ANNUAL REPORT FOR NORTHERN IRELAND CHARITY COMMISSION FOR MUMS FOR MUMS [IRELAND] 2023
NIC 100438
REGISTERED ADDRESS:
51 Mullaghmeen Road Enniskillen
Co. Fermanagh
BT74 4GH
ANNUAL REPORT FOR PERIOD 1[st] January 2023 – 31[st] December 2023 Purposes of the charity
Mums for Mums [Ireland] was founded in 2012 as a charity to raise and channel support to the projects organised under the auspices of an NGO in Mekelle in northern Ethiopia, namely Mums for Mums. This NGO provides vocational training and support to young women to enable them to become self-reliant and provides a range of services to elderly women through their attendance at the Kate Community Centre for the Elderly. [KCCE]
Activities and achievements
As was previously recorded in the Annual Report for 2022 the Trustees spent most of 2022 in a position of some helplessness- aware of great need especially in relation to the elderly ladies but unable to take any action due to the ongoing brutal civil war.
However, at the start of November 2022, a peace agreement was signed between the Tigrayan and Ethiopian Federal authorities in Pretoria, followed up by more substantive talks in Kampala about the restoration of services. Soon after that, news from Ashenafi Amelash [Executive Director of Mums for Mums] arrived and it was reassuring to learn that the buildings were unscathed, and the project was able to continue its work. Visits had taken place to the elderly women who would have attended the KCCE and as a result we learned of the death of some and the plight of many others. The 2022 Annual Report produced by the project was available to us and we could see that during these difficult months there had been provision of medical services together with cash and food support for the elderly ladies. 100 elderly ladies had each received 1000 ETB with flour and cooking oil also being distributed through home visits.
2022 thus ended with hope that the peace agreement would allow banks to reopen and other services to be resumed with the prospect also of flights into Mekelle being resumed, making it possible for Trustee visits to take place. There was also a realisation that Mums for Mums was in a position, through its long-term experiences, to offer expertise in gender-based
support to those impacted so seriously, given some of the dreadful outcomes of the war.
In February 2023, information from Ashenafi Amelash confirmed that the model of care for the elderly ladies was still a home based one with a group of staff making the requisite visits and bringing appropriate food and other items to the homes .
In May, we were pleased to welcome two new Trustees to the Board – Bazen Inquai, son of Tebereh Wolde -Gabriel who founded Mums for Mums and his wife Janet Farrell. Already they have proved to be a great asset to us.
In September 2023 , Kate Doherty , Chair of Trustees and Bazen Inquai visited Mekelle and were able to see at first-hand what was happening at the project. Clearly Mums for Mums is deeply involved in the restorative work required after the tremendous damage to health services in the region during the conflict. We were made aware of the various projects in which they are engaged, and the different funders involved. with a crucial area of concern being that of supporting those who are victims of gender based violence.
It brought us great joy to meet a large group of elderly ladies who had gathered and after a meal together there was an opportunity to speak to them and also to explore with Ashenafi Amelash and other senior staff how the future of the KCCE was perceived . As Trustees, we emphasised our belief that socialisation opportunities are crucial for these elderly ladies who usually live alone and separated from wider family. An undertaking was given to us that, now that law and order has improved, and the centre could be no longer required to provide services for people who had been displaced, it was planned that by December the elderly ladies could resume coming each day to the KCCE. A positive development was that it was agreed that a senior member of staff Dawit Merhatsidk [ Assistant Programme Director] would liaise with Trustees and following our visit, updates on the work of the KCCE were received at the end of October, November and December from him.
Our understanding is that moving into 2024 , the elderly ladies will receive a community based service while continuing to receive individual support as required. Despite some initial complexities it has now proved possible to send money through the official banking system to finance the work of the KCCE.
In setting our objectives and planning our activities in 2023, the trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit to ensure that our activities have helped to achieve the purposes of our charity and provided benefit to the beneficiaries of the charity- mainly the elderly ladies in the KCCE which is run by Mums for Mums in Mekelle in Northern Ethiopia.
There are no private benefits. There is no harm.
Charity Trustees on the date the Annual Report was approved:
Miss Sylvia Cooper
Miss Kate Doherty
Mrs Heather Farrell
Ms Janet Farrell
Mr Bazen Inquai
The charity is administered per its constitution which was adopted at a meeting in May 2012 and amended on 16[th] August 2014.
Signed:
Kate Doherty
………………………………
Chair of Mums for Mums [Ireland]
Date: 12[th] June 2024