complying with constitutional and statutory requirements and any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on the basis of staff numbers, as follows:

	2021	2020
Raising funds	17%	12%
Charitable activities	83%	88%

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

j) Tangible fixed assets

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:

Computers, database and website 3 years straight line Furniture and fittings 5 years straight line

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500.

k) Debtors

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

l) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

m) Creditors

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

n) Financial instruments

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

o) Pension costs

The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees. There are no further liabilities other than that already recognised in the SOFA.

p) Foreign currency transactions

Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at rates prevailing at the date of the transaction. Balances denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange prevailing at the year end.

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

q) Accounting estimates and key judgements

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

The key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are depreciation as described in note 1(j).

2. Statement of financial activities: prior period comparatives

Income from: Donations Investments Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities Total expenditure Net income and net movement in funds Charitable activities Other trading income	Restricted £ £ 1,506 409,142 558,056 14,952 - 3,355 - 321 559,562 427,770 - 89,255 491,523 168,693 491,523 257,948 68,039 169,822 Unrestricted	Restated 2020 Total £ 410,648 573,008 3,355 321
		987,332
		89,255 660,216
		749,471
		237,861

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

3. Income from donations

Income from donations
Legacy income Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Gifts in kind Total Sponsored challenge events Fundraising events and community Individual donors Corporate donors	Restricted £ £ - 33,717 - 15,303 - 85,031 - 54,005 - 53,178 - 24,986 - 5,000 - 271,220 Unrestricted	2021 Total £ 33,717 15,303 85,031 54,005 53,178 24,986 5,000
		271,220

Gifts in kind received during the year relate the provision of prizes for the gala dinner.

Prior period comparative

Legacy income Gifts in kind Total Sponsored challenge events Fundraising events and community Individual donors Corporate donors	2020 Restricted Total £ £ £ - 64,798 64,798 - 70,908 70,908 - 183,500 183,500 1,506 33,726 35,232 - 48,030 48,030 - 8,180 8,180 1,506 409,142 410,648 Unrestricted

4. Income from charitable activities

Grants > £10,000: Vitol Foundation Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Jersey Overseas Aid Commission Marr Munning Trust Ashla Charitable Trust Smaller grants < £10,000 Total Aberdeen Asset Management Charitable Foundation Comic Relief	Restricted £ £ 329,576 - 113,220 - 112,045 - 53,940 - 24,218 - 23,893 - - 10,000 18,413 - 675,305 10,000 Unrestricted	2021 Total £ 329,576 113,220 112,045 53,940 24,218 23,893 10,000 18,413
		685,305

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

4. Income from charitable activities (continued) Prior period comparative

Grants > £10,000: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Jersey Overseas Aid Commission The Commonwealth Foundation The British & Foreign School Society Network for Social Change American Century Investments Aletheia Smaller grants < £10,000 Total Aberdeen Asset Management Charitable Foundation Comic Relief	2020 Restricted Total £ £ £ 253,606 - 253,606 92,890 - 92,890 65,305 - 65,305 55,292 - 55,292 26,761 - 26,761 14,921 - 14,921 14,569 - 14,569 - 13,952 13,952 11,450 - 11,450 23,262 1,000 24,262 558,056 14,952 573,008 Unrestricted

Government grants

The charitable company receives government grants, defined as funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (previously DFID), Jersey Overseas Aid Commission and HMRC via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to fund charitable activities. The total value of such grants in the period ending 31 March 2021 was £190,971 (2020: £158,195). There are no unfulfilled conditions or contingencies attaching to these grants in the current or prior year.

5. Other trading income

Sales income	Restricted £ £ - 738 Unrestricted	2021 Total £ 738	2020 Total £ 3,355

All other trading income in the prior year was unrestricted.

