Annual Report

April 2015 – March 2016

coordinator@perusupportgroup.org.uk

www.perusupportgroup.org.uk

Sponsors

Lord Brennan QC

Ann Clwyd MP

Linda Fabiani MSP

Richard Howitt MEP

Simon Hughes

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Conor

Rev Ed O'Connell

Hugh O'Shaughnessy

Professor William Rowe

Wendy Tyndale

Founding Sponsor

Graham Greene

President: Baroness Coussins

Vice President: Rosemary Thorp CBE

Coordinator: Ana Reyes-Hurt

Management Committee

Treasurer: Tim Thorp

Secretary: Tom Pegram

Judith Condor-Vidal

Isabel Crabtree-Condor

John Crabtree

Natalia Sobrevilla

Andrea Steel

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Contents

Contents..........................................................................................................................................................i

Abbreviations.................................................................................................................................................ii

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... iii

Influence and media ................................................................................................................................. iii

Organisation, Governance and Financial summary.................................................................................. iii

The Year in Context........................................................................................................................................1

Influencing .....................................................................................................................................................3

MPs and Peers ...........................................................................................................................................3

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).................................................................................................3

Embassy of Peru in the UK and Peruvian Government .............................................................................3

European Union.........................................................................................................................................4

Other..........................................................................................................................................................4

Inter-Agency Collaboration............................................................................................................................5

Public Events, Outreach and Press ................................................................................................................6

Events.........................................................................................................................................................6

PSG annual conference and AGM..........................................................................................................6

Parliamentary Event ..............................................................................................................................6

Outreach ....................................................................................................................................................6

Press...........................................................................................................................................................6

Visits and Visitors...........................................................................................................................................7

Visitors to the UK.......................................................................................................................................7

Visits to Peru..............................................................................................................................................7

Publications and Resources ...........................................................................................................................8

News and analysis through our Website and Newsletter .........................................................................8

Social Media...............................................................................................................................................8

Organisation & Governance ..........................................................................................................................9

Presidency..................................................................................................................................................9

Staff............................................................................................................................................................9

Office..........................................................................................................................................................9

Management .............................................................................................................................................9

Funding ......................................................................................................................................................9

Membership.............................................................................................................................................10

End of Year Accounts ...................................................................................................................................11

Payments and Receipts FY2015/16 .........................................................................................................12

Balance Sheet FY2015/16 ........................................................................................................................12

Examiner’s Report....................................................................................................................................13

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Abbreviations

Organisations 11 11 11

AIDESEP Asociaciόn Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana

APCI Agencia Peruana de Cooperaciόn International

APPG All Party Parliamentary Group

BBC British Broadcasting Co http://www.perusupportgroup.org.uk/files/fckUserFiles/file/ReportonthePSGannualconf.doc

CAAAP Centro Amazόnico de Antropologia y Aplicaciόn Practica

CEAS Comisiόn Episcopal de Acciόn Social

EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

EU European Union

FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office

FP Fuerza Popular

IDL Instituto de Defensa Legal

INTA International Trade Committee of EU

JNE Jurado Nacional de Elecciones

MMG

PEP Plataforma Europa Perú

PSG Peru Support Group

PWYP Publish What You Pay

DAG Domestic Advisory Group

Acronyms CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

EIA Environmental Impact Assessment

FPIC Free Prior and Informed Consent

FTA Free Trade Agreement

HRD Human Rights Defender

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

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Executive Summary

Influence and media The context of this year’s activity was the run-up to the presidential election which concluded on 5 June

2016. First round elections were on 10 April 2016. In our newsletter and website we endeavoured to

cover the twists and turns of the debate and the positions of the candidates, with our eye fixed on

explaining the likely consequences for the disadvantaged in society.

Peru’s economy is heavily dependent on the extractives sector especially oil & gas and forestry in the

selva and heavy metal mining in the sierra. For many years there has been conflict with local peoples,

over development of extractive sites and their logistic tail, that has not diminished and in many ways

has worsened. We are not anti-mining per se, but we do say that the well-being of the locals concerned

and the development needs of the wider community must be part of the mining deal. During the year

there have been major issues of conflict in both forms of the extractive industries and we have tried to

record and analyse these issues.

In addition to the concerns around mining we have been following the ongoing saga of restitution for

those caught up in the sterilization campaigns during the Fujimori presidency.

