ActionAid International The Gambia

Annual Report

2016

May 2017

Contents

List of .. i

Section one: background information ii

6 1

2

Section two: 3

4

5

9

Campaign effort 11

14

18

Section three: challenges, lessons learnt and recommendations .. 27

29

29

Appendix 1: Audit financial statements 30

Appendix 2: . 34

List of Acronyms

AAI ActionAid International

AAITG ActionAid International The Gambia ACTIVISTA ActionAid Youth Network ADWAC Agency for the Development of Women and Children

AER Agro -Ecology and Resilience CRSA Climate Re silience Sustainable Agriculture CPA Child Protection Alliance

CSOs Civil Society Organisations CSP Country Strategy Paper EFSTH Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital

FAWEGAM Foundation of African Women Educationists Gambia Chapter FGM Female Genital Mutilation FLAG Female Lawyers Association Gambia

GBV Gender Based Violence HRBA Human Rights Based Approach LRPs Local Rights Programmes

MUTAPOLA Network of Women Living with or affected by HIV&AIDS NAFS National Alliance for Food Security NDMA National Disaster Management Agency

NGBV Network against Gender Based Violence OVC Orphans and Vulnerable Children PLIHIV People Living with HIV

PRRP Participatory Review and Reflection Processes PRS Promoting Rights in Schools TANGO The Association of Non -Governmental Organisations

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Where We Work

Mission Objective 2: To improve quality public education for all children in the LRPs and enhance youth participation

and leadership in national development by 2017.

Mission Objective 3: Break the cycle of poverty and violence and attain economic alternatives for women and

girls to be in charge of their sexual and reproductive health right s through joint -action of women and men.

Mission Objective 4: Contribute to the

eradication of HIV&AIDS and Malaria by

supporting the elimination of new infections, providing care and support through evidence based services.

Who we work with

implemented through partners who carry out nationwide campaigns and policy work. In addition, AAITG operates 3 Local Rights

Programmes (LRPs) in The Gambia. LRPs are selected long term programme areas in the country where A ctionAid focuses its

work. In The Gambia, the 3 LRPs are located in the Niaminas in Central River Region (CRR) and Upper Nuimi District in

North Bank Region (NBR), covering 139 villages. LRP 8, Niamina East District covers 47 villages; LRP 9, Upper Nuimi: 32

villages and LRP 11 Niamina West and Niamina Dankunku Districts: 60 villages.

Section one

This report documents overall performance and engagements AAITG

carried out during period 1 st January to 31 st December 201 6. It is divided into three ma in sections: Section one

covers relevant background information including vision, Mission, our identity, theory of change, partnership model and

interventions areas amongst others. Section two deals with interventions implemented and key performance areas

during the year. Under this section our programme interventions and policy work in 2016 are presented under the 4

pillars of Human Rights Base Approach (HRBA) as main headings namely: Empowerment, Solidarity, Campaign and

Promoting Credible and Sustainable Alternatives/Livelihoods. Also, in this section, we have recorded key

achievements obtained under each of our six (6) Organizational Priorities: Human Resources and Organizational

Development (HR/OD); Institutional Governance, Child Sponsorship, Suppor ter Care, Communication and

Fundraising, Internal Audit, Monitoring & Evaluation.. Finally, Section three highlights some key challenges

encountered, lessons learnt during the year under review and the way forward.

Our Vision A world without poverty and injustice in which every person enjoys their right to a life of dignity.

Our Mission Work with poor and excluded people to eradicate poverty and injustice.

Our Values

Mutual Respect

Equality and Justice

Honesty and Transparency

Solidarity with the poor,

powerless and excluded

Courage of convection

Independence

Humility`

Background information

Our Theory of Change (How we believe

change will happen)

and injustice can be achieved through purposeful individual and collective action, led by the active agency of people living in

poverty and supported by solidarity, credible rights -based alternatives and campaigns that address the structural

Who We Are

ActionAid International The Gambia (AAITG) is part of a global justice

Federation working to achieve social justice, gender equality & poverty eradication. AAITG has been in existence

since 1979 working throughout The Gambia with particular focus on Niami na

East, West and Dankunku Districts and Upper Niumi District.

Our main target groups are women, children and youth living in poverty and exclusion whom we concertize to be able to

realize and claim their constitutional and human rights from duty bears t hrough our Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA)

namely: empowerment, campaigning solidarity and creating sustainable livelihood alternatives. AAITG works with

the above groups in ways that increase their awareness of rights and fulfillment of those rights. The results of our work have

contributed to significant and lasting improvements in the lives of women, children, youth and communities in our

intervention areas.

Organisational Structure

AAITG has a two - tier governance structure, i.e. a General Assembly and a National

Board comprising of 24 members (12 female & 12 male) and 11 (6 female & 5 male) respectively. The day to day

programming and operations of AAITG are led by the Executive Dir ector with support of the Senior Management team (SMT). In

addition, AAITG has a staff complement of 45(18 female & 27 male).

AAITG Strategic Priorities 2013 -2017

AAITG develops a Country Strategy Paper (CSP) every five years which guides its operati ons. The current CSP, which is the

Advancing the Agency of Women and Youth towards

Eradicating Poverty . The year 2016 marks four years since the implementation of the strategy commenced and it has the

following four Mission Objectives: Mission Objective 1: Promote

sustainable agriculture and control over natural resources to improve lives and livelihoods of people living in poverty

and social exclusion by 2017. Mission Objective 2: To improve quality

public education for all children in the LRPs and enhance youth participation and leadership in national development

by 2017.

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Who we work with

implemented through partners who carry out nationwide campaigns and policy work.

In addition, AAITG operates 3 Local Rights Programmes (LRPs) in The Gambia. LRPs are selected long term programme areas in

the coun try where ActionAid focuses its work. In The Gambia, the 3 LRPs are located in the Niaminas in Central River

Region (CRR) and Upper Nuimi District in North Bank Region (NBR), covering 139

villages. LRP 8, Niamina East District covers 47 villages; LRP 9, Up per Nuimi: 32 villages and LRP 11 Niamina West and

Niamina Dankunku Districts: 60 villages.

Mission Objective 3: Break the cycle of

poverty and violence and attain economic alternatives for women and girls to be in charge of their sexual and

reproduc tive health rights through joint -action of women and men.

Mission Objective 4: Contribute to the eradication of HIV&AIDS and Malaria by supporting the elimination of new

infections, providing care and support through evidence based services.

Wh ere we work

iv

shared with us prior to the AAI Annual

General Meeting.

As we roll out the new global strategy by unpacking it for wider understanding by

our partners and other stakeholders, the Board will also accompany Management in the development of the new country

strategy in 2017 for implementation come 2018.

On the national front, we continued to be challenged by the continuous shrinking political space as Civil Society

Organizations (CSOs) using Hum an Rights Based Approached HRBA to development in The Gambia. I must commend the ED and

his management team for the professional manner in which they managed the operations of the organization during these

difficult days in our political landscape.