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Able Child Africa

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

6. Total expenditure

Total expenditure
Sub-total Prior period comparative Sub-total Grants payable (note 7) Staff costs (note 9) Non-salaried personnel Running costs Fundraising and events Allocation of support and governance costs Running costs Programmes and operations Fundraising and events Governance Governance Programmes and operations Total Grants payable (note 7) Staff costs (note 9) Non-salaried personnel Total Allocation of support and governance costs	£ - 49,552 - - 20,053 - - 69,605 13,456 83,061 £ - 36,887 - - 41,541 - - 78,428 10,827 89,255 Raising funds Raising funds	£ £ 509,032 - 234,110 32,737 7,483 2,279 - 39,449 - - - 5,585 9,433 - 760,058 80,050 66,594 (80,050) 826,652 - £ £ 352,554 - 202,537 33,779 1,211 4,492 - 46,957 - - - 6,519 22,994 - 579,296 91,747 80,920 (91,747) 660,216 - Support and governance costs Support and governance costs Charitable activities Charitable activities	2021 Total £ 509,032 316,399 9,762 39,449 20,053 5,585 9,433
			909,713 -
			909,713
			Restated 2020 Total £ 352,554 273,203 5,703 46,957 41,541 6,519 22,994
			749,471 -
			749,471

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

7. Grants payable to institutions

Grants were paid to the following overseas partner organisations in pursuit of the charity's objects:

Action Network for Disabled Youth (ANDY) Uganda Society for Disabled Children (USDC) Child Support Tanzania (CST) UWEZO Youth Empowerment Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA) Article 25 Little Rock Inclusive ECD Centre Total	Restated 2021 2020 £ £ 66,015 43,274 126,219 96,219 123,869 111,409 141,105 95,014 51,824 - - 645 - 5,993 509,032 352,554

8. Net movement in funds

This is stated after charging:

Net movement in funds This is stated after charging:
	2021	2020
	£	£
Depreciation	5,316	5,316
Trustees' remuneration	Nil	Nil
Trustees' reimbursed expenses	Nil	186
Auditors' remuneration:
Statutory audit	4,680	4,440
Other services	300	300

No trustees received reimbursed expenses in the current year (2020: £186, one Trustee for travel to board meetings).

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Able Child Africa

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

9. Staff costs and numbers

Staff costs were as follows:

Salaries and wages Social security costs Pension costs Other staff costs Total	2021 2020 £ £ 284,113 243,444 23,423 20,265 8,326 7,669 1,835 1,825 317,697 273,203

No employees earned between £60,000 and £70,000 during the year (2020: one).

The key management personnel of the charitable company comprise the Trustees and the CEO. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel, including gross salary, employer national insurance contributions and employer pension contributions were £67,213 (2020: £73,463).

Average head count	2021 No. 9.08	2020 No. 8.25

10. Taxation

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

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

11. Tangible fixed assets

£ £ Cost At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 17,860 666 Depreciation At 1 April 2020 10,675 666 Charge for the year 5,316 - At 31 March 2021 15,991 666 Net book value At 31 March 2021 1,869 - At 31 March 2020 7,185 - 12. Debtors 2021 £ Accrued income 5,532 Prepayments 27,769 Other debtors 6,750 Total 40,051 13. Creditors : amounts due within 1 year 2021 £ Trade creditors 5,352 Accruals 4,980 Other taxation and social security 7,880 Other creditors - Total 18,212 Computers, database and website Furniture and fittings	Total £ 18,526
	11,341 5,316
	16,657
	1,869
	7,185
	Restated 2020 £ 49,808 16,557 6,750
	73,115
	2020 £ 3,478 4,740 7,375 1,298
	16,891

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Able Child Africa

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

14. Analysis of net assets between funds

£ Tangible fixed assets - Current assets 182,714 Current liabilities - Net assets at 31 March 2021 182,714 Prior period comparative (restated) Tangible fixed assets Current assets Current liabilities Net assets at 31 March 2020 Restricted funds	£ - 85,000 - 85,000 £ - 220,899 - 220,899 Restricted funds Designated funds	£ 1,869 242,358 (18,212) 226,015 £ 7,185 234,819 (16,891) 225,113 General funds General funds	Total funds £ 1,869 510,072 (18,212)
			493,729
			Total funds £ 7,185 455,718 (16,891)
			446,012