Our newsletter has been sent out and our website has been updated normally weekly covering the

issues outline above, and more.

We continue to have contacts with parliamentarians, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Embassy of

Peru. We continue to have close relations with the members of the Plataforma Europea Peru (PEP) and

particularly with 11 11 11 the Belgium Flemish development organization which has good connections

into the EU organisation.

We are pleased to have assisted others, particularly journalists, who have made use of our expertise.

Organisation, Governance and Financial summary At the beginning of the financial year our new Coordinator, Ana Reyes-Hurt was installed. At about the

same time we finally closed our office in Bethnal Green, London and the Coordinator now works from

home. This has significantly reduced our costs.

The Management Committee, with its smaller size, has worked well. The number of face-to-face

meetings has been reduced, more than compensated for by an increase in the number of Skype

meetings. The subgroup preparing and distributing our newsletter and website has continued to work

intensively and well; the newsletter normally goes out once a week except for at peak holiday times

when about three editions were foregone.

We have been updating our membership and mailing lists and endeavouring to increase financial

support from them.

We are grateful for the support we continue to receive from CAFOD. We were unable to gain additional

hoped-for project funds from other organisations for FY2015/16, though we have achieved, in addition

to the CAFOD contribution, two modest grants for FY2016/17.

Overall in FY2015/16 we had a deficit of £3,618.92 which will be covered from reserves. The financial

statement is at the end of this document.

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The Year in Context

Peruvian politics in the year to March 2016 was dominated by the presidential and congressional

elections held on 10 April 2016. A second round presidential election was held on 5 June. For most of

the campaigning for the first round, the field was led by Keiko Fujimori of the Fuerza Popular (FP) Party

who topped the poll in the first round and whose party won an absolute majority in the next Congress.

We viewed this with concern, given the authoritarian leanings of FP and its close relationship with

former president Alberto Fujimori who remains in jail on a lengthy sentence for corruption and human

rights violation. The campaign was dogged by considerable uncertainty, not least because of highly

controversial decisions by the electoral court, Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE), that led to the forced

withdrawal of two leading candidates (César Acuña and Julio Guzmán). The second round was fought

between Fujimori and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski who finally prevailed by a tiny margin. The forced

withdrawal of Acuña (guilty of distributing largess to would-be supporters) but not Fujimori (who did

likewise) led to accusations of partiality on the part of the electoral authorities.

The Peruvian economy grew by over 3% in 2015, largely on the strength of increased volumes of copper

exported. Two new Chinese-owned mines came on stream at Toromocho (Junín) and Las Bambas

(Apurímac). Both are projects agreed upon several years ago when copper prices were very high. New

investment announcements have fallen off in the last two years with the decline in prices, with several

international companies either suspending projects or pulling out altogether. The Peruvian authorities

have sought to stimulate investment, largely by reducing the level of environmental regulation that

extractive industries need to comply with. This has been of concern to the PSG, since lighter regulation

usually works to the detriment of communities living in the vicinity of extractive projects and the down-

stream basin.

The year saw continuing conflict between communities and companies, sometimes resulting in lethal

clashes. In particular, there has been ongoing conflict over the proposed Tía María open cast mine in

Arequipa (Southern Peru Copper) where local farmers in this relatively prosperous coastal valley see the

mine as a threat to their livelihoods because of the pollution and contamination it is likely to generate.

This stand-off continues. In the highlands there have been conflicts between communities and the MMG

Corporation over Las Bambas, potentially one of the largest copper projects in the world. These have

centred on complaints that communities have not been adequately consulted and that MMG has

violated the terms of its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Conflictive relations have also been

ongoing at the Tintaya/Antapaccay mine in Cuzco, a conflict being closely monitored by PSG. A

significant issue here (and elsewhere) is the use of police by mining companies to defend mining camps.

In other spheres too, there have been conflicts with companies, particularly in the hydrocarbons sector.

A long-simmering dispute between indigenous communities in the northern jungle and Pluspetrol

erupted when the latter’s contract was terminated leaving a legacy of environmental problems. Another

conflict also erupted because of serious contamination caused by leakage from the north-Peruvian oil

pipeline. Other conflicts in the Amazon jungle have been cause by unauthorised deforestation by timber

companies and by the environmental damage caused by illicit gold mining (especially in Madre de Dios).

