Standing Tall: Celebrating 30 Years of Impact
1991-2021
Adeso’s 30 Year Impact Report read here.
Letter from Executive Director
Three decades ago, my mother founded Adeso (then known as Horn Relief), amid the Somali civil war. The aim? Mobilize local and international resources to protect the fragile—and increasingly depleted—grasslands on which Somali pastoral communities rely for food and income. And protect that environment by harnessing the power of the very communities most impacted by its degradation. For 30 years, across our myriad programs and initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, Adeso has stayed true to that aim—a bedrock built on trust in local communities—to foster self-reliance, sustainability, and productivity. That trust is embodied in our pioneering work in cash-based assistance, which empowers those
in poverty to prioritize their own needs and use cash flexibly to meet those needs.
We understand that the needs of individuals and communities and the drivers of poverty are complex and fluid. We work in partnership with communities to identify and get them what they need, when they need
it, and how they need it.
Adeso has learned much over our 30 years. Many expected us to fail when we launched large-scale cash transfers in the wake of the 2003 Somali drought. But we succeeded. We built a robust (and replicable) targeting and monitoring system and helped lead the transition to global acceptance of cash assistance in lieu of food and other commodities.Our successes led us to expand our programming and organization into Kenya and South Sudan, bolstered by bi-lateral funding. But when the humanitarian aid paperwork threatened to overtake the critical humanitarian and development work we set out to do, we eventually realized (painfully) that to achieve our long-term aims, we needed to scale down and zoom out.
Those aims include building a Global South that does not depend on foreign aid and the strings attached to it, but rather is self-determining and emboldened to utilize resources and skills from within. In addition to running direct programs in Africa, over the last five years Adeso has taken a global leadership role advocating for decolonizing the current aid and philanthropy systems. This report highlights Adeso’s role in making such transformation possible—through our game-changing work at both the advocacy and policy level and the “how do we do this” operational level. We are using technology to effectively connect financial support to communities and grassroots and civil society organizations to spur lasting change. And we are working on innovative, ethical business ventures toward supporting Adeso’s financial independence and shifting resources and power to local actors.
On that note, we hope to invest the transformative, fully flexible gift philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarded us in 2021 to establish and build an endowment that offers a solid foundation for the future.
Looking back, we are immensely proud of what we have achieved over the last 30 years. We have made a difference, reaching nearly 8.7 million people in Somalia, Kenya, and South Sudan.
We thank you for joining us. And we look forward to evolving and working together toward a more just and peaceful global society.
With profound gratitude,
Degan Ali