VOICE Network
2022 Annual Report

This annual report provides a justification of activities and expenditures over the calendar year 2022

Contents

Who we are ................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Activity Report ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Legal and Governance............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Annual Financial Statement ................................................................................................................................................. 9
Financial statements ..........................................................................................................................................................101

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Who we are
We are a global network of NGOs and trade unions working on sustainability in cocoa, tackling issues
such as poverty, deforestation, and child labour. Our key work is around advocacy and research,speaking truth to power in the global cocoa and chocolate industry.
Our Mission is to be a watchdog and catalyst for a reformed cocoa sector, addressing blind spots andunderrepresented issues in the value chain.
Our Vision is a sustainable cocoa sector, in which all stakeholders can earn a living income, under
decent working conditions, where human rights – and especially child rights – are respected, withina thriving and healthy environment.
Our Core Activities fall into three categories:- Informing and coordinating civil society working on sustainable cocoa.
- Ground-breaking research and publications on under-represented topics, and- Effective advocacy at global and regional level
Our Strategic Focus Areas are:- Living Income- Human Rights- Environmental Protection, and- Transparency & Accountability

Methodology
For this annual report, VOICE members submitted input, identifying core impacts of the network on
their work and on the broader developments of the cocoa sector. Direct quotes from this impact survey
can be found dispersed throughout this report, in the same formatting as this text box. Key learnings
that were harvested in this impact survey are also being reviewed as part of our own continuous
improvement model.

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Activity Report
An informed and coordinated civil society
Our first priority is to facilitate an informed and coordinated civil society working on sustainablecocoa. We do this by creating spaces where global civil society – including but not limited to ourmembers – are informed about current events in the cocoa sector, are aware of each other’s activities,
and through this can increase their effectiveness, synergies, and alignment.
For our members
Members of the VOICE network receive a wide range of communication around the latest
developments in the cocoa sector. The members’ mailing list is a dynamic and diverse source of
information around member activities, developments in the sector, discussions on key developments,and much more. Our members receive quarterly briefing documents on key developments in thecocoa sector, and the network hosts host monthly calls that are open for all members. As we are a
global network, these calls are staggered throughout time zones and days of the week to ensure that
all members are able to attend at least some of our calls.
“The VOICE mailing group is a very valuable source of information to be informed about what’s
happening in the sector, typically with very timely and good quality info.”“Understanding what other members are working on helps me prioritise my campaigning goals andstructure content, e.g. around living income as the main topic different orgs are pushing on right now.”“Having the opportunity to share my own initiatives on the mailing list and members calls has helpedme drum up support from other orgs.”

Southern voices
A key focus in 2022 was to strengthen the voice of the global south, both within our network as well
as at a global stage. A significant amount of southern organisations became member of the network
in 2022. In order to reduce the threshold of participation for our members, we have become a fullybilingual organisation, ensuring all internal communication and meetings are translated from French
to English and vice versa.
“It is good to have members from producing countries on board to challenge our assumptions are
NGOs from consuming countries.”“We now get more exposure to southern perspectives more easily, and we’ve been able to connect
directly with some people for further collaboration.”“The entry of organizations from African countries promotes better coordination of activities between
African organizations and also their organizational capacity building.”“Already the fact that the meetings are translated simultaneously is a very good point. This allows thesharing of information and its relay in real time with the members of organizations based in Africa byallowing them to follow the international dynamics.”

ISCO CSO Platform
In 2022, we started hosting a separate network of European CSOs involved in the various
national platforms on sustainable cocoa, or ISCOs. This project, largely funded by GIZ and IDH
Sustainable Trade Initiative, is aimed at ensuring an informed and aligned presence of the civilsociety actors in these national platforms. Membership of the ISCO CSO platform is based onmembership of the national ISCO platforms and as such is not linked to VOICE membership.
The role of VOICE is to provide the back office for this CSO platform, as well as to be one of themany participants in the network.

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Workshops and meetings
Beyond our own membership, we regularly host workshops and meetings bringing farmer-basedorganisations and civil society from the global north and south together. We also facilitate discussions
on relevant topics when and where needed. Furthermore, strategic partnerships have been
established with a variety of CSO coalitions throughout West Africa, Europe, and the United States.
Latin America, as a major cocoa region, is an area where we still need to strengthen our partnerships.
“The level of organization of the CSO space in cocoa is a best-in-class example compared to othersectors. This success is to a very large extend due to the VOICE network, uniting a wide range of CSOs
which are quite diverse and unique but have one strong voice in advocacy.”

