FUNCTIONING OF THE ORGANISATION
Covid-19 The Covid-19 pandemic continued to affect people in all countries in 2021 and, although there were a few periods of respite, most of the year was disrupted everywhere: in- person meetings, travel and working with partners was very limited, if at all possible. The rise of new virus mutations led to unexpected waves of infections and local or national lockdowns. Impacts were felt directly by our staff, from illness, quarantine and worry about family, friends and future employment, to personal isolation caused by our offices being closed for much of the year. Project implementation was challenging but progressed better than in the previous year due to improvements made in remote working and extensive re-planning of projects. It was a struggle for everyone, but our staff showed enormous resilience, equally matched by the understanding and flexibility shown by our programme donors. Strategic Intent This was the first year of implementing the Wetlands International’s Strategic Intent (2020-2030) since its approval by the organisation’s governance in December 2020. Our teams prepared regional strategies and stream plans to implement our strategic ambitions. Achievements Despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and uncertainty in several countries where we work, positive progress was made across all three workstreams. Results contributing to the goals set out in the Strategic Intent have been delivered collaboratively by our office teams through programmes and projects, in line with the local context in which they operate. A summary of achievements is provided on pages 20-27. A list of the main projects carried out in 2021 is provided in pages 54-57 of the Annex.
Wetlands International network Wetlands International is an independent, global network of offices with shared values, brand and purpose that implement a joint strategy to safeguard and restore wetlands in more than 100 countries worldwide. Our offices and locations are shown on pages 46-47. Global Office The Global Office, based in the Netherlands, facilitates work across the network and provides leadership and support in representation, programme leadership, communication, and fundraising. The office is responsible for facilitating the daily work of the network and ensuring it is aligned with decisions taken by the network management team and global board. A social report for the Global Office in 2021 is presented on pages 58-59. Communications and advocacy Strengthening our advocacy and communication is a key part of upscaling our impact at landscape, national and global levels. With support from the COmON Foundation and the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, the focus this year was on increasing our visibility, profile and influence while putting in place the foundations and building capacity across the network. In 2021, we appointed a new Global Head of Communications and Advocacy - Julien Anseau - and strengthened our capabilities by recruiting new staff with strong climate advocacy, media and external outreach track records. We made good progress in the areas of traditional media, social media and thought leadership in 2021. We increasingly secured coverage in top-tier international media, including our opinion editorial published by Al Jazeera ahead of COP26 and our CEO appearing on the One Planet podcast. We also grew our audiences online across all digital channels; followers on LinkedIn grew from 10k to 15k in the last 12 months alone. We saw similar growth on Twitter which we use for breaking news, newsjacking and policy influencing. Our fastest growing channel is Instagram.
JULIEN ANSEAU HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS & ADVOCACY
I lead the communications and advocacy team across the Wetlands International network. Before joining in August 2021, I worked in communications at WWF International producing news and content for international media. I also spent many years in global and regional communication roles with a large international development NGO, providing strategic and technical leadership to communications and advocacy teams in Africa, Americas and Asia. I was fortunate to travel to places like Afghanistan, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, Ecuador and the Balkans. Wetlands International’s mission strongly resonates with me. Wetlands are crucial to people, climate and nature; and yet they continue to be overlooked. This needs to change and it is now a communication challenge to get people to care and act for wetlands. My team is passionate, engaged and great to work with. We aim to inspire and mobilise society to safeguard and restore wetlands, and we are responsible for building awareness, influencing change and supporting resource mobilisation to achieve impact at scale. A major highlight for my team in 2021 was raising wetlands up the global agenda at COP26 in Glasgow. We co-organized both the Peatlands and Water Pavilions, and positioned wetlands as a key solution to climate change. There is now a growing realisation that healthy wetlands are vital to meeting global climate, sustainable development and biodiversity goals. Our challenge now is to engage wider audiences. Wetlands International alone will not be able to safeguard and restore the world’s wetlands, which is why it’s essential we work with governments, companies, NGOs, finance institutions, academia, youth, and the media.
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Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
Wetlands International Annual Review 2021
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