2020-2021
ANNUAL REPORT
When COVID-19 first emerged, who would have thought we would still be talking about it, almost two years later?
But we must face reality: the effects of this devastating global pandemic will be with us for decades. COVID-19 is
threatening to overturn years of progress for human rights and equality. In the countries where we work, we have observed a surge in gender-based violence, teenage pregnancies, food insecurity and human rights violations.
This year was marked by violence, racial injustice and ignorance. In our own backyard, we faced the heartbreaking consequences of residential schools and decades of brutality. Conversations about Truth and Reconciliation, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement and the demand for racial justice brought on protests and ultimately, meaningful – and ongoing – change. This year inspired us to question and improve our own practices, areas of intervention and priorities at Crossroads.
What continues to inspire us, is you. You are what gives us hope. When the pandemic first swept across the world and urgent help was needed, you answered the call. We have witnessed a commitment to helping others like never before. Across the sector, people are coming together to support and rebuild communities.
It is easy to focus on all that is going wrong, and the state of the world right now. But we can also acknowledge the heart-warming urge to help, the best side of humanity showing up for others. This year, uncertainty, turmoil and fear were answered with compassion, kindness and empathy.
In our work overseas and at home, we continue our crucial work to advance equality and the rights of women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. We were able to recruit remote volunteers here and Canadian residents already stationed overseas to adapt to a new reality of work and volunteering.
Thanks to you, our advocates, volunteers and donors, we were able to keep crucial programs active, enhance access to vital services, and equip partners with the resources and tools, as well as personal protection equipment (PPE) they needed to operate. Together, we provided families with food kits and funding during lockdowns, supported our partners’ online initiatives and launched #IamACrossroader, our largest campaign yet.
The ripple effect of your support will last for years. Thank you for your commitment to build ONE WORLD where poverty is eliminated, equality prevails and the rights of women and girls are fulfilled.
In solidarity,
Chair, Board of Directors
Executive Director
Crossroads International is a leading Canadian volunteer cooperation agency advancing equality for women and girls and eradicating poverty in some of the world’s poorest countries in Africa.
Through the overarching lens of human rights, our intersectional approach to advancing equality focuses on the following three axes:
Ending gender-based violence
Women’s leadership
Economic empowerment and climate resilience
Thanks to committed partners, volunteers and supporters like you, we are making a difference around the world. In the period of April 2020 to March 2021, during a global pandemic, we came together to accomplish the following:
*Some video footage was captured before COVID-19 and new health and safety restrictions were in place.
YUAN MICHAUD, REMOTE VOLUNTEER, DAMCAM 2020
With international borders closing and stay-at-home orders, one might assume volunteer cooperation to be on pause due to COVID-19. But Canadian volunteers and cooperation agencies are resilient, perseverant and innovative.
What does international development look like in the face of a global pandemic? The answer lies in Canadian dual citizens or permanent residents of Canada who are already overseas and an improved remote volunteer program with renewed mandates. Take a look below at some resourceful and dedicated Crossroaders who are building capacity in every way possible.
Canadian volunteers who are dual citizens bring the best of both worlds to their placements. They understand the priorities and operations of Crossroads and Global Affairs Canada, and can translate this approach into local terms, adapted to the culture and traditions of their natal countries. Through a Crossroads International mandate, they can keep in touch with Canada while giving back to their community and helping their home country develop.
This was the case for Ingrid Zanou, a Canadian-Togolese volunteer for the Girls’ Empowerment Program in Togo. Ingrid shares that the young girls from the empowerment clubs really look up to her; they feel represented, and they believe they can have a future like hers.
Bilakani Sabi also grew up in Togo, before travelling the world and settling in Canada to study Public Administration. A long-time Crossroader, Bilakani’s current mandate as a Program Support Advisor in Togo enables him to build on the work and the relationships he established previously. He recently reconnected on a project he started with the Coordinator of La Colombe, who remembered him fondly and loved having a Togolese volunteer support her organization.
*Some video footage was captured before COVID-19 and new health and safety restrictions were in place.
The work of Crossroads and our volunteers is even more crucial in the face of a global pandemic, where years of progress in gender equality and poverty reduction are threatening to come undone.
Most current volunteers are working as Program Support Advisors with local partner organizations. The first step of their mandate was to set up organizational diagnostics to determine the needs of partners, establish future volunteer mandates, create work plans, strategic documents and monitoring and evaluation policies.
The verdict from the Program Support Advisors is crystal clear across all countries: partners are in critical need of financial support, human resources, and administrative support to stay afloat.
“The organizational diagnostics have really helped us understand the impact of COVID-19. We had to pause a lot of programming, which was quite upsetting. It felt like taking two steps backwards,” declares Nirosha, Program Support Advisor in Eswatini. Swazi kids were out of school for a very long time, and only returned this April. For many partners, outreach programs depend on the schools and their platforms. Most of the volunteers and partners are not able to do field visits, and not everyone has access to a phone or stable Internet connection.
