THE EDGE IN FOCUS Report of the Trustees & Financial Statements for the year ending 28 February 2018 for Children on the Edge Registered company number: 4996130 (England and Wales) Page !1 Page !2 Kutupalong Refugee Camp / November 2017 CONTENTS Section Page 1 The Edge in Focus 4 2 When we say ‘we’ 7 3 Our Projects: Lebanon 8 Uganda 10 India 12 Myanmar / Burma 14 Bangladesh 16 4 Financial Review 18 5 Reference & Administrative Details 20 6 Structure, Governance & Management 21 7 Statement of Trustee’s Responsibility 22 Independent Auditor’s Report to the Trustees of Children on the Edge 23 Financial Statements 24 - Statement of Financial Activities 25 - Balance Sheet 26 - Cash Flow Statement 27 - Notes to the Financial Statements 28 Page !3 THE EDGE IN FOCUS Working ‘on the edge’ for nearly 28 years has Prior to these events, our Rohingya education taught us to expect the unexpected, but no one model was written up as a case study, recognised could have predicted the scale of events that have by this year’s ‘Promising Practices’ initiative and unfolded this year. presented at their New York event, during the UN General Assembly. In order to support some of the most marginalised children around the world, we work out of the With our working model clearly summarised, we spotlight. This August however, the spotlight came were able to communicate our approach simply to us, as we witnessed one of the largest and most and efficiently to the many generous donors who terrifying migrations in modern human history. were moved to help, as the tragedy unfolded and was highlighted in the media. We had been working in the Rohingya Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh for seven years, As we began to plan a humanitarian response, we providing low profile education for 2,700 children. were chosen by The Times Newspaper to benefit The long persecuted Rohingya have had relatively from their 2017 Christmas Appeal. Their journalists little attention from the international community, but wrote a number of compelling pieces reflecting the this August, co-ordinated military attacks in harrowing experiences of new arrivals and the Myanmar rapidly wheeled the media spotlight onto bitter situation on the border. This not only their plight and in turn, our work in the camp. highlighted the crucial nature of our work, but generated an incredible donor response from The This was the most brutal wave of violence against Times readership. the Rohingya to date. The Myanmar military swept through Rakhine State, torching, murdering and Having worked in a number of crisis situations over raping as they went. The offensive, described by the years, we are familiar with the cycle of fleeting the UN as ‘a textbook example of ethnic cleansing’, media attention and its corresponding influx of aid forced over 700,000 Rohingya over the border into agencies. Their race to deliver timely assistance Bangladesh, directly into the areas where we work. resulted in many poorly implemented provisions, with little to no input from the refugees themselves. With years of experience delivering education here, Our experience and local relationships enabled us strong relationships with the refugee community to deliver a considered, high quality humanitarian and long established partnerships with local response, based on full consultation with refugee organisations, we were uniquely placed to respond communities. to the crisis. Page !4 As we move further into 2018 and the headlines As we grow, our plan is to continue working through are being diverted elsewhere, many agencies are quality, local grassroots agencies, maintaining high beginning to withdraw their support. Our focus on levels of transparency and ensuring we are the edge remains unchanged. As the Rohingya genuinely and respectfully serving the communities plight drifts once more into obscurity, our main in which we work. concern is that children will be given consistent support. For us, it is ‘business as usual’, as we In the past year, the hard pressed communities that begin to establish quality Learning Centres we partner with in Uganda, Lebanon, India and throughout the extended Kutupalong camp for over Kachin State, Myanmar have remained out of the 8,000 Rohingya children. limelight, yet have made great strides forward in creating positive environments for their children. In In the wider aid industry this year, the media the face of many challenges they have generated spotlight has cast a more critical light. Emerging the hope, life colour and fun that you will see stories of scandal and abuse within trusted and reflected in the pages to follow. prominent international agencies, have outraged the public and created a growing narrative that Finally we’d like to thank every individual and such corruption is endemic across the non-profit institution that has supported our work this year. sector. We highly value the trust you have put in us, and will be continuing to do all we can going forward, to From the start, Children on the Edge has remained ensure lasting and positive change