Dear Friends,

This past year, we sat down and considered what CAUSE Canada does best and made a commitment to prioritize this.  

If you have been partnering with us for a while, it will come as no surprise to you that we are most effective when we are partnering with communities – building strong relationships that help us to better understand needs and how to support communities to meet these needs, working with leaders, and especially in building opportunities for women. I think this comes from the core belief that all our team has about dignity and equity – all people everywhere deserve to be valued and respected. We come alongside to support people living in extreme poverty to help them have opportunities to leave it. 

As we reflected on working in partnership with communities, we realized that, while we do this well, we can do better – making space to listen more, work more closely, and build stronger relationships. 

This past year has had many highlights which we hope you will enjoy reading more about in the following pages. Our achievements in Sierra Leone have been remarkable. It has truly been an exciting year, trying new things, and opening new opportunities with communities to support girls to go back to school, and cancel and prevent child marriages. 

One of the biggest challenges throughout the 2021-22 year was clearly the ongoing pandemic crises affecting people in Guatemala and Honduras – particularly the irregular or complete school closures for another year.  

The secondary effects of the pandemic are evident in every place CAUSE Canada works: sky-rocketing inflation and increasing hunger and violence. These risks are very real for people living in rural communities throughout the world as well as for our local teams as they work alongside the people most in need of opportunities. 

Thank you for the support you provide in so many ways.

 

2021 Organization Innovation and Impact Award Recipient 

Cooperation Canada, in collaboration with World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and the trustees of the Lewis Perinbam Award, presented CAUSE Canada with the 2021 Organization Innovation and Impact Award for our work to end child marriage in Sierra Leone. As an organization, we are continually striving to address stubborn problems in new ways. We are grateful to have the support and be recognized for this work.

Ending Child Marriage in Sierra Leone

The project Mi Small Wef No More (I am not a child wife anymore) ended child marriage in 20 communities in Sierra Leone. In the first six months,127 planned child marriages were cancelled, and we saw a significant drop in the number of child marriages being arranged. While the impact of the project was astounding, it highlighted how listening and learning from communities and then being nimble and responsive to what we learn, allows us to achieve life-changing results. True partnership with communities is foundational to the way CAUSE Canada works and our ability to be agile and responsive, means that we can be more effective.

Dignity For Adolescent Mothers in Central America 

Adolescent pregnancy and motherhood, despite being commonplace in rural Guatemala and Honduras, often brings shame. Girls who are pregnant do not seek out maternal health care, and often do not participate in the community in the same way as other women and girls because of their shame. This past year, through our health programs, we provided professional vocational and business training to young mothers. These adolescent mothers are now cutting hair, baking bread, and running small businesses that are helping them to provide for their families.

Sustainable Small Business Support in Honduras 

CAUSE Canada has microfinance programming in several coastal communities in Honduras that were devastated by two hurricanes (Ida and Iota) while the areas were being severely impacted by the pandemic. Throughout 2021, these small business owners picked themselves up, cleaned the mud out of their huts, and restarted their businesses. While some of them are still struggling, it is inspirational to hear how they are able to rebuild their lives because they have some economic security from their small businesses.

In 2015, the United Nations developed 17 Sustainable Development Goals that address how we as an international development community can come together to create a better world. CAUSE Canada aligns its work with four of these Sustainable Development Goals including No Poverty, Good Health and Wellbeing, Quality Education and Gender Equality.

“My name is Nenneh. I am 17 years old and am from a small community in Koinadugu, Sierra Leone. 

When I was 14, my father passed away. At the time, he was highly respected in our community, and he fully supported me with everything I needed. After he died, life became very difficult as my mother could no longer afford to send me to school. I had no choice but to withdraw from my classes and work on our family farm. It was the saddest day of my life. 

I lost all hope of returning to school as our earnings barely provided enough for our family to eat. I often asked my mother to help me return to school so I could complete my education but I knew she was doing the best she could. 

Then one day in August, the town crier informed our community that CAUSE Canada was holding a meeting and there was a program that would support out-of-school girls to return to school. The next morning, I excitedly attended the meeting and registered myself as one of the program’s beneficiaries. 

Today, I am one of the happiest girls in our community. Words cannot express how thankful I am to be provided with an opportunity I never thought would be possible. I plan to complete my education and pursue university to become a medical doctor. I want to thank CAUSE Canada and those who support CAUSE Canada for making my dreams come true.” 

In 2021-22, CAUSE Canada prioritized sending adolescent girls back to school. By building community capacity, and partnering with Mothers’ Clubs, CAUSE Canada worked to develop sustainable solutions to help support the most vulnerable girls to gain access to education.

*Name has been changed 

To learn more about CAUSE Canada’s work with Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being and Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality, read our 2021-22 Annual Report!

CAUSE Canada’s financial statements were restated for the 2020-21 due to incorrect treatment of the foreign exchange losses in the microfinance program. The restatement more accurately reflects CAUSE Canada’s positive financial health.

REVENUE

CAUSE Canada’s revenue for 2021-22 was 1.68 million. Foundation and individual donations increased significantly during the year leading to CAUSE Canada’s decreased reliance on one funding source and, overall, more diversity in funding and balance in revenue streams.

EXPENSES

CAUSE Canada’s total program activity costs were $1.4 million. Main project activity costs included several foundation-funded projects in Sierra Leone and adolescent health and microfinance activities in Central America. 

CAUSE Canada’s administrative costs in 2021-22 increased slightly year-over-year, as the organization resumed normal operations following the pandemic outbreak.

To view CAUSE Canada’s full financial statement, visit staging.cause-canada.flywheelsites.com/accountability