In co nclusion, I w ould like to call this Assembly to our collective resolve to

ensure that we continue to support Management to position AAITG to take advantage of the new political dispensation

to continue the struggle for social justice. The Board will contin ue to work with Management to train all of us to have a

deeper understanding of the concept of Feminism, a key concept in the global strategy . Join me in praying that the New

Gambia will not only provide us with the required democratic space but also creat e an environment conducive for a vibrant

donor investment where we can mobilize the much needed resources to scale -up the impact of our work by reaching more

people living in poverty . Thank you.

When I assumed th e

chair in 2016, the Board experienced some challenging moments,

but we collectively demonstrated tremendous commitment

in providing the requisite strategic oversight to Management. Our difficult moment was when half of the Board members, six hard working visionary

colleagues, retired as members of the

constitution and governance manual. This

mass exodus included the former chair Amie Bensouda and Vice Chair Dominic Mendy, Baboucarr Bouy, Naffie Barry and

Ndey Secka -Sallah. They served selflessly with courage and humility to steer the affairs of AAITG for six years going down in

history as being among the first Board Members of Action Aid. With the ir departure our institutional memory would

have been lost without Ya Fatou Touray as my Vice Chair and Dr . Sana Ceesay who stayed to help me steer the Board with

their tremendous experience.

In the discharge of our mandate as a

Board, we have during the year under review; successfully accomplished all our statutory obligations by conducting all

planned board meetings including sub -committee meetings as well as the 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM). In

addition, we have actively participated in the AAI new strategy development process and provided our inputs to AAI motions

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Prominent among them include the unusual

rainfall pattern during the 2015/2016 rainy season resulting to floods. Crop fields were inundated at planting stage which led to

poor growth of crops resulting to poor harvest . In addition, major donors continued to de -prioritize The Gambia

making fundraising a daunting task. Youth migration from the rural areas and eventually out of The Gambia through the

continued unabated which drains the country of its much needed labour force.

Patriarchy is still hampering progress in our

ownership and control over production resources including land.

Despite the above challenges, AAITG continued to create awareness in the

rights issues particularly gender based violence, increased control over land and other productive resources for women,

empowerment of communi ties through trainings and livelihood skills for income generation and sustainable livelihoods. Our

advocacy efforts has contributed to the amendment of the Children's Act 2005 which now includes ban on Child Marriage

and an age limit set for marriage in The Gambia.

To conclude, I would like to thank our partners , child sponsorship supporters,

donors, AAITG General Assembly, National Board, staff, and colleagues within AAI federation for their continued support for

the period under review .

period. For the first time since The Gambia became independent in 1965 an incumbent president has been defeated in elections.

No one ever thought that former president Jammeh, who ruled the country for 22 years, can be removed from power through

the ballot. However, the transfer of power from the

outgoing government to the incoming one was marred with serious challenges. Many people left the country as refugees in

neighboring countries. Both the internally displaced people and refugees posed a development pro blem as most of our

planned activities for December 2016, could not be implemented.

During the political crisis, the youths made very good use of the social media in updating each other on the situation as

well as in mobilizing and convening meetings desp ite the hostile politically charged atmosphere. I would like to

important role the youths played in bringing the political problem to a peaceful

end. Like other years, 2016 posed some challenges but together with our partners; we were able to overcome some of them .

From

Hello readers, it is a pleasure to present

Annual Report

2016 . The year 2016 will ever be remembered for the unprecedented historic

political changes that have taken place during the

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Section two

13,024 women reported increased control over land representing an over achievement of 117% of the target for

the CSP period at end of year 4

24,746 women aware of rights and entitlements to land other natural resources

63 hectares of land was allocated to 78 women groups in our LRPs

2,392 people (278 households) from NBR, LRR & CRR supported with cash transfers following floods and

windstorms

748 people reported increased food security as a result of CRSA

635 smallholder farmers practicing CRSA

3228 young people mobilized through ActionAid platforms who are taking sustained action against poverty

and injustice. This represents an over achievement of the CSP target by 107%

62,633 youth mobilized through ActionAid platforms who take solidarity action on poverty and injustice

5430 women mobilized through to challenge violence and harmful traditional practices at LRP and National levels

593 women participated in organized income generation activities representing an overachievement of the

indicator target of 500 women

19,807 people were engaged with AAITG at various levels during the year under review

894 young people trained on various capacity building and entrepreneurship skills

8,329 pupils (4817 girls and 3512 boys) enrolled in schools in LRPs 8 and 11 for 2015/2016 academic year

2,425 people sensitised on child rights and child protection issues

2 Mobile Vans and 3 wellness centres established in Basse , Soma and Barra under the Global Fund Project providing HIV&AIDS services to high risk groups in those areas

2043 People Living with HIV (PLIHIV) have received Home Based Care to promote healthy and positive living

445 Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) have received educational support for 2015/2016 academic year

249,702 people reached with pro -HIV prevention and stigma elimination messages

New One - Stop Centre opened at Bansang Hospital to support victims of gender based violence

Key Highlights

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The year 2016 marks thirty seven

Gambia and six (6) years since the agency attained full membership to ActionAid Federation. The full

membership to the federation provides AAITG a dual identity; a national NGO as well as a n

International NGO. This makes it better for the agency to continue to

levels in the country. In addition, the long period of uninterrupted engagement in development work

in the Gambia, AAITG is strongly rooted in c ommunities and has created strong partners whose

capacities are continuously build to deliver appropriate development intervention where they exists. Our

main approach in delivering CSP objectives during the period under review remains HRBA which

involves focusing on protecting and fulfilling the human rights of people living in poverty. That means

building capacities of local

and linking these organizations with

networks, platforms, alliances and movements at national and

international levels in line with the following four HRBA pillars; Empowerment, Solidarity,

Campaigns and Credible & Sustainable Alternatives/Livelihood.

Introduction

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Kumba Sanyang adding her voice to the problem of access to land that women are facing

Empowerment Efforts

management committees and other right holder groups at community, regional and national levels on ranges of issues. These

include land rights especially on access and control for women, CRSA, Promoting Rights in School (PRS), Violence against

s economic empowerment, HIV&AIDS prevention including the prevention of stigma and

discrimination, HRBA, governance and social accountability amongst others. We have also conducted series of policy

dialogues at national level on the above issues for CSOs a nd relevant government sectors as part of our policy advocacy,

rights awareness and demand creation interventions in partnership with TANGO.

Empowerment is the process through which we enable people living in poverty

to become rights activists. We do t his by making them more aware and more critical of power relations and by

strengthening their own power. Empowerment is one of the most important pillars of our HRBA.

Interventions planned under the empowerment pillar in 2016 have overall

been implemente d successfully. AAITG in collaboration with several partner organizations continued to mobilize and

conduct series of capacity building/strengthening activities for women and youth groups, networks,

small holder farmers, school

Young activists pose for the camera during 2016 International Youth Day celebration

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In addition, 80 participants from 30

schools (59 males & 21 females, out of which 50 were students and 30 teacher

coordinators) from child - led clubs were trained on life skills such as public speaking, media presentation and

advocacy techniques. The obje ctive of

inner capacities and competencies to

enable them to join the advocacy on

According to Kaddijatou A. Bah, Grade 9

student from Pakalinding UBS Tuseme before, only elders are allowed to

speak during gatherings but now I know

that children also have rights to speak out and make their feelings known. Also, I now know that all rights are needs but

not all needs are rights. We also know where to go when our rights are violated

.

funded project, 24,746 women were

made aware of their land rights and as a result, these women are confident enough to claim their land rights from their

respective village heads. A total of 78 hectares of land were documented and allocated to 13,024 women from 78

women groups in Niamina East West and Dankunku Districts. The target set for those acquiring land during the CSP

period was (6000) but this has been surpassed by end of 2016 at 117%. This was as a result of the significant

contribution by EU Funded Women's Rights Project under which capacity building and advocacy activities were

scaled up in LRPs 8 and 11.