19

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15. Movements in funds

Movements in funds
Restricted funds Comic Relief - IECE 4 ME! Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Jersey Overseas Aid Commission Laureus Foundation Network for Social Change Vitol Foundation Total restricted funds Unrestricted funds _Designated fund:_Irma Skeeles Legacy General funds Total unrestricted funds Total funds Aletheia Foundation The British and Foreign Schools Society Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - Safeguarding Comic Relief – Take All My Friends to School Comic Relief – Promoting Inclusive Education Aberdeen Asset Management Charitable Foundation The Marr-Munning Trust Child Support Tanzania (CST) – Other The Commonwealth Foundation Comic Relief – Ready, Steady, Go UWEZO - Other restricted Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - Covid-19 Rapid Responses	Restated at 1 April 2020 £ 47,567 3,676 5,852 23,662 49,434 33,067 - 14,664 60 1,240 6,779 - 19,356 1,323 - 11,746 2,473 -	Income £ 24,218 - 3,247 74,807 43,955 78,076 132,737 9,217 950 55,644 11,405 44,996 53,940 - 23,893 - 5,000 113,220	£ (68,420) (3,370) (6,534) (58,046) (95,542) (104,261) (66,090) (23,814) (950) (61,885) (20,721) (44,996) (76,626) (567) - (8,610) (7,473) (65,585) Expenditure	£ 3,365 306 2,565 40,423 (2,153) 6,882 66,647 67 60 (5,001) (2,537) - (3,330) 756 23,893 3,136 - 47,635 At 31 March 2021
	220,899	675,305	(713,490)	182,714
	- 225,113	85,000 197,125	- (196,223)	85,000 226,015
	225,113	282,125	(196,223)	311,015
	446,012	957,430	(909,713)	493,729

The Department for International Development was replaced by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the current period. The related restricted funds have therefore been renamed.

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15. Movements in funds (continued): prior period comparative (restated)

Restricted funds Aletheia Foundation The British and Foreign Schools Society Comic Relief – Ready, Steady, Go Comic Relief – Sports for Change Comic Relief – Take All My Friends to School Comic Relief – Promoting Inclusive Education The Commonwealth Foundation Child Support Tanzania (CST) – Other Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC Ineke Feitz Jersey Overseas Aid Commission Laureus Foundation Little Rock Inclusive ECD Centre – Other The Marr-Munning Trust Network for Social Change UWEZO Youth Empowerment – Other Other Total restricted funds Unrestricted funds General funds Total unrestricted funds Total funds Aberdeen Asset Management Charitable Foundation Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - Safeguarding	Restated at 1 April 2019 £ 29,399 - - - (4,552) 60,035 29,605 16,902 10 - - 450 6,310 8,705 - - 7,549 - 2,000 (3,553)	Income £ 56,748 11,450 14,921 43,493 4,552 102,750 102,811 26,761 5,643 75,177 17,713 - - 65,305 6,672 6,000 - 14,569 4,997 -	£ (38,580) (7,774) (9,069) (19,831) - (113,351) (99,349) (28,999) (5,593) (73,937) (10,934) (450) (6,310) (54,654) (5,349) (6,000) (7,549) (2,823) (4,524) 3,553 Expenditure	£ 47,567 3,676 5,852 23,662 - 49,434 33,067 14,664 60 1,240 6,779 - - 19,356 1,323 - - 11,746 2,473 - Resated at 31 March 2020
	152,860	559,562	(491,523)	220,899
	55,291	427,770	(257,948)	225,113
	55,291	427,770	(257,948)	225,113
	208,151	987,332	(749,471)	446,012

21

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15. Movements in funds (continued) Purposes of restricted funds

Aberdeen Asset Management Charitable Foundation

This 3-year grant supports the second phase, larger development of CST’s purpose-built, fully inclusive school site including architectural design, construction and school equipment. Capacity building support is also provided to CST in terms of strategic and business planning, training and capacity building as needed to transition to a larger profile, purpose-built school.

Aletheia Foundation

This 1-year project by the Alethia Foundation and funded by Comic Relief project will support up to 8 young people living in Ayilo and Nyumanzi Refugee Settlement in Uganda to access education. The support is part of a grant from Comic Relief to the Aletheia Foundation who will remain the grant holder and responsible for the grant, including the submission of monitoring reports and financial reports to Comic Relief.

The British and Foreign Schools Society

This 1-year pilot funded by the British Foreign School Society will improve the access and quality of inclusive education in 3 primary schools by implementing a new early screening tool for children with disabilities who are either out of school or failing to achieve in school. The tool will implement the Washington Group Questions; thought to be a more practical and effective method to identify multiple disability types.

Comic Relief – Ready, Steady, Go

This 3-year grant supported by Comic Relief and implemented by our Kenyan partner, ANDY, seeks to improve access to quality inclusive ECE for children with disabilities aged 4-6 in Nairobi, Kenya. This project will develop effective early identification systems, build the capacity of key ECD duty-bearers, and design an innovative Inclusive Play Programme to sustainably and holistically address barriers to their inclusion.

