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 .........................................................................................................................151
www.voicenetwork.cc

1

Who we are
We are a global network of NGOs and trade unions working on sustainability in cocoa, tacklingissues such as poverty, deforestation, and child labour. Our key work is around advocacy andresearch, 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 – arerespected, within a 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 networkon 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 ofour own continuous improvement model.
www.voicenetwork.cc

2

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 toour members – 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 sourceof 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 the cocoa 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 anddays 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
and structure content, e.g. around living income as the main topic different orgs are pushing onright now.”“Having the opportunity to share my own initiatives on the mailing list and members calls hashelped me 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 ofthe network in 2022. In order to reduce the threshold of participation for our members, wehave become a fully bilingual 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 toconnect 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 the sharing of information and its relay in real time with the members of organizations
based in Africa by allowing 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 civil society actors in these national platforms. Membership of the ISCOCSO platform is based on membership of the national ISCO platforms and as such is not
www.voicenetwork.cc

3

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 the many participants in the network.

www.voicenetwork.cc

4

Workshops and meetings
Beyond our own membership, we regularly host workshops and meetings bringing farmerbased organisations 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 stillneed to strengthen our partnerships.
“The level of organization of the CSO space in cocoa is a best-in-class example compared toother sectors. 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 tostrengthen internal communications and relationship management. This will likely include
more frequent sector updates for our members, more frequent direct engagement withindividual members, as well as more frequent internal learning webinars on topicalsubjects, often based on our research papers.
We will also continue to work on our decolonisation process, strengthening the voice of
our southern members and allies, and ensuring that our internal structures reflect therealities of the global cocoa sector, with both membership and governance proactively
finding a strengthened 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 the most pressing issues is essential.

Cocoa Barometer

In December of 2022 we released the latest version of the Cocoa Barometer, a ‘state ofsustainability’ overview of the cocoa sector that we (and our predecessor the Tropical
Commodity Coalition) have been 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, theBarometer is a common reference with facts and figures for the members of the Barometer
Consortium, ensuring a consistency and continuity within Civil Society actors, and enabling
everyone to use the same data and the same recommendations. The bottom-up process withwhich 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 andexplanation 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.”

www.voicenetwork.cc

5

www.voicenetwork.cc

6

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 civilsociety and farmer-based organisations provided the key building blocks for the content of
the publication. In the next phases, several drafts of the document were shared with all themembers 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 tocontent 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 the various interrelated challenges facing
the cocoa sector.
“Through the process of compiling the Barometer, we could deepen our understanding of thewhole 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
analyses of 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 is often 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 theorigin continent of the cocoa tree. After a bottom-up development process, bringing in a rangeof Latin American civil society organisations from across the continent, the Latin America
Baseline Cocoa Barometer was released in 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 andeffective. 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 developed with 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 placefor Good Agricultural Practices in achieving a living income, this is only feasible if the enabling
environment of Good 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 of focusing 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 thesecomplex topics. The shorter position papers released between Cocoa Barometers are reallygreat to signal to companies and other orgs as deep dives on particular topics. Our online
audience is unlikely to read any of these reports, but we use them to frame and inform ourcontent 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
www.voicenetwork.cc

7

We will improve our online presence by professionalising our website. We are also going
to work on creating more low-threshold visualisations of our publications, so that thecontent becomes more accessible for all interested parties, including consumers andlaypersons.

www.voicenetwork.cc

8

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 theunderprivileged 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 the European 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 have actively 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
are also in regular engagement with the Department of Labor of the United States, and inincreasing 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 this cross-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, theInternational 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
and sustainability 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 isnecessary. 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 ofhuman rights regulation.

Driving force in the cocoa dialogue
www.voicenetwork.cc

9After more than ten years of activity in the cocoa sector, VOICE’s agenda and profile have neverbeen 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, andold-growth rainforests are still being cut down to grow cocoa instead. Structural change is asnecessary 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.