The issue of obligatory prior and informed consultation remained on the agenda during the year, with

mining companies (in particular) being slow to accept the idea that Andean indigenous communities

should be allowed prior consultation throughout the stages of development of a mine: exploration,

concession, development, production. Legislation on prior consultation was passed in 2011, but the

government has vacillated on extending this to the highlands. In the Amazon jungle a few processes of

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consultation have taken place and there have recently been three examples in the sierra at the

exploratory stage of mining development. In general terms, the playing field is still very unequal. There

are big differences in terms of technical knowledge and capacity between the negotiating parts; very

little information given to the communities involved prior to the negotiations, and little time to analyse

it.

The problem of citizen (in)security in its various forms became an important issue in the election

campaign. This is a growing problem, particularly in places in which drug trafficking takes place and the

police are subject to bribery and intimidation by such criminal interests. Most of the presidential

candidates promised to ‘get tough’ on crime, but not provided convincing suggestions as to how this

should be done without violating basic civil and human rights.

The issue of forced sterilisation during the Fujimori era also surfaced during the election campaign.

Keiko Fujimori argued that she had not been responsible for this and that it was the fault of medical

practitioners not her father’s government. In November 2015, the Peruvian government committed to

establish a Registro Unico de Victimas in order to provide access to health services and legal counsel.

The extent to which victims will be properly compensated has yet to be settled.

3

Influencing

MPs and Peers The Peru Support Group (PSG) has participated in a number of public events organised by Parliament,

including a seminar discussing the implementation of Title IX on sustainable development of the FTA

between the EU and Peru-Colombia (November 2015). The seminar was organised by the Sub-

Committee on the design and implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) sustainable

development provisions (Title IX). The PSG President, Baroness Coussins was the Chair and principal

organiser. An invitation to speak at the event was extended to a member of Plataforma Europa Perú

(PEP) by Baroness Coussins, during the PSG Annual Conference in October 2015. The PEP representative

talked about the Peruvian experience in relation to Title IX.

In the lead-up to the elections, a talk was organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on

Latin America to discuss the Peruvian elections (March 2016), where three PSG representatives were

present and one gave a presentation. Our partners are always informed about such events.

A meeting was also held with Nicole Piche, APPG Human Rights coordinator, in October 2015. We

discussed our current priorities and she has encouraged us to work with her to organize parliamentary

events/visits whenever we have a Peruvian human rights defender/organization visiting the country.

The PSG co-organised with CAFOD an event that took place at the House of Lords on 7 July on the

occasion of the visit of human rights defender Jaime Borda (see below under the section Public Events,

Outreach and Press: Events).

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) The PSG Coordinator held meetings with the FCO Andean Officer to discuss our human rights priorities;

this included discussion of prior consultation and extractives.

The PSG Coordinator met with the UK Ambassador in Peru in September 2015 to follow up on our

discussions with him during previous visits and to further discuss human rights priorities, including prior

consultation. A PSG committee member met with the ambassador subsequently in November, and gave

a talk to interested parties at the ambassador’s residence.

The PSG Coordinator accompanied CAFOD to a meeting with the FCO Peru desk officer, to accompany

human rights defender Jaime Borda, from Cusco-based human rights organization Derechos Humanos

sin Fronteras, to raise the human rights concerns around the Tintaya case.

Further, on the lack of civil society space and its importance, the PSG sent a letter to the FCO as a

follow-up to a letter sent by the Assistant Committee to EU External Affairs Sub-Committee, in which it

highlighted the main points of the seminar in Parliament mentioned above, organised by the sub-

committee on the design and implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) sustainable

development provisions (Title IX). In the letter, questions were raised about monitoring the

implementation of sustainable development provisions and the UK’s role within it, as well as its stand to

pursue stronger language on CSR in future FTAs.

Embassy of Peru in the UK and Peruvian Government A meeting between the Peruvian Ambassador to the UK and the PSG, represented by president

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Baroness Coussins and the PSG Coordinator, will take place in June 2016. In a letter sent to him in March

2016 in which we requested the meeting, one of the key issues we highlighted was the lack of civil

society representation in the monitoring mechanism established through Title IX (Chapter on

Sustainable Development) of the FTA between the EU/Peru and Colombia. This will also be raised during

the meeting.