Comic Relief – Take All My Friends to School

This 4-year grant funded by Comic Relief scales up two Inclusive Education projects currently delivered with our partner Child Support Tanzania within Mbeya, South West Tanzania. Working in a consortium with two other international disability organisations funded under the same grants stream, the project seeks to increase the access, quantity and quality of inclusive education. The project utilises the Child-toChild methodology developed with our partner USDC to ensure activities are participatory and determined by children.

Comic Relief – Promoting Inclusive Education

This 5-year grant funded by Comic Relief supports a project implemented by our Ugandan partner, USDC. The project scales up a highly successful FCDO funded project, using an innovative Child-toChild approach to identify, enroll and educate children with disabilities into 27 primary schools in Northern Uganda. The project also includes teacher training, community sensitisations, national advocacy and educational access & learning provisions to both the children and their schools.

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15. Movements in funds (continued) Purposes of restricted funds

Comic Relief - IECE 4 ME!

This 3-year project funded by Comic Relief will improve the primary school readiness of children with and without disabilities aged 3-6 years in Uganda through the development of a community-led inclusive early childhood education (IECE) model with caregivers, capacity building of key ECE duty-bearers and communities and a focused government advocacy campaign. This IECE model will be delivered through 18 community learning centres (CLCs) with activities delivered alongside local government schools to aid inclusion and break down barriers.

The Commonwealth Foundation

This 3-year grant funded by Commonwealth facilitates a Coalition of 15 child-focused Civil Society Organisation and 20 Disabled Persons Organisations to jointly advocate for the rights of children with disabilities to raise the voice of civil society. Alongside training of officials and biannual Coalition strategy meetings, a public campaign led by the Coalition will raise awareness and encourage widespread advocacy to collectively push for the rights of children with disabilities to be fully recognised in policy development and implementation within the Kenyan Government.

Child Support Tanzania (CST) – Other

This consisted of a 1-year grant from the The Leggatt Trust. The grants provided top-up funding to support our inclusive education programme in Tanzania and ensured children with disabilities received medical assessments during the project lifecycle.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

This 3-year project funded through the UK Aid Direct Community Partnerships stream contributes to the SDG aspiration to ‘leave no one behind’ in Rwanda by empowering children and young people with disabilities to demand inclusion in the SDGs. This project will use a tested and new youth-led model whereby youth with disabilities are trained to mentor children with disabilities and are the main drivers for inclusion at community and government level. The project aims to find youth-led solutions for meaningful inclusion and creates mechanisms whereby youth with disabilities can communicate evidence of best practice to policy makers.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - Safeguarding

This 1-year project supported by the FCDO Safeguarding Hub supports the development and design of disability inclusive safeguarding guidelines for development practitioners. The guidelines will be developed in consultation with youth with disabilities in Rwanda and in consultation with the wider sector. Funding included costs for sector-wide testing alongside the design and adaptation of the guidelines into accessible formats.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - Covid-19 Rapid Responses

This six-month project supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO, previously DFID) aims to keep children with disabilities in Rwanda clean, happy and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Activities include the rapid provision of inclusive hygiene items, inclusive WASH and mental health support mentoring sessions, professional psychological support, and the set-up of a safeguarding reporting helpline.

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15. Movements in funds (continued) Purposes of restricted funds

Jersey Overseas Aid Commission

This 3-year project funded by Jersey Oversees Aid aims to contribute to the government’s commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ through the advocacy for disability inclusive WASH policies and programmes for girls with disabilities in education. This multifaceted and youth-led project will identify out of schoolgirls with disabilities and train female youth with disability (YwD) mentors to design and implement a twofold peer to peer mentoring programme using child-friendly resources that they develop.

Laureus Sport for Good Foundation

This 1-year pilot funded by the Laureus Foundation will pilot a disability inclusive sexual and reproductive health and rights sports programme in 2 schools for 60 girls with disabilities to learn about relationships, consent and safeguarding in a non-judgemental and interactive space. Support networks and governments will be engaged through disability inclusive support groups and child-led advocacy campaigns. Learnings will be shared with existing health and education actors to inform potential scale up for the promotion of disability inclusive sexual and reproductive health and rights for girls with disabilities.