for each child small and resisted the culture of power that can we work with. come from establishing expat teams in the countries where we work. Instead, wherever possible we partner with carefully selected local organisations who are vetted to ensure that robust safeguarding policies are in place. Multi-million pound budgets and the attitude of impunity that can go with them, can easily create the context for these recently exposed situations. Stuart Gallimore Rachel Bentley Chair of Trustees International Director Page !5 After attending the Learning Centres we support in India, Sahil entered mainstream school and then campaigned to have two water pumps installed in his village, he says “Since going to the Centre, people value me and I have respect. I want to be a doctor and change people’s lives, but I am starting with changingPage !6 the village”. WHEN WE SAY ‘WE’… The following pages describe the objectives, From each situation, we learn more to share with activities, achievements and performance of the other communities around the world, as we work to projects we support this year, as well as plans transform the lives of children living on the edge of going forward. their societies. When we say ‘we have achieved’ or ‘we have delivered’; the ‘we’ describes our local partners, the communities they serve and ourselves, working “Before COTE came alongside us, together to create change. the schooling project was just a Children on the Edge has worked with local good idea with no real structure or partners from the start. Listening to and vision of expansion. They helped understanding the needs of local communities has always formed the basis of our work. us with casting vision, reporting, accounting and budgeting, the We bring years of experience and expertise in working with vulnerable children; our partners have whole education intervention in the high levels of skill, aptitude and local knowledge. informal tented settlements have Together we approach each situation with humility bloomed to reach more people and and respect. to cater to more camps. Now other We don’t arrive and assume we can ‘build organisation’s have taken more capacity’, but partner with high quality organisations, learning from them as much as they notice of us.” learn from us, and finding bespoke solutions to " difficult problems. NUNA, PROJECT MANAGER - TRIUMPHANT MERCY Page !7 LEBANON # Official figures of Syrian refugees in Lebanon ACTIVITIES have dropped this year to around 995,000; roughly 55% of whom are children. While • Through 2017, facilitated 5 bright, colourful Lebanon’s ‘Back to School’ initiative for and safe spaces with a trusted adult presence refugees enrolled 250,000 pupils by mid-2016, where 481 refugee children were able to access half the remaining Syrian children were left with educational opportunities and creative play. no access. Eight years into this crisis, children • Children learned Arabic, maths, science, history, we work with in the informal settlements of geography and English through a bespoke, Bekaa Valley are cut off from education, mixed Syrian and Lebanese child-friendly vulnerable to child labour, and subject to curriculum. This was delivered using military raids and forced moves in the camps. Montessori techniques to help children re- There has been a discernible slump in engage with learning. international funding through 2017, and the • Opened seven extra classrooms throughout outlook is uncertain for humanitarian support February and March 2018 to cater for over the next year. overwhelming demand. • Introduced new interactive English PARTNERS" curriculum, allowing children to work on their " vocabulary, word recognition and conversational Triumphant Mercy (TM) skills, using a wide variety of learning methods. • Arranged graduation parties, day trips and OBJECTIVES activities to celebrate the children’s achievement and give them positive experiences outside of the • Bridge the educational gap for Syrian refugee camp. children by ensuring they gain a quality • Supported 27 Syrian refugees teachers with education, with trained teachers from their own weekly trainings, regular observations, community, keeping them protected and mentoring, supervisions and quarterly training preparing them for the future. days. • Enable refugee children to feel safe and secure • Trained an additional five new teachers with despite the volatile situation, and begin to recover initial intensive, tailored teacher training, followed from the trauma of war. by ongoing support. • Provide Syrian refugees with valuable teaching • Facilitated two sets of exams, which were used skills, ownership of education provision and an to identify children's progress and weaker areas. income for their families. Teachers were then given additional training to • Target high drop out rates and low government ensure they were able to adequately support school enrolment rates which have been linked to children with additional needs. lack of understanding of the value of education • Shared experience and knowledge with our by parents.