INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORS
HealthNet TPO is a Dutch aid agency that works on recovery of communities in war torn societies.
We improve health and wellbeing by changing victims into agents of change, building on existing community resources to create new resources, thus help people gain health, hope and confidence.
HealthNet works through health projects, ranging from mother and child health to sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a focus on mental health from psychiatry to psychosocial emergency aid, and contributes to health systems development and disease control. Unique elements in our approach are the basis in local culture, the understanding of the mental effects of poverty, exclusion and war, and the way in which we make women and girls agents of change. Furthermore, we are a knowledge driven organisation, building the evidence base through applied academic research in projects wherever possible.
Since 1992 HealthNet implemented some 250 projects in 35 countries. In 2015 our projects took place in Afghanistan, Burundi, Cambodia, DR Congo, Lesotho, Nepal and South Sudan. 2015 was a year in which humanitarian needs were enormous. In this annual report we try to describe how HealthNet fulfilled its mission in bridging the gap between emergency relief and a developmental perspective for some of the most vulnerable people in the world (see the next chapter of this report).
At the same time the year was critical for the organisation itself. As reported in the previous years, HealthNet was slowly repairing the negative equity that resulted from losses in 2011 and 2012. As a result of unfortunate investment in necessary new administration software, a steep growth in project volume followed by a growth in overhead costs, and the lack of any unearmarked funding, the negative equity amounted to 2,2 million at the end of 2012.
Tight management brought positive results in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, and the negative equity was brought back with some 200K. At the end of 2014, HealthNet still had a negative equity of €2 million. Working within a very tight setting against absolutely minimal costs in Amsterdam did not combine well with setting up a free fundraising capacity.
HealthNet had however found a way to manage the portfolio in fragile states within the boundaries of project budgets granted by institutional donors, and showed this three years in a row. In terms of efficient and effective use of donor funds, we believe we have some reason to be proud.
The Rabobank helped HealthNet bridge liquidity gaps, periods of no more than three weeks when donors were lagging behind in their payments, and costs had to be made to implement the projects.
When the bank decided to end this arrangement in July, HealthNet had only months to find solutions for financial sustainability. Then contact was made with the Zaluvida Group in Malaysia. The Zaluvida Group works in the life sciences sector and supports innovation to make the world a healthier place for everyone. The Zaluvida Foundation was created with the goal to improve health and wellbeing for people among the poorest in the world.
A match was made. We are proud to announce the structural and strategic support of Zaluvida for the activities of HealthNet. The combination of a passion for health and wellbeing for all, based on scientific evidence and natural resources, and a solid belief in the self-help potential of all people once minimal criteria for health and education are met, now creates an independent, scientifically rooted, financially solid and well-experienced international combination. Zaluvida strengthens the financial basis of HealthNet, and the partnership combines the best elements of NGO experience, business-minded efficiency, and academic rigor.
The focus of the work remains on the improvement of health and wellbeing of people living in isolation, exclusion, poverty and insecurity. Special attention is given to the mental health and psychosocial challenges in which people need to rebuild their lives and communities.
In 2016, the collaboration will be worked out in detail. We look forward to operating on the cutting edge of change in a world that needs sustainable solutions in life sciences and inclusive community development. The aim of the Zaluvida and HealthNet partnership is to bring new meaning to social entrepreneurship.