The Marr-Munning Trust

This 3-year project elevates our prior Marr Munning Trust funded programme to directly support the early childhood education (ECE) of 60 children with disabilities across 6 schools in Northern Uganda (Lira & Nebbi). The aim of the project is to provide the evidence and support government officials need to scale-up the implementation of Individualised Learning Plans (ILP). The project will achieve this by deepening the evidence base, adapting & combining our ILP and disability screening tool for an ECE context, and delivering a focused multi-year government advocacy campaign.

Network for Social Change

This 1-year project supported by the Network for Social Change will allow Able Child Africa to expand and deepen our work and reach in inclusive WASH programming for children with disabilities and enable us to better build the capacity of our partners in this area. The grant supports the development of training packages and resources that focus on the empowerment of girls with disabilities through inclusive sexual and reproductive health and WASH.

Vitol Foundation

This 3-year project aims to improve children with disabilities’ (3-5yrs) access to Early Childhood Development (ECD) through the introduction of innovative, inclusive, caregiver-run play schemes & the capacity building of actors responsible for children with disabilities early years development including government, (in)formal ECD service providers, communities, parents & children with disabilities themselves. Through their increased cooperation that ensures long-term systemic change, these actors will holistically break down barriers to ECD inclusion.

UWEZO - Other restricted

This consisted of a 1-year grants from the Souter Charitable Trust and the Tula Trust. The grants provided top-up funding to support our WASH project and specifically provided funds for additional government engagement and advocacy training for the female WASH mentors.

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

15. Movements in funds (continued)

Purposes of restricted funds

UWEZO - Other restricted (Tula Trust)

This consisted of a 1-year grant from the Tula Trust. The grant also provided top-up funding to support our WASH project and also specifically provided funds for additional training on mentoring and inclusive WASH practices for the female WASH mentors.

Purpose of designated fund

Designated fund: Irma Skeeles Legacy

The legacy funding will facilitate the third phase of CST’s purpose-built, fully inclusive school site including architectural design, construction and school equipment. Specifically, the funds will realise the construction of an additional fully accessible classroom, physiotherapy unit, accessible toilets and school administration block.

Funds in deficit

Funds in deficit represent recoverable overspends in the current year, to be recovered via further restricted income in 2021-22.

16. Operating lease commitments

The charity had operating leases at the year end with total future minimum lease payments as follows:

Amount falling due: Within 1 year Within 1 - 5 years	2021 £ 15,750 -	2020 £ 27,000 18,000
	15,750	45,000

17. Related party transactions

During the year, 5 Trustees made donations to the charity totalling £10,802 (2020: £2,590 from 2 Trustees).

18. Prior period restatement

The prior period has been restated after a change in accounting policy was enacted in the year. This change of policy relates to the recognition of grants payable expenditure, which was previously held on the balance sheet as prepayments until partner organisations reported the funds as fully spent, after which it was recognised as expenditure.

The charity has changed this accounting policy to the one noted in note 1) h, whereby grant expenditure will be recognised on the earlier of a) a constructive obligation existing or b) transfer of funds to partners.

The prior period restatement has impacted restricted funds brought forward into the prior period, and expenditure and debtors in the prior period.

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Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2021

18. Prior period restatement (continued)

Transfers to partners' (prepayment debtor)

Transfers to partners' (prepayment debtor)
Total 'transfers to partners' prepayment debtor per original accounts: Recognition of grants payable in periods prior to 2020: Net effect on grants payable expenditure in 2020: Total 'transfers to partners' prepayment debtor after restatement: Restricted funds brought / carried forward Total restricted funds carried forward per original accounts: Reversals of prepayments in periods prior to 2020: Net effect of reversal of prepayments in 2020: Total restricted funds carried forward after restatement:	2020 £ 353,579 (158,146) 25,466
			-
			2019 £ 311,006 (158,146) -
	220,899		152,860

Expenditure

Expenditure
Per signed accounts: Net effect on grants payable expenditure in 2020: Expenditure after restatement:	Grants payable 2020 £ 378,020 (25,466)		Total 2020 £ 774,937 (25,466)
		352,554	749,471

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26

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[phone] [e-mail] ablechildafrica.org

Unit 6 Madeira Tower, 34 Ponton Road Nine Elms, London, SW11 7BA

Able Child Africa is a registered charity No. 326859 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales No. 1861434 registered at the above address. Designed by iirth.co