Continuous improvement for 2023
We are in the process of hiring a new staff member, part of whose remit will be to strengtheninternal communications and relationship management. This will likely include more frequent
sector updates for our members, more frequent direct engagement with individual members,
as well as more frequent internal learning webinars on topical subjects, often based on our
research papers.
We will also continue to work on our decolonisation process, strengthening the voice of oursouthern members and allies, and ensuring that our internal structures reflect the realities of
the global cocoa sector, with both membership and governance proactively finding astrengthened voice for the global south.

Ground-breaking publications and research
Our second Core Activity is to provide ground-breaking research on under-represented topics.
Information is one of the most effective tools for improvement. A public and informed debate on themost pressing issues is essential.

Cocoa Barometer
In December of 2022 we released the latest version of the Cocoa Barometer, a ‘state of sustainability’
overview of the cocoa sector that we (and our predecessor the Tropical Commodity Coalition) havebeen publishing since 2008, outlining current sustainability issues, future challenges, and identifying
recommendations and calls to action.
PurposeThe Barometer is an agenda setting publication which aims to be ahead of the major sustainability
conversations, indicating the next fields of improvement necessary. Internally, the Barometer is acommon reference with facts and figures for the members of the Barometer Consortium, ensuring aconsistency and continuity within Civil Society actors, and enabling everyone to use the same data
and the same recommendations. The bottom-up process with which the Barometer is developed is a
key tool for alignment of VOICE members on identifying joint priorities and recommendations.
“As we sometimes consult business cases of chocolate companies, the implication and explanation on
the points where attention should be paid to in designing an intervention programme are helpful for
our work.““The Cocoa Barometer has definitely helped in shaping the agenda and pushing the ball on these
difficult topics.”

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Development
At the start of the development of the 2022 Cocoa Barometer, consultation workshops were held in
Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where in each country circa 50 representatives of local civil society andfarmer-based organisations provided the key building blocks for the content of the publication. In thenext phases, several drafts of the document were shared with all the members of the Barometer
Consortium – consisting of members of the VOICE network as well as several partner organisations
from the global south – creating a bottom-up approach to content development. Though this process
takes longer than simply hiring a consultant to write the document, it creates a much stronger, wider,and more inclusively argued set of priorities. It also helps all the members to better understand thevarious interrelated challenges facing the cocoa sector.
“Through the process of compiling the Barometer, we could deepen our understanding of the whole
picture of the issues of cacao, as we normally focus on child labour issue.”

Consultation papers
Three consultation papers were developed in the course of the year, allowing for in-depth analysesof key topics, in collaboration with content-specific expert contribution organisations.
The Latin America Baseline Barometer provided an overview of the key developments in the Latin
American cocoa and chocolate sectors. The second largest cocoa producing region in the world isoften overlooked in the discussions within the sector – a gap that previous Barometers have also been
partial to – and as such it was high time for a proper dive into the origin continent of the cocoa tree.
After a bottom-up development process, bringing in a range of Latin American civil society
organisations from across the continent, the Latin America Baseline Cocoa Barometer was releasedin September 2022, in both English and Spanish.
The Transparency and Accountability Consultation Paper was released in October 2022. Transparency
and accountability are essential to make sustainability efforts both credible and effective. They also
provide a level playing field for all supply chain actors, enable improved market access, and help
increase farmer income. However, there’s a lot of confusion about them. This paper was developedwith several expert organisations in this field (EFI, UCLouvain/Trase, IIASA, the Hamburger Stiftung
für Wirtschaftsethik, and Fairfood).
The Living Income Compendium is an attempt to bring facts to the conversation around living income
as well as debunking stubborn myths (and lazy excuses). Though there is a real place for Good
Agricultural Practices in achieving a living income, this is only feasible if the enabling environment ofGood Governance and Purchasing Practices are in place. In that light, the cocoa sector has been
attempting to solve the issue of farmer poverty in exactly the wrong order; after two decades offocusing on agricultural practices, it is time to address the enabling environment first. The Living
Income Compendium was released in September 2022 in both English and French.
“We have found these publications to be useful in deepening our understanding of these complex
topics. The shorter position papers released between Cocoa Barometers are really great to signal tocompanies and other orgs as deep dives on particular topics. Our online audience is unlikely to readany of these reports, but we use them to frame and inform our content to raise awareness of the key
issues.”Publication
All of the Cocoa Barometers, Consultation Papers, as well as supporting documents, can be
downloaded at www.cocoabarometer.org.
Continuous improvement for 2023
We will improve our online presence by professionalising our website. We are also going towork on creating more low-threshold visualisations of our publications, so that the content
becomes more accessible for all interested parties, including consumers and laypersons.