These efforts and those conducted under other HRBA pillars have during the year

significantly contributed to the attainment of many CSP targets in 2016 as reported under the respective HRBA

pillars.

Youth Network) , a total of 894 young people were empowered through trainings on various capacity building

and entrepreneurship skills to help them develop sustainable livelihoods skills.

These trainings included: leadership skills, social media engagement, campaign pl anning, movement building,

civic rights, and responsibilities, etc. In addition, participants were also exposed to governance and social accountability

in order for them to lead the advancement of holding duty bearers to account in fulfillment of youth ri ghts.

Rights Project, 2425 people were

sensitised on child rights and child protection issues. As a result, there is now increased knowledge/awareness on

child rights, child protection and responsibilities partic ularly definition of a child, effects of child marriage, teenage

pregnancy and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child protection actors and steps for redress in case of child rights

violations, etc. for school children, teacher coordinators, parents, child

intervention areas (LRR, CRR & URR).

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AAITG and partners in schools and key

stakeholders about the 10 core education rights and provisions of funds to implement school improveme nt plans in

our intervention areas. Furthermore, work carried out on number

of youths mobilized through ActionAid platforms who took sustained solidarity actions against poverty and injustice

obtained great success in 2016. Activista, our youth network, f acilitated the over

achievement of CSP IV target in this area (3000 against 3284). This was as a result of scale -up of activities by Activista at

both national and at regional levels. The total number of youth reached was 6250. They carry out sensitization meetings,

trainings, seminars, match processions, mass and social media activities such as radio programmes as well as social media

engagements e.g. photo shops, use of Facebook and WhatsApp. The above activities have generated interests among

the youth i n taking active roles on national development issues that affects them (e.g. the HIV and AIDS campaigns,

FGM, early and forced marriages, land tenure system and how it affects youths). AAITG and partners' contributed

technically and financially to Activist a for all activities implemented during the year under review.

With regards interventions on mobilizing women through to challenge violence and

harmful traditional practices at LRP and national levels, significant achievements have been recorded. Compar ed to 3,391

people mobilized in 2015, we were able to

On education interventions, we

contributed to creating awareness among stakeholders and the inclusions of the 10 core education rights into the

current Education Policy 2016 -2030 through series of PRS interventions carried out and direct engagement with

the ministry over the period. The implementation of the policy at national and regional levels is subjected to

regular q uarterly reviews and monitoring by the joint committee (Ministry of Basic

and Secondary Education (MoBSE) Coordinating Committee Meetings).There has been significant progress in the area

of access to school (e.g. new schools have been built in Kudang and D ankunku Senior Secondary Schools) which

reduces the distance that children have to travel, school enrollment continues to increase especially more girls being

enrolled than boys e.g. as shown in LRPs 8 & 11 (4817 girls and 3512 boys for 2015/2016). There a re now more

separate toilets for boys and girls in almost all schools in our intervention areas. In addition, there is evidence of

availability of policies (e.g. anti -bullying, sexual harassment, school maintenance, etc.) displayed in schools which shows

the MoBSE's commitment to promoting safe and non -violent environment for schoolchildren. The numbers of qualified

female teachers have also increased for example; there are now 38 qualified female teachers in our intervention areas

in 2015/2016 academic yea r, representing an increase compared to 2014/2015. These can be attributed to

the continuous awareness rising by

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studies, community outreach and mass media activities, series of awareness

rai sing trainings and participatory methods being implemented by STAR circles in communities for example. In

addition, in collaboration with AAITG, the Mutapola Network has mobilized and trained 100 women on HRBA, policy

advocacy and influencing with focus on HIV&AIDS prevention and control. These trainees serve as treatment advocacy

campaigners in their respective areas across the country. Similarly, 65 people

were reached with policy advocacy messages on the comprehensive care and support for people living w ith HIV&AIDS

and anti -stigma and discrimination out of which 60 were women. During the same period, 330 people were reached on

malaria sensitization. Out of this total 285 were females and 45 males. This is geared toward mobilizing key

stakeholders elimina ting stigma and discrimination which remains a challenge to the national HIV&AIDS response.

mobilize 5,430 mainly due to additional funding received from our new project

(Strengthening the Capacity of the Network Against Gender Base Violence) funded by AmplifyChange. On incidence of

harmful traditional practices against women and girls, this was challeng ed with the share culture of silence in

communities. However, some improvement has been recorded during the period. Twelve (12) child/forced

marriages and 2 FGM cases were reported which is a break from the culture of silence

over issues of this nature. Ho wever, with the ban against child Marriage and FGM, and the efforts AAITG and partners are

making, we expect improved awareness and empowered in communities that will be good enough to encourage more people

to report such cases in years to come.

In the a rea of HIV&AIDS prevention programmes, significant amount of

interventions were financed through the Global Fund New Funding Modal HIV&AIDS project. These include IEC and BCC

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Presentation of motorbikes to partners under the Global Fund Project

Solidarity Efforts

objectives for this initiative was to raise awareness on existing frameworks and safeguards around large scale land based

investments and demand for their application in securing legitimate tenure rights of rural women in Africa.

With support from AAITG, National Alliance for Food Security continued to

promote food security in the Gambia during the year under review. The network conducts quarterly meeting to

review activities of its members such as National Agricultural Training Center (NATC) which works on facilitating access

to seed for small holder farmers and training them on agricultural techniques

Solidarity is the process of uniting allies in a politically supportive relationship

struggle to support and strengthen a movement for change.

In 2016, AAITG has strengthened partnership and alliance building with all its partners across the country. AAITG

supported Activista and representatives of Rural Women Assembly to participated in the Mount Kilimanjaro Ma ss campaign

on women land rights. The Kilimanjaro

from across Africa towards an iconic

moment at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in October 2016. One of the key

Road to Kilimanjaro: Fist in the air, a sign of women empowerment

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to promote quality public education on

child rights in the country during the year.

On the HIV response, we have completed

the Procurement of Vans and the wellness centers all of which will be handed over to the ministry of health during the first

quarter of 2017 to serve people at higher risk of HIV transmission completed and AAITG continue to pay for OVC

educational support and 445 students benefitted from it throughout the country. IEC BCC message book on HIV and AIDS

was developed and printed and different media especially radios were used to disseminate those information. These

activities will continue under the project through to the end of 2017.

We work with the National Malaria Control

Program especially on the commemoration of World Malaria Day as a policy advocacy space for more public

funding for Malaria at national level. At the level of LRPs we have reach out to 330 people Malaria advocacy and

prevention messages through our community outr each interventions during the period.

such as CRSA etc. National Farmers

platform provides capacity building on advocacy for farmer groups and lobbying access to extension services. Activista,

another member of the network mobilizes youths and women on

over land. These efforts contributed to increased awareness on CRS, the need for more farmer extension support as

well improved access and control of land by small holder women farmers.