The President of the PSG raised several concerns about the Tintaya-Antipaccay mine, including

criminalization of human rights defenders, particularly the cases against many activists and local

community leaders who are still facing criminal charges as a result of their role in monitoring the social

protests that took place in May 2012 in Cusco. International pressure (in which we have played a part)

contributed to an appeal being won for the trial against some local community leaders to be moved

from the town of Ica to Cusco. The letter sent to the Peruvian Ambassador highlighted this concern.

Fears had been raised about unfair trial standards and violations to due process.

The PSG wrote to the UK Ambassador in Peru in February 2016 requesting information as to how the

embassy monitors the issue of forced sterilizations, following Baroness Coussins tabling a question

before Parliament on 18 January, asking HM Government for their assessment of this situation.

Baroness Coussins received a very encouraging reply from Baroness Anelay of St. Johns on 25 January,

with a summary of the events and stating that the UK embassy in Lima continues to monitor

developments on the issue.

Baroness Coussins wrote a letter to the Peruvian Agency of International Cooperation (Agencia Peruana

de Cooperación Internacional, APCI) and a letter to President Humala expressing our concern over an

APCI directive that introduced new rules governing the registration of non-governmental organizations,

both Peruvian and foreign, which receive funds from international cooperation agencies, and also

increased the level of their supervision. The head of APCI replied to our letter stating that they were

going to have talks with civil society organizations and hear their concerns. It was in part thanks to

international pressure that government authorities agreed to sit down with members of civil society

that had expressed concerns at this level of supervision. There have been certain agreements reached,

such as extending the amount of time organizations have for re-registering pending supervision. Talks

have continued.

European Union Our influence into the EU is mediated by the Plataforma Europa Peru (PEP) and through our UK

parliamentary connections.

Whilst in Peru, the Coordinator visited the EU representation in Lima. This meeting was very useful in

that they were open to hear our analysis of current situation in Peru and also encouraged us to

approach them when we felt there was a particular case/situation they could assist us with. The EU

human right’s defender (HRD) Guidelines would be particularly helpful here.

Other The legal firm representing the defendants, Leigh Day asked our advice on witnesses in preparation for

the court case to be heard in July in London: we provided names.

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Inter-Agency Collaboration Throughout the year, we continued to have talks with our partners from PEP to strengthen our work at

the EU level. Plans to further enhance this work and analyse advocacy strategy on this issue are ongoing,

and include meetings/an event with Parliamentarians when the visit of a ‘witness’ to issues around ‘free

prior and informed consent’ (FPIC) takes place later in the year.

The PSG Coordinator travelled to Brussels at the end of September to attend the PEP annual general

meeting where the Platform identified key issues for future work, raised some of the work that each of

the organizations represented there is working on and discussed ways to further strengthen our

collaboration. During the second half of the financial year, the PSG continued to make sure that this

relationship was reinforced; the PSG Coordinator organised and held Skype call meetings with the

‘organising committee’ made up of three organizations that drive PEP work: the PSG, 11 11 11 (Belgium

Flemish), and Justice Paix (Belgium). These meetings are intended to take place every three months or

so, where ideally we coordinate our work, including the input we are to give for informing the DAG and

INTA (European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade) meetings on latest developments

related to the EU-Peru trade agreement. The PSG contributed with information on consultation and

environmental controls for the latest update to the DAG.

The work around the ‘shrinking space of civil society’ was significantly developed during the second half

of the financial year, when the PSG co-organised a side event in Lima in February 2016 at the EITI Global

Conference with Oxfam America, Publish What You Pay and Propuesta Ciudadana. The event sought to

address the problem of shrinking civil society in EITI countries. The event was well-attended and helped

forge closer collaborative links both in Peru and with PWYP internationally.

In February 2016, the PSG Coordinator met with the Amnesty International UK Peru Coordinator to

discuss our priorities and see whether we could have joint activities. As forced sterilization is also a

priority of their work, we discussed the possibility of doing a joint event around the issue.