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AdvocacyWith an informed and aligned civil society, it logically follows that a third key part of VOICE’s
activity is to engage in joint advocacy: raising the voice and concerns of the underprivileged
and addressing blind spots and underrepresented issues in the value chain.
It is precious for us the secretariat of the VOICE network acts as contact point and has built a trustfulrelationship with the EU committee, the governments, and the private sector to conduct advocacy

European Union
VOICE has been the key civil society representative in the global Cocoa Talks dialogue, hosted by theEuropean Commission, providing panellists and speakers for these high-profile events, as well as
being part of the consultations to the Commission surrounding these talks. Additionally, we haveactively engaged in bilateral engagement with European governmental actors, including many DGs
within the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Global advocacy
VOICE acts as the key civil society representative in the International Cocoa Organisation’s
Consultative Board, advocating on strategic issues such as deforestation and living income. We arealso in regular engagement with the Department of Labor of the United States, and in increasing
dialogue with government officials of cocoa producing nations, particularly towards the Côte d’Ivoire
and Ghana Cocoa Initative (CIGHCI), the transnational collaboration between Ghana and Côte
d’Ivoire.
Multistakeholder engagements
We are part of the Steering Committee of the Alliance for a Living Income in Cocoa, providing
leadership and helping to develop and drive the strategy of this sector-wide multi-stakeholder
collaboration to drive Living Income in the cocoa sector, as well as member of the Advisory Board for
the Living Income Community of Practice, providing input and advice on general strategies of thiscross-commodity multi-stakeholder platform. VOICE was also part of working groups developing
handbooks for the OECD on due diligence on Child Labour as well as on Living Income.
Bilateral engagement
In addition, VOICE is in continuous bilateral dialogue with almost all the major global chocolate
industry players; umbrella organisations (such as the World Cocoa Foundation, the International
Cocoa Organisation and the International Cocoa Initiative), chocolate manufacturers (including the‘Big Six’ Nestlé, Mars, Mondelez, Ferrero, Hershey and Lindt), traders and grinders (including the ‘Big
Three’ Barry Callebaut, Olam and Cargill), as well as voluntary sustainability standards (including
providing input to the standards and trading practices of Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance).
Cocoa Coalition
VOICE has played an active role in forming the “Cocoa Coalition", an increasingly influential informal
working group where cocoa and chocolate companies work together with civil society andsustainability standards, calling on the European Union to develop and implement mandatory Human
Rights and Environmental Due Diligence regulations.
Many companies in the cocoa sector were convinced at an early stage that legislation is necessary. This
played a role to counterbalance umbrella organisations of other sectors who opposed legislation. It
showed politicians that there is at least part of an industry in favour of human rights regulation.

Driving force in the cocoa dialogue
After more than ten years of activity in the cocoa sector, VOICE’s agenda and profile have never been
as strong as in 2022. However, despite all the work in the first ten years of the network, cocoa farmers
are still desperately poor, their children are still far too often in child labour, and old-growth
rainforests are still being cut down to grow cocoa instead. Structural change is as necessary as ever.
Without VOICE, we would not have an industrywide discussion about living income. As anorganisation, the use of these discussions in the cocoa sector was an example for other sectors.

Continuous improvement for 2023
We will strive to increase the presence and visibility of representatives of southern voice,rather than putting the secretariat or European and American voices centre stage.

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Legal and Governance
Incorporation of association
The VOICE Network is an association with full legal capacity. It has been established by notarial
deed dated 27 August 2015, by notary C.G. Zijerveld. The association is registered with the
Chamber of Commerce under number 64003833.
Statutory regulations concerning the appropriation of the results
According to article 13, paragraph 2 of the articles of association, the annual statements are
determined by the general meeting. By taking a board decision in a board meeting such asrecorded in article 12 paragraph 3 of the articles of association, the allocation of the result isdetermined.
Tax duties
We are registered with the Dutch tax authority as a tax-exempt charity (ANBI) and are not liable forturnover and corporation tax.
Members
Our highest body is our Members Assembly, which met twice in 2022, once virtually and once inperson in October 2022. Our membership in 2022 comprised of ABVV-FGTB/Horval (Belgium),
Action against Child Exploitation (ACE) (Japan), Be Slavery Free (Australia/The Netherlands), Fern
(Belgium), Green America (United States), Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum(USA), Inkota Netzwerk (Berlin, Germany), Mighty Earth (United States) Oxfam America (UnitedStates), Oxfam Belgium (Belgium), Oxfam Ghana (Ghana), Rikolto (Belgium), Solidaridad(Netherlands), Südwind Institut (Germany), Tropenbos International (Netherlands) and WWF
France. Freedom United (USA), Ecocare Ghana (Ghana), IDEF - L’association Initiatives pour leDéveloppement communautaire et la conservation de la Forêt (Ivory Coast), ROSCIDET - Le Réseau
des Organisations de la Société Civile pour le Développement du Tonpki (Ivory Coast) and Tropenbos
Ghana (Ghana) joined during 2022 as applicant members.
EFFAT (the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism trade unions), Public Eye(Switzerland), and Fair World Project (USA) are official Observers to the network.
Growth in 2022
During 2022, we saw our membership grow with ACE Japan, Tropenbos International, andWWF France joining as a full legal member, and Freedom United joining as a new applicant
member.
We also officially opened our membership to applicants from cocoa producing countries - with
Ecocare Ghana, IDEF (Ivory Coast), ROSCIDET (Ivory Coast) and Tropenbos Ghana joining the
network as applicant members.
Board
At the moment of publication of this Annual Report, the Board consists of:Julia Christian (Fern) – chair
Bart van Besien (Oxfam Belgium) – secretary
Kris Goosenaerts – (not affiliated with a member organisation) treasurer
Abdulahi Aliyuh (Rikolto) – board member
The Members of the Association elect a board. Board members are not paid for their board duties.
During 2022 board members Bart van Besien (Oxfam Belgium), Julia Christian (Fern) and Kris
Goossenaerts continued in their positions providing crucial support to the Network, and Abdulahi
Aliyuh (Rikolto) joined the board as approved by the members during the General Assembly in
October 2022.

