The annual accounts, including the auditor’s statement, were submitted to the Chamber of Commerce on April 3rd, 2025. This issue experienced a delay, and we addressed it on our website on December 18th, 2024. The complete annual report, along with a summary, can now be found here.
We are proud of our achievements in 2023: over 17 million people gained better access to healthcare; approximately 518,000 individuals received essential support to secure their livelihoods; we reached more than 200,000 children and educators through our educational programmes; nearly 63,000 individuals received legal aid and support for peacebuilding; over 500,000 people benefited from emergency assistance during the world’s largest disasters.
In 2023, 260,491 private donors and 156 financing partners made possible our 164 projects, which were carried out in collaboration with 230 partners. Cordaid operates in 35 countries globally, with 8 country offices and 3 regional offices.
Aside from the impact results achieved in 2023, a negative financial outcome of €21.1 million exists, primarily due to one-off provisions. Excluding these provisions, the normalised negative result would have been €0.9 million (i.e., after adjustments for one-off costs). We believe it is essential to clarify this.
The most significant part of the provision is related to completing a large project in 2023. This project, carried out in 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was aimed at the prevention and treatment of people with HIV and tuberculosis. It lasted three years and had a total budget of 300 million US dollars.
The DRC is a vast country facing multiple violent conflicts, which have resulted in significant logistical and safety challenges for the project. Although this was considered as much as possible, it still led to Cordaid spending considerably more money to achieve the project goals. Higher costs were incurred than budgeted for transporting medicine, supporting hospitals, storing medicines and goods, and personnel. The donor could not cover these costs, and Cordaid bore the expenses.
Additionally, costs were incurred that are not unusual upon project completion, but in this instance, they are high due to the project’s large scale. These include costs related to financial risks associated with ongoing legal proceedings (primarily concerning labour disputes and suppliers) and other expenses that have yet to be substantiated to the donor. Provisions have been made for the 2023 financial year to prevent these costs from negatively impacting future annual accounts.
With the appointment of the new general manager in October 2023, the previously initiated improvement process has deepened. The remaining risks have been identified, and related critical improvement points are now clear to address. Enhancements have been made in control systems, ICT, management structures, and our working methods. Because of these enhancements and one-off provisions, no adverse effects from the past are expected on future annual accounts. Cordaid can move forward into the future with a clean slate and a healthy financial position.