In addition, AAITG succeed in forming an education consortium on PRS over t he years which supported the

mainstreaming of PRs in key stakeholder policies on education during the year under review. The consortium has

provided added capacity in terms of skills and resources to reach out to more schools and partners in as short perio d

of time. This resulted to creation awareness on PRS within stakeholders and facilitated more commitment by

government to fulfill the rights of children in schools. AAITG is a member of Social Welfare Committee on Children,

Local Education Group and Natio nal Literacy Committee, all of which continue

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Campaign Efforts

individuals through support by local structures and institutions have

significantly increased. Following the Mini Kilimanjaro land rights

campaign held in Jahally Village in Central river region coordinated by Activisa in October 2016, a delegation of 9 people

comprising 7 Rural Women Assembly members from our LRPs and 2 representatives from Activista were

supported to participate in the AA

at Kilimanjaro Mountain in Tanzania. The Kilimanjaro initiative marked a historic

power through organisation, mobilisation

and communication around a simple and powerful demand, to achieve a measurable political or social change.

During the year under re view, series of engagements with policy makers were

conducted that are aimed at creating public awareness about women's land rights as part of our Mini Kilimanjaro

such, it has been evidenced that

d control over land either as women's groups or

Activista volunteers at a countrywide voter education and sanitization

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education for children. The event generated awareness among stakeholders

about teacher issues, facilitated discussions on issues affecting the status of teachers with a view to encouraging

the State and other relevant partners/donors to participate in the improveme

provided financial support in solidarity with Gambia Teachers Union and EFANet to facilitate the event.

In our campaign efforts to mobilized women to challenge violence and harmful

traditional practices, a total of 5430 wome n were mobilized to lead campaign events such as International Women's

Day, 16 Days of Activisims and Anti -FGM Campaigns. Some of these women were trained to conduct sensitizations on the

'He for She' Campaign against GBV at both national and community lev els.

Activista also embarked on an online photo action and formed alliance with # Gambia HAS decided movement which

added on the pressure put on former President Yaya Jammeh at national and international levels during the political

impasse to hand over power to President -Elect Adama Barrow. Online campaign

was carried in collaboration with print and electronic media houses as well as Activista volunteers who also mobilize

other youths to take a photo of themselves with the various messages such as #Gambi a Has Decided,

#JammehStepdownForThePeaceofTheGa

and #PeacefulTransitionWeCallFor etc.

Other campaigns efforts included

campaign action, as it supported 35 Rural Women to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro,

gathered 400 women to develop a charter with 15 demands on women land rights which was presented to the

representative of AU Commission Chairperson.

This resulted to a couple of public declarations that were made in support of women's land rights during the year

under review f or example, the Deputy Governor of Central River Region pledged on behalf of the Governor, their

strong support for women's land rights during the Mini Kilimanjaro rally in Jahally village in CRR. The National

Assembly Member for Jarra East Constituency (Mr. Bafai Saidykhan), the Councilor of Brikama Ba Ward, CRR and

the Village Chief and Imam of Brikama Ba all gave their strong support to women's land rights during our

consultations with them during the campaign.

Participation in Education Networks AAITG in partnership with Education for

All Network (EFANet) celebrated World Teachers Day. The event attracted 1,400

people comprising Teachers, Officials from MoBSE/MoHERST, representative from civil society organizations, NGOs,

Parents, SMC members, Loc al opinion leaders, students and media personnel.

Improving their Statuspart of advocacy and campaign efforts

towards facilitating quality public

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natural resources, support the implementation of Anti -FGM Law. Also,

Landfor Campaign aimed at policy dialogue between Rural Women Assembly and duty bearers which facilitated an

interface between communities and duty bearers to discuss on issues regarding women's socio -economic rights, Series

Radio Talk Shows aimed at sensitizing the general public on women's rights issues, civic, land, education, political and social

economic rights, GBV, etc.), laws protecting women and providing information on how to access services

were carried out during the year.

engagement with National Assembly Members (NAMs) as part of campaign

efforts to advocate for a more comprehensive Anti -FGM law that will tackle cross -border issues and

monitoring. For example, girls are taken outside The Gambia to perform FGM on them and there are no provisions in the

Anti -FGM law which criminalizes performing FGM on Gambian girls outside the Gambia. Regional level

advocacy campaign targeting District Chiefs & Village Heads o the - inclusions of women in all district tribunals,

women's ownership of land and other

Isatou Jeng (right) during s ensitization on the anti FGM law under the AmplifyChange Project being implemented by ActionAid and the Network Against Gender - based Violence (NGBV)

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Credible and Sustainable Alternatives/ Livelihood Efforts

compost and botanical pesticides as well

as the use of ash resulted to less use of chemicals. This resulted to an increase in production and subsequently an increased

in food and income security. Jakaba Women's Group in Upper River Region for example, have repor ted increased food

security as they were able to provide food for their families from the proceeds of vegetable sales. According to Sarjo

Jabbie, President of Jakaba Women's soil quality in the garden has

improved since we started using

Facilit ating sustainable and Alternatives

is the process of building the capacities and capabilities of people living in poverty to take innovative and rights -

based actions for sustainable alternatives that can transform lives on a sustainable and significant sca le.

With regard to food security, smallholder farmers practising vegetable gardening

have started realizing benefits in adopting CRSA innovations in crop/vegetable production. The use of

Women building resilience: construction of gabions in communities affected by erosion

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As a result of the above interventions, the number of women who report increased

control over income and greater negotiating power within the household has increased. The target set for this

during the period has been over -achieved, at 105%. This demonstrated increased control over their incomes and

greater negotiating power for women within their households. AAITG provided financial, technical and logistical support

which facilitated the implementation of the above activities.

As part of efforts to address immediate needs at community levels t o strengthen The Landfor Campaign on women's

ownership and control over land and other natural resources, AAITG provided labour saving devices/farm implements

and inputs to small holder farmers in LRPs through the EU and AER Projects.

Response to Disasters

AAITG in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and United Purpose, formerly Concern Universal (CU) worked

jointly and responded to the emergency throughout the country with funding from the Start Fund. The sun of £150,000 was

received from Start Fund as immediate support to affected communities in the country. Response activities were done in

partnership with the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and their decentralized structures at regional

levels. A cash transfer approach w as used to facilitate access for affected people to food and non - food items such as building

composts and the garden has helped us to complement the efforts of our

husbands to ensure adequate access to food even during the lean period ." In support o

organized income generation activities, AAITG targeted 500 women in 2016 and based on that, we have been able to

achieve the target during the period. This this is mainly to contributions from our two donor funded projects which

provided extra funding (EU Women's Rights Project and the Agro -Ecology and

Resilience Project). Under the Agro -Ecology and Resilience Project (AER), a total of 79 women (68 from LRPs 8 & 11

and 11 from LRP 9) were engaged and trained on soap making, busine ss management, tie & dye, batik, rearing of

small ruminants and marketing. For the EU Women's Rights Project, a total of 30 women participated in vegetable

production, soap making, business management, tie & dye, batik. In addition, 484 women from the

MUTAPOLA network were supported to participate in various socio -economic engagement activities. For example the

international trade fairs, tailoring, hair dressing, manicure and pedicure, video clubs operations and petty trading. A

new skills center was also opened by MUTAPOLA at Tabotoko in February, 2016 where these women apply their

skills to gain income, boosting their self -confidence, income levels and making them more financially independence thus

reducing their vulnerability to gender based violence and HIV& AIDS.