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Public Events, Outreach and Press

Events

PSG annual conference and AGM

The PSG Annual Conference held on 17 October was a success. It was well attended, by approximately

40 people, and the feedback that we had was highly positive. The audience was engaged during the

debates. Key themes highlighted were: consultation (Block 192 in the Amazon jungle); gender and

ethnicity (particularly forced sterilizations); the role of elites in civil society; Peru’s political scene ahead

of the elections; and EU influence, or in other words, how to be more strategic when trying to be

influential with the EU. The Conference was chaired by our President Baroness Coussins and speakers

included: Martin Scurrah, Koen Warmenbol (PEP Coordinator, 11 11 11 Belgium Flemish Development

organization), Francisco Durand, Alberto Vergara and Natalia Sobrevilla. A detailed report of the

conference was widely distributed.

(http://www.perusupportgroup.org.uk/files/fckUserFiles/file/ReportonthePSGannualconf.doc).

Parliamentary Event

The PSG co-organised with CAFOD an event that took place at the House of Lords on 7 July on the

occasion of the visit of human rights defender Jaime Borda, from Cusco-based human rights

organization ‘Derechos Humanos sin Fronteras’. The event was an important opportunity to raise many

of the concerns around the case, particularly around criminalization of human rights defenders. Jaime

Borda gave a powerful testimony of his detention and the criminal charges that he still faces. CAFOD and

PSG also took the opportunity to put forward recommendations for the UK review of the Business and

Human Rights action plan. From the FCO, John Fox was present and spoke on FCO plans in this regard.

Outreach In March 2016, the Vice-president of the PSG Rosemary Thorp, attended a seminar organised by the

Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, which

focused on the involvement of indigenous translators and interpreters in prior consultation processes.

She gave a talk on the historical and contemporary context around the indigenous communities and

how it affects negotiations with government and companies.

Press We continue to maintain good relations with journalists, particularly in the Guardian and BBC. Various

committee members have given briefings to journalists from other media. We also know of other

journalists reading the website/newsletter, particularly with regard to extractives where conflict has

been extensive and the absence of effective prior consultation has been evident. Interest among

journalists was galvanised during the last part of the year by the upcoming general election. We were

able to provide follow-up contacts to journalists.

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Visits and Visitors

Visitors to the UK Jaime Borda (Derechos Humanos sin Fronteras)

Francisco Durand (Professor of Political Science at the Catholic University of Peru)

Martin Scurrah (CEPES)

Koen Warmenbol (11 11 11)

Visits to Peru The PSG Coordinator’s main priority in her two-week trip to Peru was to test our analysis of the current

situation in Peru and ask our local partners what they thought could be our added value to their work.

We had an overwhelmingly positive response. The Coordinator held 19 meetings with human rights

organizations across the whole spectrum: Cooperacción, Red Muqui, women’s rights organization

Demus, Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos, Red Muqui, CEAS, AIDESEP, Oxfam, RedGe,

Propuesta Ciudadana, Instituto de Defensa Legal. All organizations were interested to speak to the

coordinator and they all shared the conviction that international pressure does matter and they are

keen to have their work championed outside. Overall, the impact of extractives and other mega

industries on indigenous communities and how to level the field between big corporations, the state

and the indigenous communities are the cross-cutting themes of most organizations.

During the visit to Peru we began to establish working relationships with key organizations and

individuals that are working closely on prior consultation and are accompanying indigenous

communities that are either involved in consultation processes or are demanding to be consulted on

projects affecting their livelihoods. These include: Cooperacción, IDL and Centro Amazónico de

Antropología y Aplicación Práctica (CAAAP). Many agreed that UK/EU pressure is vital for consultation to

be put forward as a human rights issue. Plans to see whether we could partner with these organizations

were discussed. These relationships have been reinforced during the second half of the financial year,

and we have begun to create more fluid channels of communication where the PSG also serves as a

conduit to raise awareness of certain cases/issues around consultation in the UK. This is the case

especially with CAAAP.

In addition, the Coordinator met with NGOs that continue to work on implementation of the

recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. These included Aprodeh, Demus and the

Coordinadora Nacional. During these meetings, we had preliminary/brief discussions on how to highlight

some of the more emblematic cases in the Courts right now. All parties committed to developing a more

dynamic relationship between us in which the PSG publicise key cases in timely fashion.

Other meetings included: Red Muqui, Cooperacción, Propuesta Ciudadana, IDL, CEAS, AIDESEP, Oxfam,

RedGe, and the EU Office.