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Staff
The staff are accountable to the Board. At the end of 2022, the staff counted two paid employees,
Antonie Fountain (Managing Director), contracted for 36 hours per week, Anneleen Vos(Coordinator), contracted for 7.6 hours per week.
Consultants
The VOICE network also hired two regular consultants to support in administration, as well as to run
a CSO platform for the various national ISCOs, for which the VOICE Network provided the back office.

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Financial Statements
This chapter outlines the finances of the VOICE Network over the fiscal year 2022.
Sources of Income and Expenses
The core funding of the Network is threefold: financial contributions by members, dedicated funding
for projects, and grants or donations from third parties. The coordination work of the Network isprovided through financial contributions by its members. In 2022, the Network more than doubled
its income compared to 2021, due to funding coming in for specific projects such as the publicationof the new Cocoa Barometer 2022, consultation workshops in Ghana and Ivory Coast to inform the
Cocoa Barometer and the CSO alignment platform for the Initiatives for Sustainable Cocoa (ISCOs) for
which VOICE assumed the Secretariat. Projects were funded by increased contributions frommembers, as well as by funding from NGOs, foundations, and institutional donors.
A large part of our advocacy work in 2022 continued to be covered by an unrestricted grant of€51,400 by the Chocolonely Foundation.
Please note that many of our members contribute in-kind through human resources, legal and/or
technical expertise, media outreach and engagement, organisation of workshops etc. which are justas crucial to advance our cause. An exercise to ‘monetise’ this is virtually impossible, but we would
not be where we are today without their support.
The VOICE Network does not accept funding or contributions from companies, whom it is our mission
to critically follow.
In 2022, expenditures were in line with the budget, with lower consultancy costs (regular staff
assumed more work on the Cocoa Barometer which resulted in less costs for consultancy work) andslightly lower intercontinental travel costs, but higher translation and interpretation costs given
VOICE’s expansion to French speaking members. There were also higher conference costs with morein person conferences being organised than planned. The income for 2022 was in line with the budget
noting that € 11.458 is deferred income related to the ISCO project to be spend in 2023 . This resulted
in a final result of € 15,833,Risk management
There are three categories of risk that VOICE must manage: reputational risk, governance risk andfinancial risk.
---

The VOICE Network is at the forefront of discussions in the cocoa sector. This brings the risk ofpublications that might be incorrect or incomplete. To this end we use several principles whenreleasing publications.
- All data that our publications are based on are made publicly available where legally possible.
- Caveats are always made when dealing with insufficient or incomplete data.
- The Network is always willing to adjust positions based on better or more factual data.
- Publications are released with consensus of VOICE members, ensuring all members have had
the opportunity to provide input in any publication.
- Positions held by Voice staff must be in line with Voice publications.
For risk management on governance and operations, we have internal communication andtransparency.
- The staff provides monthly updates on activities to the members.
- The board has full access to online financial systems.
- Payments above €1,000 are subject to board approval.
- Reimbursements to staff must always be approved by second party - board or staff member.
For financial risk management, the Network works to maintain.
- financial reserves sufficient to provide a buffer in times of less financial income,- diverse income streams,- a wide member base to spread the risk of individual members' contribution reductions.