Legal and Governance
Incorporation of association
The VOICE Network is an association with full legal capacity. It has been established bynotarial deed dated 27 August 2015, by notary C.G. Zijerveld. The association isregistered 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 meetingsuch as recorded in article 12 paragraph 3 of the articles of association, the allocation of
the result is determined.
Tax duties
We are registered with the Dutch tax authority as a tax-exempt charity (ANBI) and are notliable for turnover and corporation tax.
Members
Our highest body is our Members Assembly, which met twice in 2022, once virtually and oncein person 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 (United States), 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 le Développement communautaire et la conservation de laForêt (Ivory Coast), ROSCIDET - Le Réseau des Organisations de la Société Civile pour leDéveloppement du Tonpki (Ivory Coast) and Tropenbos Ghana (Ghana) joined during 2022 asapplicant 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,
and WWF France joining as a full legal member, and Freedom United joining as a new
applicant member.

www.voicenetwork.cc

10

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 theGeneral Assembly in October 2022.

www.voicenetwork.cc

11

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.

www.voicenetwork.cc

12

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, dedicatedfunding for projects, and grants or donations from third parties. The coordination work of the
Network is provided through financial contributions by its members. In 2022, the Network morethan doubled its income compared to 2021, due to funding coming in for specific projects suchas the publication of the new Cocoa Barometer 2022, consultation workshops in Ghana andIvory 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 from members, as well as by funding from NGOs, foundations, andinstitutional 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 just as 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)and slightly 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 more in 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
and financial risk.
--

The VOICE Network is at the forefront of discussions in the cocoa sector. This brings therisk of publications that might be incorrect or incomplete. To this end we use several
principles when releasing publications.
- All data that our publications are based on are made publicly available where legallypossible.
- 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.

www.voicenetwork.cc

13

-- 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.

www.voicenetwork.cc

14

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 anannual 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 basedin Ede, the Netherlands.
Forecast 2023 budget and activities
The Voice network is projecting 301k EUR for operational costs in 2023. This is slightly higher
than the expenditures for 2022, as we have plans to hire a new consultant for supporting VOICE
with member communication and advocacy, we foresee increasing travel costs and we will
implement an additional 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 the various 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 a higher 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 3year unrestricted grant from the Chocolonely Foundation for €51,400 per year, a 5-year
agreement with Solidaridad who confirmed to pay €20,000 membership contribution perannum, 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, andtransparency & 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
www.voicenetwork.cc

15

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

31.12.2021€€

AssetsCurrent assets
Receivables
Debtors
Other receivables, prepayments
and accrued income

Cash and cash equivalents

www.voicenetwork.cc

1

0

1.000

2.016

1.920

2

3

2.016

2.920

135.11387.569137.12990.48916

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

20.34354.70723.900137.12990.48917

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

15.83318.17118

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 inthe 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
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 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 – arerespected, within a thriving and healthy environment.
The location of the actual activities
The registered address of Vereniging Voice Network is Amsterdam and is registered at thetrade register under number 64003833.
The actual address of Vereniging Voice Network is Prins Bernhardlaan 39, 6713 MA in Ede.

www.voicenetwork.cc

19

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
Accounting Standards Board ('Raad voor de Jaarverslaggeving').
Assets and liabilities are generally valued at historical cost, production cost or at fair value
at the 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 preparedon 24 May 2022.
The comparative figures for the previous financial year are, where necessary, only interms of classification 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 premiumor discount and there are no transaction costs, the amortised cost price equals thenominal value of the accounts 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 theeffective 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 withterms of less than twelve months. Overdrafts at banks are recognised as part of debts tolending institutions under current liabilities. Cash at banks and in hand is valued atnominal 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 initialrecognition current liabilities are recognised at the amortised cost price, being thewww.voicenetwork.cc

20

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 totalof the expenses. The income is recognized in the year in which it is realized; charges assoon 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 ofincome and expenses.
Income for which a special purpose has been designated will be shown in the statementof income and expenditure processed; if these benefits were not fully spent in the year
under review, the benefits are not yet paid funds spent processed in the appropriatedreserve or appropriated fund. A withdrawal from the appropriated reserve or
appropriated fund is considered as spending (expense) recognized in the statement ofincome and expenses.
Provided subsidies and gifts
Benefits are understood to mean those promised from third parties and pledged for theyear under review grants, gifts and income from activities intended for financing activities
and the own organization.
Expenses
The expenses include the costs directly attributable to actions, as well as theimplementation 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
account the effective ones interest rate of the relevant assets and liabilities. When
processing the interest charges taking into account the responsible transaction costs on
the loans received.