The PSG is now serving as a conduit to disseminate briefings/reports of issues pertaining indigenous

rights and women’s rights. We have now a good working relationship with a number of organizations in

Peru that regularly send us relevant information that they deem important we should highlight. They

include: CAAAP, Aprodeh and Cooperacción. We continue to attempt to further/re-establish links with

other organizations, such as IDL and AIDESEP.

Various of the PSG Committee and other members have visited Peru during the year, particularly at the

time of the Presidential election, and have used their contacts and knowledge on behalf of the PSG.

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Publications and Resources

News and analysis through our Website and Newsletter Through our weekly updates, the PSG has been highlighting emblematic cases of shortcomings in the

‘prior consultation’ processes. Such is the case of the consultation around the exploration and oil

exploitation in the Amazonia in Block 192. We need thorough studies/analysis of the fulfilment (or lack

of) of Peru’s international obligations related to Convention 169.

The weekly updates continue to provide a good source of information for many on relevant IACHR

rulings and other initiatives. This is the case, for instance, of a hearing at the Inter-American Commission

that took place in Washington in April 2016, when the Commission considered the case of

Espinar/Tintaya complaints.

The editorial team of volunteers has been proactive and week by week has managed to capture and

discuss many relevant issues of the day, providing analysis that continues to be praised and well

received by many organizations and focussing on those issues of significance for the disadvantaged in

Peru. The PSG is also using the weekly updates to promote the work of many Peruvian human rights

organizations, including relevant reports from the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos and

Cooperacción. When the PSG coordinator visited Peru it was felt that as a minimum, one of the helpful

ways we could continue to support the work of Peruvian organizations was to highlight in English key

outputs on our website and social media pages. This is something that we are increasingly doing.

In particular, the PSG has continuously produced articles and analysis reports around the Presidential

elections. All of these have been reflected in the weekly newsletter, as practically every week the PSG

devoted a report on the subject. Ahead of the first round of elections, the PSG produced a ‘Special

Election Newsletter’ in March, which outlined the main candidates, the key campaigning issues,

reflected on the opinion polls and the voting intentions, and highlighted the political context.

Over the year, the team writing the Update has become more consolidated and there has been more

outreach in using contributions from others writing on Peruvian issues. The number of items included

each week has increased.

Social Media The numbers of social media ‘followers’ are increasing both in Peru and in Europe. The PSG has decided

to dedicate more resources to boosting its online presence.

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Organisation & Governance

Presidency Baroness Coussins has continued as our president and has given important support and impulse to the

organisation over the year, as is evident from this report. We saluted the passing of our previous much

loved and honoured president for 12 years, Lord Eric Avebury, who died on 14 February 2016.

Staff A new Coordinator, Ana Reyes-Hurt, was employed from May 2015 on a part-time basis (21 hours per

week). Jointly with the Management Committee, she is developing and shaping strategy, following

analysis and feedback from Peruvian partners.

Office The office in East London was finally closed in May and the PSG is now run from the home of the

Coordinator which has reduced expenditure significantly.

Management The PSG Committee meetings are being held regularly. In this period, we have had three face-to-face

meetings and many more Skype meetings that have worked nearly as well. The next strategy meeting is

due in the summer of 2016.

We have been refining our roles within the organising committee.

Our next priority is obtaining ‘legal personality’ in order to make sure that we are eligible for EU or other

sources of funding which require such a status

Funding Our main source of funds has been a series of annual grants from CAFOD. We have indications that this

will continue at approximately the £8k/yr level.

We have secured a useful one-year grant for FY2016/17 from Worth Abbey’s ‘Outreach Peru’ to

continue our work on prior consultation, and identify a ‘witness’ on the issue to participate in our

Annual Conference and other advocacy/parliamentary activities.

We have also secured a useful seven-month grant for use in FY2016/17 from Wainwright for a pilot

project to begin documenting the specific challenges and best practices in CSR and community

engagement in the extractives sector, which we hope will lead to a significant proposal to other

organizations for longer-term project to engage with companies, communities and the government to

promote a set of best-practice principals.

A project bidding for EU funding put forward by Cooperacción, with us as their partners (although not as

co-solicitors) in Europe, was not successful. However, it laid the groundwork for a more solid

relationship with them. Cooperacción and Aprodeh have become our partners for a specific project on

CSR and best practices in the extractives industry, that intends to engage with companies in a

constructive way in order to ultimately achieve a set of best CSR principles in the extractives sector.