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Accountability
For full transparency, the VOICE bookkeeping is fully digitalised and accessible to its members
at all times.
An internal audit committee consisting of members of the VOICE Network performs an annual
audit on the bookkeeping. The internal audit committee have approved the 2022 books.
The financial administration of the VOICE Network is performed by Van Tiggelen Financiële
Administratieve Dienstverlening, an accredited accountancy and administration firm based in
Leusden, the Netherlands.
A full audit was performed by CROP registeraccountants, an accredited audit firm based in Ede,
the Netherlands.
Forecast 2023 budget and activities
The Voice network is projecting 301k EUR for operational costs in 2023. This is slightly higher thanthe expenditures for 2022, as we have plans to hire a new consultant for supporting VOICE withmember communication and advocacy, we foresee increasing travel costs and we will implement anadditional project to evaluate the possibility of setting up a network similar to VOICE in the coffee
sector. We will continue our activities as the Secretariat of a CSO alignment platform across thevarious national initiatives for sustainable cocoa (ISCOs).
We are projecting our income for 2023 to be in line with 2022. We are projecting a lower income for
Cocoa Barometer related expenses as the next one will be published only in 2024, but we will have ahigher income given funding we have secured from GIZ for an initial scoping project in the coffee
sector. To note, much of our core funding has been secured through a 3-year unrestricted grant fromthe Chocolonely Foundation for €51,400 per year, a 5-year agreement with Solidaridad who
confirmed to pay €20,000 membership contribution per annum, and a 5-year agreement with Oxfam
Wereldwinkels who confirmed to pay €10,000 membership contribution per annum.
We will continue our core activities during 2023 and follow the agreed 5-year strategy where we
continue to focus on living income, human rights, environmental protection, and transparency &accountability in the cocoa sector.
This report was published on April 17, 2023
Signed:Vereniging Voice Network
J.A. Christian

B.R.E.K. van Besien

K.J. Goossenaerts

A.Aliyu

Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer

MemberContact- Antonie Fountain: antonie@voicenetwork.cc- Anneleen Vos: anneleen@voicenetwork.cc- Julia Christian, Chair of the Board: julia@fern.org

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10Balance sheet as at 31 December 2022
(After proposal appropriation result)31.12.2022€€

31.12.2021€€

AssetsCurrent assets
Receivables
Debtors
Other receivables, prepayments andaccrued income

Cash and cash equivalents

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1

0

1.000

2.016

1.920

2

3

2.016

2.920

135.11387.569137.12990.48911

31.12.2022€€

31.12.2021€€

Liabilities
Association capital
Current liabilities, accruals anddeferred income
Trade payables
Payables relating to taxes andsocial security contributions
Other liabilities and accrued
expenseswww.voicenetwork.cc

82.422

4

66.589514.373

1.167

6

4.013

2.390

7

36.321

20.34354.70723.900137.12990.48912

Statement of activities for the year 2022
Budget
2022
€

2022
€

2021
€

137.274
61.74851.514152.853
57.33251.400055.23851.483250.536

261.585106.72179.60320.28222.01648.39147.79483.22532.47824.01155.89457.8503.787
18.477055.1490

218.086

252.708

77.413

16.61712.04011.137

Total expenses

234.703265.498

88.550

Balance of income and expenses

15.833(3.913)18.171

Income8

Income from project benefits
Income from contributions
Income from donations
Expenses spend on the objective
Barometer
Coordination and network building
Consultation of southern partners
Advocacy
ISCO Coordination
Total of sum of expenses spend on theobjective
General expenses

9
10
11
12
13

14

Appropriation of result
General reservewww.voicenetwork.cc

15.83318.17113

Notes to the financial statements
Entity information
General notes
The most important activities of the entity
The activities of Vereniging Voice Network consist mainly of promoting the sustainability in the
global cocoa sector.
The association tries to achieve this goal by:-bringing stakeholders together to create a national infrastructure to facilitate changes;
exchanging international knowledge and experience;
joint lobbying activities towards companies and organizations;joint campaign activities to create awareness; andraising the voice of southern NGOs and cocoa producing organizations.

The association has no profit motive.
Mission Statement
The VOICE Network is a global network of NGOs and Trade Unions working on sustainability incocoa, tackling issues such as poverty, deforestation and child labour. Our key work is aroundadvocacy and research, speaking truth to power in the global cocoa and chocolate industry.
Our Mission is to be a watchdog and catalyst for a reformed cocoa sector, addressing blind spots
and underrepresented issues in the value chain.
Our Vision is a sustainable cocoa sector, in which all stakeholders can earn a living income, under
decent working conditions, where human rights – and especially child rights – are respected, withina thriving and healthy environment.
The location of the actual activities
The registered address of Vereniging Voice Network is Amsterdam and is registered at the traderegister under number 64003833.
The actual address of Vereniging Voice Network is Prins Bernhardlaan 39, 6713 MA in Ede.

