Our network in numbers (as of April 2019)
433 diverse civil society organisations in the Bond network, including new members: Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, SNV, Norwegian Refugee Council, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Girls Not Brides.
3,242 people signed up to our online members' platform.
1,050 people attended 112 meetings held by 43 working groups.
1. We led the sector in representing the interests of civil society organisations on the impact of Brexit on international development policy and funding.
We secured a commitment from the Department for International Development (DFID) to financially assure all UK programmes funded by the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit. We also worked with DFID to establish a financial assure mechanism.
2. We led the UK development sector to advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Our parliamentary event brought together 30 cross-party MPs and the previous international development secretary, Penny Mordaunt, who reaffirmed her commitment to the goals.
We worked with members and partners to influence the UK's Voluntary National Review (VNR) on its progress towards the goals, including giving evidence in the IDC's and EAC's inquiries.
Our report on the UK’s international contribution to the SDGs, which analysed all 17 goals with input from over 49 organisations, was shared across UK government to influence the VNR.
3. We held Europe’s biggest international development event, the Bond Conference & Awards 2019, which attracted 1,148 people.
We hosted 117 speakers, of whom 78 were women and 33 were BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic).
Keynote speakers included Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Indian trans activist Abheena Aher, Kenyan human rights activist Maina Kiai and South African author Sisonke Msimang.
4. We advocated for better policies around UK aid.
We influenced government departments and bodies spending UK aid beyond DFID (such as the Prosperity Fund and CDC Group) to more effectively and transparently measure the impact of their spending.
We provided evidence to the International Development Select Committee (IDC) on the definition and administration of overseas development assistance.
Our comprehensive briefing for parliamentarians on UK aid was shared at all major political party conferences in 2018 and as a resource for members.
5. We empowered 1,723 people to develop their skills through our practical training.
We ran 104 courses in-person and online, including 7 new courses on safeguarding.
27 in-house courses delivered to 564 participants in Denmark, Ghana, Guernsey, Jordan, Poland, the UK, USA and Vietnam.
183 people from 111 organisations in 18 countries took our online training course on IATI.
6. We convened sector-wide groups to drive forward better safeguarding practices and standards.
We pulled together the NGO sector’s commitments to tackle sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, which were presented at DFID’s International Safeguarding Summit in October 2018.
240 people from 183 organisations attended our Safeguarding for Development Conference in August 2018 to create sector-wide solutions and share experiences.
7. We supported NGOs to diversify their income and access funding beyond government grants.
We worked with DFID to secure a new grant management methodology that lets NGOs recover their overhead rates on grants, enhancing their financial sustainability.
We analysed the income profiles of 305 NGOs to highlight financial growth or decline over ten years in our financial trends report.
Our funding opportunities directory was viewed by 247,993 users.
8. We championed and defended civil society space.
We called for the government to engage with civil society in an inclusive, meaningful and deliberative way on policy and programming in our report, resulting in a productive dialogue with DFID on developing a more effective approach to engagement.
We worked with the Electoral Commission and sector bodies to improve the guidance for non-party campaigners. We also briefed peers for a House of Lords debate on the Lobbying Act, which restricts civil society organisations' ability to campaign.
We secured an amendment to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill, protecting the rights of aid workers and their ability to respond to humanitarian crises.
Find out more about Bond
Credits:
Photo credits: Bond, Coalition for Global Prosperity and Department for International Development