15

commodities that would enhance evidence -based advocacy and lobbying with states and other relevant duty

bearers in The Gambia and West Africa sub - region. The study concluded that stakeholders in the Agriculture and

Natural Resource (ANR) have generally, weak access t o markets within the value. It further indicated inadequacies in policy

and regulatory mechanisms provided by government to enforce trade facilitation. An overall general weakness in capacity

especially at the levels of the smallholder farmers who collecti vely produce the bulk of the food was found to weak. The report

of this study will inform the 2017 policy advocacy and program interventions work of AAITG as part of economic

empowerment program for women and small holder farmers.

Interventions on Malaria As part of our contributions towards the

eradication of malaria, open field days attracting 500 people were conducted in different communities: Sambel Kunda in

LRP 8 and Papa in LRP11. These communities were selected in consultation with health facilitie s within

the area. The two communities are identified as Malaria prone communities

in the LRP based on the clinical data recorded by their respective health centers (Kudang & Dankunku). The

activity was designed to increase knowledge and understanding abou t malaria infection and prevention within

the LRP. Findings shown that Malaria contributes to serious economic loses (spending money on medication,

materials for reconstruction of damaged

houses. The support was provided to affected people in the rural areas in North Bank, Central River and Upper

River Regions. A total of 2,392 people (278 households) were supported through direct unconditional cash

transfer towards food and shelter following natural disasters (floods and windstorms). Women and other lo cal

community members were part of the response process as members of the Regional Disaster Management

Committees and Food Management Committees. They participated in the identification of those affected, needs

assessment, sensitization and distribution pr ocesses.

A victim of 2016 windstorm in CRR

Evidencing our Work in Ensuring

Food Security /Research AAITG in collaboration with International

Food Security network (IFSN) conducted Research on Market Access for Basic Agricultural Commodities at National and

regional levels focusing on Gambia and Senegal. The objective of the study is produce a policy doc ument on market

access and marketing of basic

16

Overall Programme Performance against CSP Priorities

Overall indicator performance against CSP targets as at end of December 2016 (fourth year of implementation) is very encouraging. Based on the available data

collected so far, our average.

SOs Number of Indicators

Achievement Number with data availability issues/not achieved

Percentage achievement

SO1 33 21 12 64

SO2 29 13 16 45

SO3 21 16 5 76

SO4 13 9 4 69

Total 96 59 37 N/A

Overall Indicator performance

59 37 61

transportation etc) to households/ families and to a lager extend to a nation. The impact can also go as far as preventing households from attending social activities and livelihood activities for the family. Malaria can also prevent children from

attending school which bring setbacks to their academic performance.

Table 1: Indicator performance

0

100

200

300

SO

1

SO

2

SO

3

SO

4

To

tal

IndicatorperformanceAnalysis # ofIndicators

CSP IV indicator performance is achieved at 61% as at end December 2016. We experience

some weakness in data collection for some of the indicators. This is mainly because the data is either

not available in the form necessary for the CSP or not consistently collected due to

costs or capacity. Some noti ceable differences were observed in terms of performance within the four individual SOs especially between

SO2 which is at 45% achievement and the rest.

17

procedures and strengthen staff skills & capacity as well as motivate them to cost -effectively

steer the strategy to achieve its aspirations .

Year 2016 started quite well after a meaningful engagement with staff during a general staff retreat

few weeks before 2016 began. The retreat allowed time for reflection on our ways of working

and occasioned staff enough time to discuss on broad range of issues and came out of it with

important resolutions. As such, we set out from the beginning of the year re -creating our st aff

performance tool. The HR/OD Unit completed

recruitments for 7 vacant positions ranging from project and LRP staff including

project on Topography Survey. Some capacity building

interventions were also carried out includ ing training of three staff on accounting and finance

using advance excel as well as SUN training for two finance staff

in Ghana. Eight drivers were trained on traffic rules and defensive driving. Meanwhile,

training on transformative leadership organized by AAI at the MS TCDC in Arusha was

attended by the Program

the Head of HR/OD and Head of

Figure 1: Indicator Analysis More indicators were achieved under SO3 (76%)

followed by SO4 (69%), SO1 (64%) and then SO2 as illustrated in the two charts above and below. The low performance of SO2 can be

attributed to poor availabity of partnership of funding as well as the high number of indicators with data collection issues. Data collection issues

generally affected performa nces in all SOs (see table above) although at varying levels with SO2 imsot impacted.

0

20

40

60

80

SO1 SO2 SO3 SO4 total

Indicator performance by SOs % Achievent

Indicatorperformance bySOs % Achievent

Figure 2: Indicator performance

Organizational Priorities

AAITG has committed itself to strengthen human resource capacity, systems and

processes towards ensuring the fulfillment of various accountabilities, facilitating efficient and effective attainments of Mission Objectives.

This is expected to be delivered through six organizational prio rities to guide the process.

Organizational priority 1 : Have in place a responsive organizational structure, adapting our internal policies, systems, strategies and

18

purchased and designed to host the DHIS2 M&E database and three other VM

(virtual machines) for File servers. All three VMs are working but work on the online hosting of DHIS2 database server

is still in progress and expected to be completed in 2017.

Organizational Priority 2: Strengthen our governance systems and processes towards the attainment of Affiliate status

and our local and federal objectives for .

successfully accomplished all its statutory obligations in terms of meetings. These

meetings include all quarterly and sub -committee meetings and the 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in June,

2016.

Apart from its statutory obligations, the Board and the Assembly continue to play important roles at ActionAi d International.

R. Sallah -Njie continued to serve as an AAI Board Member and also as a member

of the AAI Audit and Risk Committee. The new Board Chair, Mr. Ousman M. Cham, was part of the AAI Assembly

members who me t in Arusha, Tanzania, to review and approve the New AAI Strategy (Strategy 2028: Action for

Global Justice). Also, our Board Chair and Executive Director represented AAITG in the last AAI AGM held in June 2016 in

Maputo, Mozambique.

fundraising . Training was also facilitated for four members of staff; three of whom

on procurement and one on leadership development.

Management also sought and obtained the approval of Board on salary adjustment to compensate for Cost of

Living Adjustment (COLA) payment that was never paid for more than five years. In response to issues and grievances

coming out of logistics concerns, a draft Vehicle Policy was completed in an effort

to improve the old - inadequate policy that existed for a while.

Information Commu nication (IT) Unit

As part of efforts to improve IT communication systems, an upgrade of LRP8 office wireless network was carried

out by moving from 2G wireless data card to 1MB wireless internet. Also achieved was an upgrade of the global

domain contro ller for network access from Windows Server 2008 Standard to Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and

also completed configuring the Global Fund Project Server.