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General accounting principles
The accounting standards used to prepare the financial statements
The financial statement is drawn up in accordance with the provisions of Title 9, Book 2 of the
Dutch Civil Code, Guideline 650 Fund-raising institutions as issued by and the firm
pronouncements in the Dutch Accounting Standards, as published by the Dutch AccountingStandards Board ('Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving').
Assets and liabilities are generally valued at historical cost, production cost or at fair value atthe time of acquisition. If no specific valuation principle has been stated, valuation is at
historical cost.
Financial instruments
Financial instruments include both primary financial instruments, such as receivables anddebts, as financial derivatives.
For the accounting policies of primary financial instruments, reference is made to thetreatment by balance sheet item.
Comparative figures
The comparative figures published in this report are derived from the report as prepared on 24
May 2022.
The comparative figures for the previous financial year are, where necessary, only in terms ofclassification adjusted for comparison purposes.

Accounting principles
Receivables
Receivables are initially valued at the fair value of the consideration to be received. Receivables
are subsequently valued at the amortised cost price. If there is no premium or discount andthere are no transaction costs, the amortised cost price equals the nominal value of theaccounts receivable. If payment of the receivable is postponed under an extended payment
deadline, fair value is measured on the basis of the discounted value of the expected revenues.
Interest gains are recognised using the effective interest method. Provisions for bad debts are
deducted from the carrying amount of the receivable.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash at banks and in hand represent cash in hand, bank balances and deposits with terms ofless than twelve months. Overdrafts at banks are recognised as part of debts to lending
institutions under current liabilities. Cash at banks and in hand is valued at nominal value.
General reserve
The general reserve aims to correct any deficits to be able to supplement activities if at any
time the expenses exceed the benefits.
Current liabilities
On initial recognition current liabilities are recognised at fair value. After initial recognition
current liabilities are recognised at the amortised cost price, being the amount received taking
into account premiums or discounts and minus transaction costs. This is usually the nominal
value.
Accounting principles for determining the result
The result is determined as the difference between the total of the benefits and the total of theexpenses. The income is recognized in the year in which it is realized; charges as soon as they
are foreseeable. Income received in the form of business or services valued at fair value, insofar
as it can be determined. In that case, such income in the statement of income and expenses.
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Income for which a special purpose has been designated will be shown in the statement ofincome and expenditure processed; if these benefits were not fully spent in the year underreview, the benefits are not yet paid funds spent processed in the appropriated reserve or
appropriated fund. A withdrawal from the appropriated reserve or appropriated fund isconsidered as spending (expense) recognized in the statement of income and expenses.
Provided subsidies and gifts
Benefits are understood to mean those promised from third parties and pledged for the year
under review grants, gifts and income from activities intended for financing activities and theown organization.
Expenses
The expenses include the costs directly attributable to actions, as well as the implementation
costs of the own organization. The costs are allocated to the year on which they relate.
Financial income and expenses
Interest income and interest expense are recognized in proportion to time, taking into accountthe effective ones interest rate of the relevant assets and liabilities. When processing theinterest charges taking into account the responsible transaction costs on the loans received.

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16Notes to the balance sheet
31-12-2022

31-12-2021

1 Debtors€€

Debtors0

1.000

31-12-2022

31-12-2021

€

€

2.016
0

331
1.589

2.016

1.920

31-12-2022

31-12-2021€€

133.1241.989
085.830833
1.906

135.11387.5692 Other receivables, prepayments and accrued income
Amounts still to be received
Accruals

The other receivables and accruals have a term of less than one year

3 Cash and cash equivalents
Triodos Bank, current account
PayPalCreditcard

The cash and cash equivalents are at the free disposal of the association.

4 Association capital
Movements in association capital were as follows:

Generalreserve€
66.58915.833

Balance as at 1 January 2022
Appropriation of result 2022
Balance as at 31 December 2022

82.422

Appropriation of the result 2022:
The Board proposes to add € 15.833 to the General reserve.
Adoption of the annual accounts
The Annual General Meeting had adopted the 2021 financial statements on 20 May, 2023. The
net result after taxation for the year ending 31 December 2021 was € 18.171.

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5 Trade payables
Accounts payable

6 Payables relating to taxes and social security contributions
Wage tax and social securities

7 Other liabilities and accrued expenses
Deferred income
Contribution received in advance
Audit and consultancy costs
Holiday pay obligation
Accrued liabilities
Net Salary

31-12-2022

31-12-2021€€

14.373

1.167

31-12-2022

31-12-2021

€

€

4.013

2.390

31-12-2022

31-12-2021€€

11.54812.565
7.472
2.862
1.874
0

0
12.664
7.170
0
157
352

36.321

20.343The other debts and accrued liabilities have a term of less than one year.

www.voicenetwork.cc

18

Notes to the statement of activities
Budget
2022
€

2022
€

2021
€

137.274
61.74851.514152.853
57.332139.028055.23851.438250.536

261.585106.721

8 Income
Income from project benefits
Income from contributions
Income from donations

Income from donations
The Chocolonely Foundation's donation for a total of 51.400€ comes from a foundation with anindependent board that is not accountable to a company, including its main funder Tony’s
Chocolonely. Moreover, the donation is completely unrestricted – there are no conditions for thisfunding in addition to the obligation to publish an annual report and an annual audit – and it does
not prevent the network from critically monitoring the company’s actions.
2022€

