The CALP Network Annual Report 2020-21
As a new year began in 2020, who had a crystal ball clear enough to see
what was ahead? Like most organisations, a global pandemic was not on
our radar; but as it started to unfold, we acted quickly to adjust and respond.
Early on, we drew together members of the CALP Network to crowdsource ideas and learning, and rapidly developed guidance on best practice delivery of CVA in the COVID-19 world. A living document was generated,
and continuously updated for some months as we worked together to adjust to this fast-changing situation. We explored some of the ‘impossible choices’ that faced governments and people around the world and asked the $90bn question: can we reach 700 million people in response to COVID-19? We spurred thinking with ‘preparedness checklists’ for Cash Working Groups, took some deep dives with country-focused research, and added a forward-looking chapter to the second edition of the CALP Network’s flagship report The State of the World’s Cash just before its publication in July 2020.
While the developing pandemic delayed its publication, we drew on the thinking in our newly defined strategy, and started adapting our ways of working to better engage and capitalise on the strength of the network.
As well as crowdsourcing our COVID-19 guidance, a small group of organisations began to explore issues related to CVA and the environment. Interest grew rapidly, and foundations were laid for the development of a community of practice on this critical issue.
While our new strategy directed us to work more online and to increase our investment in digital resources and platforms, the pandemic certainly accelerated the changes. Online engagement grew, with our webinars
routinely attended by hundreds of people from around the world; and we started experimenting with simultaneous interpretation – making events more inclusive, limiting costs and meeting our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint. Work started on a new distance learning version of the ever-popular Core CVA Skills for Programme Staff course, and the first pilot course quickly showed this was a great investment, with high demand and excellent reviews. We look forward to rolling this out during the remainder of 2021 and beyond.
Though it was a year of transition, this Annual Report is organised in line with our new strategy, with some of our key accomplishments highlighted in each Strategic Focus Area. The Report also showcases some of the
changes we’re starting to make in our ways of working: changes that we believe will, over time, result in an increasingly vibrant and effective network that can achieve even more impact through collective action.
We would like to thank everyone who has shared their ideas, learning and evidence; and equally commend all those who have used those ideas, learning and evidence to strengthen their work.
As we take stock of the year, we are proud of all that has been achieved to date and the important steps taken to strengthen the network. But there is more to do and we are not standing still. Though the pandemic is still with us, climate change is looming ever-larger as the major humanitarian issue for the years ahead. As we face the reality of an increasingly uncertain future, we are challenging ourselves – and challenging you – to do even more as we move together to achieve the CALP Network vision: a future where people are enabled to overcome crisis with dignity, by exercising choice and their right to self-determination.