Nirosha underlines the critical need for funding and human resources to support partners: “They experienced COVID-19 outbreaks in their own offices, some lost family members, loved ones, colleagues…they were spread thin at the peak of the second wave.”
For Koffi Dodzi, Program Support Advisor in Togo, institutional strengthening needs to be prioritized as much as the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights. “Our partner organizations are suffering, as so are many NGOs. People are so dedicated, they care so much, but they need to strengthen their internal capacity.” Koffi believes that the strength of an organization depends on solid human resources to support the work of people on the field.
Volunteers are hopeful and truly believe in the work they do. Boubacar Kande, Program Support Advisor in Senegal, shares: “I would like to see my home country develop. I want to see our programs have a positive impact. I want NGOs and women to be autonomous, thus multiplying the capacity of other organizations. That is why I believe people get involved in development work.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many countries, including Togo, were quick to declare a state of lockdown, closing non-essential services and encouraging working from home.
For some, a stay-at-home order is a minor inconvenience. For Togolese women, stay-at-home orders could endanger their lives. In fact, the pandemic, combined with economic adversity, food insecurity and a state of lockdown has further exposed women and girls to domestic and gender-based violence.
Crossroads and GF2D (Groupe réflexion et d’action femme démocratie et développement) have worked together on programs building women’s and youth’s leadership and supporting their rights since 2007. GF2D runs legal aid offices and provides support and counselling for survivors of violence. In addition to running multiple Centres d’écoute (listening centres), GF2D supports Girls’ Empowerment Clubs in Togo.
When the pandemic struck, access to sexual and reproductive health services declined, just as cases of domestic violence were increasing. Women were no longer able to visit the GF2D Centre d’écoute to obtain counselling. GF2D and Crossroads understood the urgent need to ensure this vital service could continue virtually.
In response to this critical situation, GF2D launched the project Together to protect women and young girls from gender-based violence amplified by COVID-19 in Togo.
AKOFA, the online counselling platform was named after the local word for “comfort” or “consolation” and was put in place to allow survivors of violence to benefit from legal advice and assistance, despite not being able to visit in-person. The program allows witnesses to denounce cases of violence and contains resources on gender-based violence and women’s rights. The platform protects the identity of survivors and witnesses, offers accessible counselling services, reduces transportation costs and covers more geographical ground than the physical listening centres.
Many of the online submissions reported instances of economic, physical and sexual violence. As a result, visitors on the platform have requested information on the organization, membership applications and even financial support. Over 900 people viewed the platform, and 112 cases were submitted and subsequently answered over the phone or online.
The need to support survivors of violence has never been more crucial. To continue to provide essential services, six listening centres were equipped with PPE and 4,500 masks were distributed to the centres and surrounding communities.
GF2D, with financial support from Crossroads, also launched an awareness campaign through social media, radio shows, and on Whatsapp to promote the new counselling platform AKOFA, and share information on preventative measures against COVID-19.
Key learnings from the project underlined the need to provide more financial support, as many families suffer through food insecurity.
INGRID ZANOU, CROSSROADER (TOGO 2021)
When the pandemic hit, SWIFT moved quickly to adapt and meet the urgent needs of artisans and entrepreneurs and offered in-person trainings to small groups while respecting COVID-19 safety measures.
The in-person training was facilitated by qualified business development trainers and offered in siSwati, a local language understood by all groups to ensure full participation and accommodation.
They covered topics such as team leadership, sharing roles and responsibilities, business planning, marketing, branding, as well as developing strategic objectives and action plans.
The groups also got the opportunity to visit some established companies as part of their market access and best practice segment. Companies visited include Khokho design studio and Malandelas indigenous nursery.
SWIFT is also launching an online platform to replicate in-person trainings and reach more local business owners. The virtual training centre will teach participants about digital skills, entrepreneurship and business planning.
On the platform, SWIFT is creating training modules including marketing, financial training, analyzing trends and creating a business plan and strategy. The platform itself just recently launched with participants from Eswatini, Lesotho and Botswana taking part in an online business course.
Crossroads recently provided additional funding to SWIFT and its community of artisans. The funds were used to purchase creations from the local artisans and members of the cooperative, to put money back into the economy and to create gift baskets with the local goods that were awarded to exceptional community members. “The gift baskets were awarded to ordinary women who are doing extraordinary things in the community. We are giving back to frontline workers, healthcare workers, mental health advocates and more,” shares Vuyile Nokukhankya, a Crossroads volunteer who grew up in Eswatini.
Vuyile is supporting SWIFT as a Communications, Advocacy and Marketing Advisor. Vuyile works on all their communication material, social media platforms, grant writing and creates graphics and videos.
Vuyile was born and raised in Eswatini and came to Canada in 2012. After studying Media and Communications and Journalism, she knew she wanted to use her newfound skills to support the country in which she grew up.