10

Cooperacción and Aprodeh would be coordinating/leading this work in Peru, with regular

communication and oversight from us.

We are also continuing to explore other funding possibilities. We have identified contacts in the Ford

Foundation, the Sigrid Rausing Trust and CIES and are continuing to explore other foundations/trusts,

such as the Open Society.

We have sufficient funds to continue at our current rate of spend for about two years. The difficulty

with most funding is that it usually covers additional expenditure on T&S and other project costs, but

only marginally increases our income for our base activities in the UK.

Membership Membership did not increase in the first 6 months of the financial year. However, it did increase

marginally in the second half, mainly thanks to our approach in reaching out to former members and

encourage them to renew. We have been working hard in polishing our membership database and

keeping the data up-to-date. A volunteer has been involved in seeking ways to boost membership. We

are also exploring easier ways to encourage potential members to subscribe.

We are also identifying new ‘incentives’ to be a member, that go beyond providing support to the

organisation, as currently the ‘newsletter’ – originally sent to members only – is now received by

members and non-members alike.

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End of Year Accounts

The PSG is funded by grants from NGOs and trusts, members’ fees and other donations. Donors have

supported us through a programme agreed on a three-yearly basis with detailed annual plans, covering

activities such as: research, including visits to Peru by the Advocacy Officer; advocacy; publication of

news, analysis and reports; and events.

For the financial year ending March 2016, the PSG received a grant of £7,750 from CAFOD. Members of

the PSG are an important source of long-term support and many made significant additional donations.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all organisations and individuals who have supported us,

particularly those providing pro bono services.

The PSG’s financial year is from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016. The accounts for FY2015/16 given below

are, with a few exceptions that are explained in the notes, prepared on a cash basis, that is receipts and

expenditures are recognised when they occur.1 The accounts show the budget agreed at the beginning

of the year and the actual outcome at the end of the year. Notes are provided to explain significant

variances. An independent examiner’s report on the accounts for the year is attached.

The deficit for the year was £3,618.92. This deficit will be covered from reserves.

1 Thus for example a cheque from a donor might be received in January for work to be done January to July; this receipt

would be recognised in January. Expenses would each be recognised as they occur between January and July.

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Payments and Receipts FY2015/16

Payments

Budget Actual

Rent & Insurance 200 715.472

Salary & National Insurance 16,367 14,900.003

Volunteers 300 0.00

Travel 2,882 2,204.05

Phone & Fax, Email & Website 500 536.72

Postage & stationary 150 50.27

Printing & Copying 100 40.47

Resources 100 183.78

Events 500 1,214.424

Visitor expenses 400 0.005

TOTAL PAYMENTS 21,499 19,805.16

Receipts Budget Actual

Grants 18,750 13,750.006

Subscriptions 2,100 1,588.10

Donations 1,000 448.00

Events Income 343.61

Other 12.84

Interest 43.69

TOTAL RECEIPTS 21,850 16,186.24

GRAND TOTAL 351 -3,618.92

Balance Sheet FY2015/16

Petty Cash Santander

current

Santander

Deposit

Coop PayPal Assets7 Liabilities

and

deferred

income8

Total

01 Apr 15 188.20 4,556.37 13,108.39 19,596.09 0.00 0.00 -14,232.279 23,216.78

31 Mar 16 111.01 1,152.37 13,146.07 5,164.71 23.70 0.00 0.00 19,597.86

Difference -77.19 -3,404.00 37.68 14,431.38 23.70 0.00 14,232.27 -3,618.92

2 Office closed later than expected.

3 New Coordinator started one month later than expected.

4 Travel expenses for speakers at Annual Meeting not foreseen and only partially covered from event income.

5 Budget used for travel expenses of speakers at Annual Meeting – see footnote above.

6 Two grant bids were not accepted for funding.

7 Cheques or income received but not yet cashed by PSG. Also includes credit provisions.

8 Deferred income and liabilities also includes debit provisions.

9 We received grants of £13,750 for use in FY15/16 at the end of FY14/15. In order to make the payments/receipts

accounts give a fair picture of our in-year activity, we have made a provision effectively to transfer the payment to

FY15/16 which consequently appears as deferred income in the Balance Sheet. A provision has also been made for late

payments to HMRC in FY16/17 due in FY15/16. They appear as liabilities in the balance sheet.

13

Examiner’s Report