Income from project benefits
Barometer
ISCO projectConsultation southern partners
US advocacy – Climate Advisers

77.23438.32819.782
1.930
137.274

2022€

Barometer
25.00015.00012.000
7.000
6.416
5.000
5.000
1.360
458

Solidaridad
WWF France
Oxfam Novib
Public Eye
Oxfam USOxfam Belgium
Tropenbos
Mighty Earth
Green America

77.234www.voicenetwork.cc

19

2022
€

ISCO project
25.000
3.000
2.453
5.875
1.000
1.000

IDH
Fairtrade Germany/Belgium/France
Rainforest Alliance
GIZ
Trias
Bos +

38.3282022€

Consultation southern partners
17.7822.000

Oxfam Novib
Fern

19.782

Budget
2022
€

2022
€

2021
€

69.301
16.066
3.150

57.06514.346
3.150

56.96014.7223.150

88.51774.56174.832

Expenses of employee benefits
Wages and salaries
Social security charges and pensions cost
Other expenses of employee benefits

Remuneration of supervisory board
No loans, advances or guarantees have been granted to the directors, nor have they received any
remuneration for the work they perform.
Average number of employees
2022
NumberAverage number of employees

1,20

2021
NumberAverage number of employees

www.voicenetwork.cc

1,00

20

2022
€

Budget
2022
€

2021
€

9.695
3.672
2.699

8.214
3.672
2.459

8.626
3.672
2.424

16.06614.34514.7222022€

Budget
2022
€

2021
€

2.254
416
480

2.254
416
480

2.254
416
480

3.150

3.150

2.790

Social security charges and pensions costSocial security charges
Pension charges
Social security charges Belgium

Other expenses of employee benefits
Commuting expenses
Other allowances
Other allowances Belgium

All personnel cost are allocated to the projects.

Budget
2022
€

2022
€

2021
€

25.857
14.690
9.305
8.782
7.205
6.955
6.564
245
0
0

22.11426.00010.000
5.961
2.500
6.500
7.000
900
2.250
0

2.586
0
0
0
0
0
1.219
0
0
0

79.60383.225

3.787

9 Barometer
Salary costs
Consultant research (Barometer)
Website costs
Translation costs
Conference cost
Consultant Latin American Barometer
Design and publication costs
Travel expenses
Consultant copy edit
Meeting costswww.voicenetwork.cc

21

Budget
2022
€

2022
€

2021
€

17.205
1.600
947
148
200
96
86
0

23.628
5.000
0
100
600
2.000
400
750

18.223
0
0
46
157
0
51
0

20.28232.47818.4772022

Budget
2022

2021

€

€

€

Subgrants consultation Ghana and Ivory
Salary costs

17.08317.083

0

2.942

4.937

0

Travel expenses for personnel
Office cost

1.966

1.966

0

25

25

0

22.01624.011

0

10 Coordination and network building
Salary costs
Consultant - financeTranslation costs
Meeting costs
Website costs
Travel expenses for personnel
Teambuilding
Staff training

11 Consultation of southern partners

Budget
2022
€

2022
€

2021
€

34.183
6.007
5.379
2.810
12
0

43.244
600
8.500
1.950
1.000
600

54.003
0
1.100
0
46
0

48.39155.89455.14912 Advocacy
Salary costs
Conference cost
Travel expenses for personnel
Translation costs
Meeting costs
Design and distribution reports

www.voicenetwork.cc

22

Budget
2022
€

2022
€

2021
€

33.193
8.330
4.129
1.817
325

40.800
5.926
5.200
2.984
2.940

0
0
0
0
0

47.79457.85002022

Budget
2022

2021

€

€

€

5.143
4.094
2.040
5.339

5.143
2.897
2.000
2.000

5.143
3.051
1.505
1.438

16.61612.04011.137

13 ISCO Coordination
Consultant
Salary costs
Conference cost
Travel expenses for personnel
Office costs.

14 General expenses
Auditor's fees - audit of the financial statements
Accounting costs
Insurance premium
Other general expenses

Based on the aforementioned specifications, the following percentages may apply becalculated:
Spending rate of expenditure: Total expenditure on the objective / total expenses
Spending rate of benefits: Total expenditure on the objective / total benefits
Realised

