2021 Annual Report
Dear Partners,
The movement of community-led progress is vibrant in our partner communities. Last year, our partner communities experienced a 160% increase in decision-making being shared among leaders and community members. We saw a 400% increase in women participating in public speaking, and 51% of speakers at community meetings are now women. Our pilot of a third phase of the Nurturing Opportunities for Women program has shown promising early results, including an 86% increase in reported household income after participation in the program. We know that when we invest in people, they are uniquely positioned to lead change. Our partners demonstrate this each and every day.
In 2021, the strength of our collective community – our partners in Sierra Leone, supporters here in the U.S. and globally, our global staff, and our Board of Directors – was a force that continued to work together and gain momentum. We are excited to share that we had a record year of financial support and are now positioned to roll out our new strategy to scale our work. This means we will be able to increase our impact with current partners and broaden our circle of partners even further. We look forward to sharing our ambitious plans with you in the coming months.
The move to community-led approaches must not be a passing trend, but rather the impetus for an overhaul in development. Alongside this, as we have deepened our interrogation of decolonization, racial justice, and equity, we have uncovered that despite our progress, we must do more to push ourselves and shift power to local leaders in Sierra Leone. This is hard work and will continue to challenge us, but we are committed to continuing our work in partnership and to question our own biases in the path towards equity and liberation.
Thank you for your partnership and support last year, which made this important work possible.
Pete Janzen, Board Chair
Jill LaLonde, Executive Director
3 clean water wells.
108 latrine dropholes.
69% decrease in diarrheal disease.
Inclusive Leadership
Inclusive leadership is a key piece to sustainable, community-led development that will improve wellbeing. Empowering leaders within communities creates accountability, representation, and transparency that leads to shared decision-making at the community level.
Gender Equity
Encouraging women to use their voice and work towards gender equity is essential for families, communities, and countries to create opportunities for everyone. Creating increased access to economic opportunities for women creates a ripple effect that extends to their children, the larger community, and beyond. Our programs start the chain reaction of greater impact by empowering those women.
“The NOW learning is not only benefiting the NOW participants, but it has also inspired the community at large in terms of development.”
— Amara Nabieu, community member from Pujehun
Social Cohesion
Through collaboration and networking with one another, communities strengthen their ability to work together to create grassroots action for change. Our programs work together to encourage community members to collaborate, network, and partner with one another to achieve their shared goals.
Resiliency
Safety nets that support individuals during times of illness, loss of income, or property damage are not a guarantee for many in Sierra Leone. That’s why our programs help communities be better positioned to respond to future crises. Health centers, clean water, food security, and tools to help women save and make money prepare individuals to be ready when emergencies happen.
Women-Led AgriBusiness
In 2021, OneVillage Partners piloted a third phase of our women’s empowerment program, Nurturing Opportunities for Women: AgriBusiness. With over 120 women from six different communities, all of whom completed the first two phases of NOW, we worked with the Ministry of Agriculture in Sierra Leone to provide agricultural training, including effective farming techniques for increased crop yield and best practices for marketing and sales of produce.
A Challenge Can Be an Asset.
A story of most significant change about Mary Amara written by Bernadette Musu Mustapha, NOW Program Supervisor
Mary Amara is a 50-year-old widow whose husband died and left her with six children. She serves as the women’s youth leader in Kigbai.