In addition, central UPS batteries were replaced while the battery banks for servers down time re dundancy were

configured. Also, 2 wireless routers were installed at the AAITG Conference Hall for guest users and others partners

at headquarters. With funding from The Global Fund

Project, a Dell Power R730 was

19

Board Meeting Attendance in 2016

Name of Board

Member

April June Oct. Extra -

Ordinary

October December

Amie Bensouda

(Chair) Retired Retired Retired

Baboucarr Bouy Retired Retired Retired

Cherno Jallow Appointed in

June 2016

Appointed in

June 2016

Dominic Mendy

(Vice Chair) Retired Retired Retired

Haddy Dandeh -

Jabbie

Appointed in

June 2016

Appointed in

June 2016

Isatou Ndow Appointed in

June 2016

Appointed in

June 2016

Mamie Njie -Dambell Appointed in

June 2016

Appointed in

June 2016

X X X

Maria Dacosta Appointed in

June 2016

Appointed in

June 2016

X

Naffie Barry Retired Retired Retired

Nana Gerstrom

Alsted

X X X Resigned Resigned

Ndey Secka -Sallah Retired Retired Retired

Ousman M. Cham

Sana Ceesay, Dr.

Satou Barrow Appointed in

June 2016

Appointed in

June 2016

X

Ya Fatou Touray

(Treasurer)

X X

Yusupha Dibba

= Means Present

X = Means Absent

20

Sponsors. We received a total of 698 new sponsors from both Brazil and Italy, with Brazil accounting for the largest number.

We also lost a total of 1087 sponsors during the period. Therefore, the total number of links at the end of 2016 was

8327 financial supporte rs. More, compared to averages, AAITG was among the countries with higher incidences of

child withdrawals from our sponsorship scheme (Jan -Jun 2016 CS & SC Dashboard) which is as a result of

migration of sponsored children in our intervention areas.

Organizational Priority 4: Raise at least 45% of total income (£14 million) from partnership funding through

diversified sources to finance intervention areas across the four main objectives

The year under review saw the continuous engagement of instituti onal and high value donors for partnerships to

mobilise additional resources to fill the funding gap for the implementation of CSP IV Mission Objectives. The year 2016

witnessed the launching of four donor funded projects namely: 1) the second EU grant for

Rights in 3 Regions of The Gambia worth

with Child Protection Alliance and Forum for African Women Educationist, The Gambia Chapter. 2) A two year project

funded by AmplifyChange for the Eradication of FGM in partnership with the Network against Gender Based Violence

from the Swedish Postcode Foundation worth 4.9 million Swedish Krona to

Organizational priority 3: Deepen our relationship with supporter s to enhance their understanding of our work and

increase our supporter base . During the year under review, the Child

Sponsorship and Supporter Care Unit have recorded some great achievements. A total of 6189 child messages were

mailed to sponsors whilst a total of 170 transfers were processed in 2016. In addition, we collected 800 New Profiles

from LRP8, processed and submitted them to Brazil (600) and Italy (200). These have since started yielding new

sponsors especially for Brazil who continued to lin k children even during our Christmas break. According to the

Child Sponsorship and Supporter Care Dashboard (Jul -Dec 2016), AAITG was among the top ten achieving countries

with regards to photo updates scoring 100%. In addition, AAITG was among the top p erforming countries for child

message coverage attaining over 90% and also among countries with most supporters serviced (meeting report

deadlines with affiliates) on time (>=97%) and (>=98%) for Jan -Jun 2016 and Jul -Dec 2016 reporting periods

respectivel y.

However, compared to 2015, there was a drop of 389 financial supporters in 2016. Brazil supporters have contributed

to most of this drop as some of the sponsors thought this was just a one off contribution and thus withdrew their

contributions. During the year under review AAITG started off with 8716 links altogether including the Next Step

21

or build new partnerships at home and

abroad through the funding affiliates. During the year, seven concept notes and proposals were submitted to donors for

funding under the four strategic objectives. Out of these, only the emergency response project was

successfully funded and completed, three were unsuccessful whilst feedbacks are awaited on the other three.

As part of this process, a joint donor visit was made to Dakar in partnership with

ActionAid Senegal and three key donors were engaged with prospec ts for partnerships in the future. Key action

points were agreed for implementation by AA Gambia and AA Senegal to explore the opportunities in 2017. Additionally, local

partnership engagements were done through visits to UN agencies including

UNDP, UNIC EF, UNFPA, FAO, IOM and National Commission for UNESCO for possible collaboration. .

Overall, the year was rated good although no big new contracts were signed for

funding but we will continue to strive hard to get the right contracts to support the imp lementation of CSP IV objectives.

Organizational Priority 5: Strengthen financial management and accountability systems, standards and processes to

ensure quality planning, monitoring and reporting .

Risk Management In 2016, a review and reassessment of

organisational risks was conducted with

implement a pilot project on MyChild

System in partnership with Shifo Foundation based in Sweden. MyChild system is an information technology

platform with a number of applications that will support child health service delivery in The Gambia. There are

ongoing engagements with donors led by Shifo Foundation to mobilise additional resources to scale up the pr oject

nationwide in the coming years. 4) The forth project was a short term emergency response project funded by

the Start Emergency Fund in UK worth £150,000. This project was implemented in partnership with Catholic

Relief Services and Concern Universa l during the months of October and November 2016 where food and non -

food items were distributed for flood and windstorm victims affected communities.

In addition, 2016 witnessed the closure of the governance project (Promoting

Local Governance Decentralisation) implemented in partnership with Kuntaur

Area Council funded by the British Embassy from July 2015 to March 2016. The year also included the facilitation of

a fundraising training for AAITG staff and some partners to impr ove technical knowledge and skills for better

participation in resource mobilisation in their respective institutions.

Aside from the implementation of the new and previous projects particularly

Project, ongoing enga gement with relevant donors continued to strengthen

22

Programme Quality Assurance

In addition to its routine monitoring visits, the M& E have conducted series of

activities aimed at improving programme

Key among them were a Mid - term Peer

Review of our current Country Strategy Paper (CSP IV) in January 2016 following which we have revised and upd ated our

M&E framework that is used to measure progress on CSP mission objectives and organisational priorities. The final report

has already been shared with staff and key implementing partners so that the recommendations can be put into

practice. To imp rove data quality, a two -day re -

fresher training was conducted for 18 staff and partners (10M; 8F) on the use

of training was to promote effective data collection, compilation and reporting.

User Accounts were create d for all participants to ensure accessibility for all users and participants were also trained

on basic skills on how to access the system, enter/view and how to edit and

Global Fund Assistant M&E Officer and Data O fficer also attended a 10 days training on DHIS2 Data Management in

Pretoria, South Africa to improve their skills on data quality and management for quality assurance, reporting and to

promote shared learning. This training was in preparation for the onl ine hosting

to be completed.

Management and the Risk Register updated during the annual planning period. The Global Fund New Funding

Model HIV & AIDS Project risk matrix was also recently reviewed and updated. There were no critical risks noted, except

substandard quality of health products (condoms) rated as a medium risk. Out of the 3 donor funded projects audited in

2016, only one has been note d as a high risk project. The issues raised from the

audit of this Project are being addressed by Management, though at a much slow pace. Risks noted from the audit of the

other donor funded projects are being managed by the respective project teams.