Budget

2022
%

2022

Spending rate of expenditure

92.92

95,45

87,42

Spending rate of benefits

87.05

96,60

72,54

www.voicenetwork.cc

Realised
%

23

2021
%

Other information
Statutory regulations concerning the appropriation of the result
According to article 13, paragraph 2 of the articles of association, the annual statements are
determined by the general meeting. By taking a board decision in a board meeting such asrecorded in article 12 paragraph 3 of the articles of association, the allocation of the result isdetermined.
Signing of the annual statement
Ede, 17 April 2023
Vereniging Voice Network
J.A. Christian

B.R.E.K. van Besien

K.J. Goossenaerts

A. Aliyu

Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer

Member

www.voicenetwork.cc

24

chartered accountants
CROP registeraccountants

Mr. E.N. van Kleffensstraat 46842 CV Arnhem
The Netherlands
Postal address P.O. Box 1210
6801 BE Arnhem
The Netherlands
Address

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT
To: the General Assembly of members of VOICE Network registered at Amsterdam
A. Report on the audit of the financial statements 2022 included in the annual report
Our opinion
We were engaged to audit the accompanying financial statements 2022 of VOICE Network,
based inAmsterdam.
In our opinion the accompanying financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial
position of VOICE Network as at December 31, 2022 and of its result for 2022 in accordancewith Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code and Dutch Accounting Standard 650
Fundraising institutions.
The financial statements comprise:
1. the balance sheet as at December 31, 2022;
2. the statement of activities for the year 2022; and3. the notes to the financial statements comprising a summary of the accounting policies andother explanatory information.
Basis for our opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with Dutch law, including the Dutch Standards on
Auditing. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the 'Our
responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements' section of our report.
We are independent of VOICE Network in accordance with the ‘Verordening inzake deonafhankelijkheid van accountants bij assurance-opdrachten’ (ViO, Code of Ethics forProfessional Accountants, a regulation with respect to independence) and other relevant
independence regulations in the Netherlands. Furthermore we have complied with the‘Verordening gedrags- en beroepsregels accountants’ (VGBA, Dutch Code of Ethics).
We believe the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide abasis for our opinion.
B. Report on the other information included in the annual report
In addition to the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon, the annual reportcontains other information that consists of:- Management Board's report;- Other information as required by Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Based on the following procedures performed, we conclude that the other information:- is consistent with the financial statements and does not contain material misstatements;- contains the information as required by Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.

CC
VAT
IBAN

32166733
NL 0095.68.530.B01
NL34 ABNA 0548 3649 07

TE+31 (0)26 351 02 28
arnhem@crop.nl

Amersfoort

ArnhemEde

Hoofddorp

Utrecht

CROP.NLchartered accountants

We were engaged to read the other information and, based on our knowledge andunderstanding to be obtained through our audit of the financial statements or otherwise, toconsider whether the other information contains material misstatements.
By performing these procedures, we comply with the requirements of Part 9 of Book 2 of the
Dutch Civil Code and the Dutch Standard 720. The scope of the procedures performed issubstantially less than the scope of those performed in our audit of the financial statements.
Management is responsible for the preparation of the Management Board's report inaccordance with Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code and other information as required
by Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.
C. Description of responsibilities regarding the financial statements
Responsibilities of management for the financial statements
Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial
statements inaccordance with Part 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code and Dutch Accounting Standard
650 Fund-raising institutions. Furthermore, management is responsible for such internal
control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial
statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
As part of the preparation of the financial statements, management is responsible forassessing theassociation's ability to continue as a going concern. Based on the financial reporting
framework mentioned, management should prepare the financial statements using the going
concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the association or
to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
Management should disclose events and circumstances that may cast significant doubt on
the association's ability to continue as a going concern in the financial statements.
Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
Our audit has been performed with a high, but not absolute, level of assurance, which means
we may not detect all material errors and fraud during our audit.
Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in
the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions ofusers taken on the basis of these financial statements. The materiality affects the nature,timing and extent of our audit procedures and the evaluation of the effect of identified
misstatements on our opinion.
We have exercised professional judgement and have maintained professional skepticism
throughout the audit, in accordance with Dutch Standards on Auditing, ethical requirements
and independence requirements.

chartered accountants

Our audit included among others:
Identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement of the financial
statements, whether due to fraud or error, designing and performing audit procedures
responsive to those risks, and obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient andappropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material
misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud
may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or theoverride of internal control;- Obtaining an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design
audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of
expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the company's internal control;- Evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonablenessof accounting estimates and related disclosures made by management;- Concluding on the appropriateness of management's use of the going concern basisof accounting, and based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material
uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on
the company's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material
uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to therelated disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate,
to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up
to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause acompany to cease to continue as a going concern;- Evaluating the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements,
including the disclosures; and- Evaluating whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions
and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, theplanned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant
findings in internal control that we identify during our audit.
Arnhem, April 17, 2023
CROP registeraccountants

P. van Roemburg MSc. RA