www.voicenetwork.cc

21

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€€

133.12485.830

1.989

833

0

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€

Balance as at 1 January 2022
Appropriation of result 2022

66.589Balance as at 31 December 2022

82.42215.833

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.

www.voicenetwork.cc

22

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

20.3435 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

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

www.voicenetwork.cc

23

Notes to the statement of activities
Budget
2022

2022

2021

€

€

€

137.274152.853061.74857.33255.23851.514139.028

51.438250.536

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 withan independent 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 forthis funding 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
77.234

Barometer
ISCO projectConsultation southern partners
US advocacy – Climate Advisers

38.32819.782
1.930
137.274

2022€

Barometer
25.000Solidaridad
WWF France
Oxfam Novib
Public Eye
Oxfam USOxfam Belgium
Tropenbos
Mighty Earth
Green America

15.00012.000
7.000
6.416
5.000
5.000
1.360
458
77.234www.voicenetwork.cc

24

2022
€

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

25.000
3.000
2.453
5.875
1.000
1.000
38.3282022€

Consultation southern partners
17.782

Oxfam Novib
Fern

2.000
19.782

Budget
2022

2022

2021

€

€

€

Wages and salaries

69.30157.06556.960Social security charges and pensions cost

16.06614.34614.722Other expenses of employee benefits

3.150

3.150

3.150

88.51774.56174.832

Expenses of employee benefits

Remuneration of supervisory board
No loans, advances or guarantees have been granted to the directors, nor have theyreceived 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

25

www.voicenetwork.cc

26

2022

Budget
2022

2021

€

€

€

Social security charges
Pension charges

9.695

8.214

8.626

3.672

3.672

3.672

Social security charges Belgium

2.699

2.459

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

2022

Budget
2022

2021

€

€

€

Salary costs
Consultant research (Barometer)
Website costs

25.85722.1142.586

14.69026.0000

9.305

10.000

0Translation costs
Conference cost

8.782

5.961

0

7.205

2.500

0

Consultant Latin American Barometer
Design and publication costs

6.955

6.500

0

6.564

7.000

1.219

245

900

0

0

2.250

0

0

0

0

79.60383.225

3.787

Social security charges and pensions cost

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

All personnel cost are allocated to the projects.

9 Barometer

Travel expenses
Consultant copy edit
Meeting costswww.voicenetwork.cc

27

2022

Budget
2022

2021

€

€

€

17.20523.62818.223

1.600

5.000

0

947

0

0

148

100

46

200

600

157

96

2.000

0

86

400

51

0

750

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

22.01624.01102022

Budget
2022

2021

€

€

€

Salary costs
Conference cost
Travel expenses for personnel

34.18343.24454.003

6.007

600

0

5.379

8.500

1.100

Translation costs

2.810

1.950

0

12

1.000

46

0

600

0

48.39155.89455.14910 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

12 Advocacy

Meeting costs
Design and distribution reports

www.voicenetwork.cc

28

Budget
2022

2022

2021

€

€

€

33.19340.800

0

8.330

5.926

0

4.129

5.200

0

1.817

2.984

0

325

2.940

0

47.79457.85002022

Budget
2022

2021

€

€

€

Auditor's fees - audit of the financial statements
Accounting costs

5.143

5.143

5.143

4.094

2.897

3.051

Insurance premium
Other general expenses

2.040

2.000

1.505

5.339

2.000

1.438

16.61612.04011.137

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

14 General expenses

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

BudgetRealised

2022

2022

2021

%

%

%

Spending rate of expenditure

92.92

95,45

87,42

Spending rate of benefits

87.05

96,60

72,54

www.voicenetwork.cc

29

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 meetingsuch as recorded in article 12 paragraph 3 of the articles of association, the allocation of
the result is determined.

Signing of the annual statement
Ede, 17 April 2023
Vereniging Voice
Network
J.A. Christian

B.R.E.K. van Besien

K.J. Goossenaerts
Aliyu

Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer
Member

www.voicenetwork.cc

A.

30

www.voicenetwork.cc

31