Based on the audits conducted in 2016, it is the conclusion of internal audit that

AAITG maintained generally satisfactory controls for financial management and donor reporting. With the coming of a

new CSP in 2017, there is opportunity to review the curren t Partnership Strategy with a view to strengthen partner

management and supervision. It is also envisaged that the M&E Database when operationalized, will be an effective tool

for programme performance measurement.

With regards to external audit, AAITG received a clean and unqualified audit report for the year ended 31 December

2016. Implementation of the action points on the audit management letter is in progress.

23

Bakalarr. These boards contained information on annual income and expenditure records, energy

consumption, and other information relevant to the LRPs such as list of villages per LRP, list of executive

members and activities implemented by each Apex/Eco -zone, etc.

Organizational Priority 6:

Communicating and documenting our work in order to enhance understanding of our work, raise our profile and support

the mobilization of resources for the successful implementation of our programmes .

The Communications and Documentation Unit continued to carry out its functions

with a view to enhancing understanding of AAITG;s work, raise its profile and support the mobilisation of resources for

As a separate fu nction during the first

half of 2016, the Unit supported programmes and projects by capturing their activities on video, still photos,

designing and printing of key AAITG documents which we shared with staff, partners. The also supported

programmes and pr ojects with press releases, case story collection and updating our social media sites on the

impact of our work. Radio and TV programmes were held to enhance awareness of what we do as an

organization. In 2016, the Communications & Documentation Unit was m erged with Sponsorship and

Fundraising functions named Fundraising,

In addition, a four -day training was organised under the new AmplifyChange Project aimed ensuring that all key

implementing partners have a common understanding on the importance of participatory M&E and to promote quality

reporting. Twenty - five participants (14F+11M) attended the workshop. Similarly, a 2 - day training worksho p

was also conducted on Participatory M&E for 14 (10M & 4F) Eco -zone Executive members. The main objective of the

training was to build Eco -zones

participatory M&E tools/approaches to

enable them to monitor progress of projects/interventions at their level and as well as evaluate the impact of

projects/interventions in their respective communities.

Furthermore, the M&E team also conducted a baseline survey for the new

objecti ve of the survey was to provide benchmark against which to track progress and effectiveness of the project

at the end of the project. The draft report has been shared with AAITG management and project implementing

partners for their comments before valida tion which is expected to take

place by end of quarter one, 2017. More, to promote transparency and

accountability, 9 new accountability and transparency boards were mounted at open locations at both headquarters and

LRP levels in the following location s: Kanifing, Kudang, Jareng, Choya, Dankunku, Kerewan, Albreda and

24

Financial Performance During the year under review, AAITG

received a total income of D149, 751k as against budgeted income of D171, 720k, a decrease of 16% as a result of delays in

fund transfers from donors. Compared to 2015, there was a drop of 15% in total income and a 9% increase in 2016

planned Regular Giving Income (sponsorship income) from UK, Italy and Brazil. Partnership Income (income from

donors) was down by 32% (D75, 930K) against planned income of D112, 095K. Total expenditure on the other hand, was

D161, 936k compared to plan of D184, 579k thus indicating a budget utilization of 88% of forecast .

Figure 1: Income and Expenditure

Trends 2014 - 2016 (GMD 000)

Communications and Supporter Care but this merger does not have any effect or impact on our work.

Generally, AA ITG's work with people living in poverty and other stakeholders

is documented and communicated through various channels - reports, newsletters, flyers, leaflets, banners,

CDs, Videos, radio/TV, print and social media (Facebook, Twitter and AAITG website).

Key highlights for the Communications and Documentation

Unit in 2016 :

Produced a message booklet on HIV

& AIDS

Produced radio spot announcements and jingles on HIV & AIDS

A face -showing different pages for different

projects including photo gallery

50 print & online articles mentioning

130 radio broadcasts mentioning AAITG or featuring interviews with

AAITG

11 TV broadcasts mentioning AAITG

or featuring interviews with AAITG

4 Newsletters produced and share with our staff and partners

Conducted series of radio phone - in programmes on Climate Change,

Disaster Risk Reduction, gender based violence, HIV & AIDS,

Production of a video documentary on Women in District Tribunals .

-

200,000,000

2014 2015 2016

INCOME & EXPENDITURE TRENDS 2014-2016

TOTAL INCOME TOTAL EXPENDITURE

25

Figure 2: AAITG Partnership Income 2016 (GMD)

Figure 2 above shows income from our donors in 2016 amounting to D75, 930,000

a decrease of 20% on previous year.

48,298,000

6,907,000

6,836,000

848,000

246,000

9,185,000

3,610,000

AAITG Partnership Income

Global Fund Margaret A Cargil Amplify Change ACTIVISTA Bryan & Jackie EC START FUND

26

Continuous use of chemical fertilizer

by small holder farmers. Although AAITG continue to build capacities of farmers on CRSA including

demonstrations in the fields as well policy advocacy

Continuous reliance of smallholder farmers on rain - fed agricult ure. We continue to lobby government for

policy change in favor of public investment on other alternatives such as irrigation farming and also

educating farmers to demand the same through their respective representatives

Frequent floods, erosion, and wind storm, pest and disease

infestation in communities. Flash flood due to heavy rains, submerged crops during the year. To address the above

challenges, more and more smallholder farmers in communities were encouraged and are now

adopting CRSA as an alternati ve method of farming in LRPs

More reported cases of GBV in 2016 thus creating a bigger demand on the One-Stop Centre staff and other

resources. This challenge was mitigated by training more staff from

health facilities on GBV cases to reduce workload on s taff the One -Stop

Challenges: Some of the main challenges

encountered during the year under review were:

Collecting data comprehensively for the Indicators within the CSP was not possible. As a result, overall

performance as at end 2016 continues to be affected negatively. These are a great need to carefully se lect indicators for the

new CSP

Raising the requisite partnership funding

for SOs was not possible. As such, performance for SO 2 was unfavorable

We partner capacity in fund raising and Monitoring. These have resulted to delays in submission of reports to AAITG

and weak ability in raising funds without support from AAITG

2016 was an election year, the election process and outcome affected one of our major campaign efforts which is the 16

Days of Activism as well as activity implementation planned for December 2016. This challenge was mitigated by

changing our plans from co nducting Country -wide Caravan, football matches and debates to a National Forum where

heads of youth organizations, civil society and government officials were

invited to take part in a discussion on our campaign theme: "Making Education Save for Girls".

Section three

27

Challenges, Lessons Learnt and Recommendations

chemical fertilizers not because they want to but because there is hardly

enough compost or manure that can be used as an alternative

The use of female Traditional Communicators have proven to be an effective way of communicating

information on early warning systems, disaster risk reduction and climate change. These women have helped

reached the hard - to - reach communities with information on early

warning systems, clim ate change and CRSA

Use of mobile phones to access and

share information on early warnings, disaster risk reduction and CRSA

proved to be an efficient way of message dissemination especially too hard to reach communities. This

minimizes the inaccessibility of information from Hydro -met units to smallholder farmers who do not have

access to televisions

The enactment of the anti -FGM &

Child Marriage laws without public consultation was seen as political and not participatory by some

communities but the sensitization by stak eholders has helped in neutralizing negative sentiments

around the law. However that momentum should be conti nued throughout 2017 and beyond.