“I’ve been inspired by Julie and her passion, what she’s doing, helping women create businesses that are successful and empowering them,” shares Vuyile about SWIFT and its Executive Director. Vuyile got to meet many women with incredible stories who were recipients of the gift baskets funded by Crossroads including Tsabi, an artisan who recently suffered a stroke. Tsabi has been re-learning how to do everything herself, while attempting to continue running her business. SWIFT helped her through training, but also offered support and food supplies. Another woman, Nomcebo, is a go-getter living with a disability, who defied expectations and started her own sewing company, Nomcebo’s Design, ultimately winning an Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2017 for her skill, story and craftsmanship.
Overall, SWIFT hopes to reach 40 participants through the online training platform. So far, 33 women were reached through the in-person trainings, in partnership with other women cooperatives. Over 280 community members will also benefit from this additional business development.
In Senegal, climate change is affecting women farmers who already suffer unequivocally from food insecurity.
The Programme de Coopération Climatique Internationale (PCCI) project (funded by the Ministère de l’Environnement du Québec) is helping women farmers build resilience against climate change and adapt to new ways of farming. The project equipped 11 market gardens, exclusively managed by women, with dewatering and drip irrigation systems powered by solar energy. It strengthened market gardening production and facilitated the diversification of agricultural production by introducing new drought-resistant crops with short production cycles. These activities contribute to sustainable development and the protection of the environment.
*Some video footage was captured before COVID-19 and new health and safety restrictions were in place.
In the Prefecture of Zio, Togo, Crossroads is working with long-time partner organization La Colombe on an innovative project involving the wives of chiefs. For a very long time, these wives have held honorary power, but no real say in the defence of the rights of women and girls. The Projet Fiosron, meaning “wives of village chiefs”, is a ground-breaking approach to strengthen the leadership of these women and increase their knowledge of women’s rights. The project, funded through Crossroads’ Karen Takacs Leadership Fund, implemented workshops on advocacy and training in 10 chief-led villages.
“Powerful men don’t want their powers to change. They want to keep that power. We make it clear that we do not want to take that away, but we want to involve women in leadership, given their capacities and experiences. We want to empower and equip them to defend the rights of women and girls,” shares Bilakani Sabi, Program Support Advisor in Togo.
So far, the project has generated incredibly positive social change. The chief wives are committed to advocating and defending the rights of women and girls in their communities and have begun engaging and educating their husbands in the process.
It is only through mutual and respectful cooperation that we can champion gender equality. With local partners, we collaborate to bridge local and international, public and private sector organizations to create sustainable change.
A gift in your Will is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to support our work. Please consider making a legacy gift to Crossroads: cintl.org/legacy.
With gratitude, we are pleased to recognize those who have recently confirmed a gift in their Will to Crossroads International. These supporters are helping to reduce poverty and empower women and girls for generations to come.
Volunteers are the heart of Crossroads. They work with local partners to pilot new approaches and increase their capacity and their impact. In a most difficult year, volunteers helped create digital resources on sexual and reproductive health services for teens, empowered women to assert their rights, and supported partners to adapt their services online.
Nana Ama Pabi, Ghana
Magalie Menard, Tanzania
Moustapha Dembele, Cote d'Ivoire
Boubacar Kande, Senegal
Bilakani Sabi, Togo
Emily Joan Mary Strong, Uganda
Nirosha Sheryl Sarugaser, eSwatini
Kaluba Chilaisha, Zambia
Charles Ragomezingueba Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso
Vuyile Nokukhanya Motsa, eSwatini
Ayélé Sylvie Marie-Josée D'ALMEIDA, Togo
Koffi Elemawussi Dodzi, Togo
Vanessa Alexandra St-Jean, Senegal
Aida Gaëlle Ba, Senegal
Ingrid Flora Zanou, Togo
Sierra Nallo, Ghana
Odette Kamanzi Gahongayire, Senegal
Denise Tremblay, Senegal
Yuan Isabelle Michaud, Senegal
(Mahsa) Mohaddeseh Abbas Zadeh, Senegal
Elsie Amoako, Ghana
Madison F Octavia MacLean, Tanzanie
Mahfuja Sharmin, eSwatini
Ndeye Fatou NGOM, Senegal
Fidele Pingdewinde Ramde, Senegal
Patricia Erb, Director
Joan Fair, Director
Christine Herr, Chair, Nominating Committee
Divya Khurana, Director
Fabien Lanteri-Massa, Director
Lisa Lifshitz, Co-Chair, Risk Committee
Sheri Martinello, Co-Chair, Risk Committee
Julie Mills, Board Treasurer, Chair, Finance Committee
Julianne Osberg, Chair, Governance Committee
Simone Philogène, Board Chair; Chair, Executive Committee
Janet Riehm, Director
Gisèle Yasmeen, Director
Félix Zogning, Director
Lyse Doucet
Ann McCain Evans
Lawrence Hill
The Hon. Audrey Mclaughlin
The Hon. Donald H. Oliver
Dr. Peter Paris
J. Robert S. Prichard
Betty Plewes
Heather Shapter
Francette Maquito
Christine Campbell
Co-Effect Creative