Centers. NGBV is also working on integrating GBV training modules into

curriculum so that lecturers can teach these modules at schools.

There is only one civil society

organization that provides legal aid to

women in the Gambia with very limited capacity and thus many women cannot access the ir services

Lessons Learnt:

CRSA is a great innovation that we

need to continue to promote as it can

add significant value in preserving land and in many aspects of farming for smallholder farmers. However, it

has been observed that one key component of it, compost making, is very la bour intensive and difficult to

apply it on a large scale especially in areas where the r aw material is not easily handy

PRS is a good approach, However, for

greater impact and partners should

proactively findings from the exercises and analysis in school s into a Citizen Report regularly and use it

to further engage on policy

The PRS situational analysis

conducted in schools have contributed to significant reduction of school based gender related violence

It is critical for the application of CRSA to be gradual. Mainly because Smallholder farmers are using

28

Way Forward

Given the significant gains made and challenges

realised in 2016, AAITG and partners need redouble

efforts to sustain the gains and continue to aim at

attaining all CSP targets at least 90%. This will be

made possible by many way including:

The need to continue work with CSOs,

communities and all relevant partners on policy

advocacy and influencing for wider political

space for NGOs in The Gambia and the broader

African region.

Continues capacity building for Staff and

partners skills like advocacy, fundraising,

monitoring and evaluation.

Aggressive partnership fundraising both within

and outside The Gambia

Review CSP IV and develop another one (CSP V)

that will be aligned to the new AAI strategy

2018 -2028

Strengthen the monitoring and evaluation

system of all key partners at national and

community levels

Scale up programming and policy advocacy for

youths involvement in national development

endeavors

Gradually Scale work on CRSA with sustained

engagement of government, donor and

implementing partners at all levels.

Collaborate with key stakeholde rs and scale up

tribunals across the country to build on gains

already made in the LRPs and at Kuntaur Area

Council.

Focus fundraising efforts on SOs1, 2 and 3 to

facilitate access to the needed resources f or

catch -up on the existing funding and improve on

performance especially for SO2 before the end

of the strategy.

Conclusions

Despite restricted political space

for our work, AAITG has overall

performed very well during the

period under review. The year

2016 marks the fourth year into

the implementation of CSP IV and

started with a lot of excitement

within AAITG but this was late r

affected by the preparations for

the historic presidential elections

held in the country in December

that resulted to ousting of a

sitting president. This election

outcome affected our programme

implementation as it led to a

political impasse which laste d

through to the end of the year.

Therefore, some of our

programmes were cancelled and

or rescheduled which all impacted

on performance during the year.

However, with continuous

commitment of staff partners as

well as communities, we have

overcome some of these

challenges except the political

impasse that could not be

resolved before close at year end.

We have ended the year with a

general cumulative programmatic

indicator performance at 61%

with a total annual budget

utilization of 88%. AAITG was

able to participate in the

development of the new AAI

strategy and other key AAI

federational engagements at both

programme and governance levels

during the year under review.

29

30

Audited Financial Statements Appendix 1

31

32

33

20. Ministry of Interior (Police & Immigration)

21. Ministry of Regional Government & Lands

22. Ministry of Youth & Sports

23. Mutapola Network The Gambia 24. National AIDS Control Program 25. National AIDS Secretariat 13. The

Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) 26. National Alliance for Food Security

(NAFS)

27. National Council for Civic Education 28. National Disaster Management

Agency 29. National Farmers Platform 30. National Malaria Control Program

31. National Women Farmers Association

32. National Youth Council

33. Network Against Gender Base Violence (NGBV)

34. NSGA

35. Office of the Vice President 36. Social Forum The Gambia 37. The Gambia Teachers Union

38. The National Assembly 39. CCM Gambia for Global Fund

Project

40. The Organization of Nongovernmental Associat ions (TANGO)

41. Think Young Women 42. UNAIDS 43. UNDP

44. UNFPA 45. UNICEF 46.

Donor Partners

1. A US Philanthropy 2. AmplifyChange 3. British Embassy Banjul

4. European Union(EU) 5. Global Fund 6. Shifo Foundation

7. START FUND Partners

1. Activista

2. Agency for the Development of Women and Children (ADWAC)

3. Area Councils (Kerewan, Janjabureh,

Brikama & Kuntaur ) 4. Child Protection Alliance 5. Department of Community Development

6. Department of Water Resources 7. Education For All Network 8. FAO

9. FAWEGAM 10. Female Lawyers Association Gambia 11. Gambia Family Planning Association

(GFPA) 12. GAMNAS 13. Girls Agenda

14. Hands On Care (HOC) 15. Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) 16. Ministry of Basic and Secondary

Education (MBoSE) 17. Ministry of Environment Climate Change

Water & Wildlife

18. Ministry of Health and Social Welfare 19. Minis try of Higher Education, Research,

Science & Technology

34

List of Partners Appendix 2

36

Bakary Fadera LRP 8 & 11

Programme Manager

Almamo Barrow Current Head of

Programmes & Policy

Agnes Gomez Personal Assistant to

Executive Director

Alagie M. Kurang Accountant

Amadou Suno Driver/Messenger

Alagie L. Sonko Driver/Messenger

AAITG Staff and General Assembly Members

AAITG Staff 2016

Amie Bojang Accountant

Bai Cham HIV & AIDS

Project Manager

Bintou Jah Finance Coordinator

Bridget T. Correa Manager, EC funded

Project on Children

Jainaba Fatty Field Coordinator

Agro - ecology

Project LRP 9

Jainaba Nyang Njie Comm s & Docs

Man ager

Jerreh Dibba Driver/Messenger

Lamin Barro Sponsorship

Manager

Lamin Fatty Driver/Messenger,

LRP 8

Madi Ceesay Supporter care

Comms Coordinator

Mohamed L Touray Communications

Technician

Molifa Bajo Driver/Messenger

Momodou L. Cham Head of Finance

37

Fanta Jatta -Sowe Programme Specialist

Foday Kanyi Programme

Coordinator LRP 8

Musukuta Badjie AER Project Manager

Burama Mendy M & E Assistant

Haddy Sanneh M & E Manager

Musa Jallow IT Manager

Mamie Ceesay Supporter Care

Coordinator

Saikou K Gassama Programme Specialist

Gov . & Partnership

Sainey Trawally Driver/Messenger

Salmina Bah Field Coordinator

Agro - ecology Project

LRP 8

Sulayman Cham Driver/Messenger

Sulayman Kinteh Procurement Specialist

Theodore Joof Internal Audit

Manager

Satang Huma HIV & AIDS Project

Accountant

38

Ndella Faye Colley Head of Fundraising ,

Comms & Supporter care

Ndey Jarju Data Entry Officer, HIV &

AIDS Project

Pansaw Nyassi Manager, EC funded

Project on Women

Rohey Colley Admin. Coordinator

Yama Badjan Receptionist

Omar Badji Executive Director

Ousman Gaye HR/OD Manager

Sirrah Jammeh Asst. Accountant

HIV & AIDS Project

Yankuba Mamburay Board Liaison Manager