Annual Report 2023
This Annual Report covers the period from 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023.
Reflecting on the past year, it becomes evident that amidst the triumphs and achievements, there lie significant challenges that have shaped our journey. Despite our very limited time and resources we managed to carry out a total of 15 (fifteen) funded and self-funded project activities and NGO Initiatives.
Highlights
Highlights of the year was the production of the two project booklets “Together We Strive: Creating a Sustainable Environment Free from Barriers That Divide” and Moving Beyond the Single Story: Combating Social Exclusion Through Media Literacy” despite of NIM’s limited human capacity and highly restricted resources. The production of these books ensured enduring impact of the projects far beyond the conclusion of the project.
Another highlight of the year was being given the opportunity for two of NIM’s administrators to take part at the prestigious OSLO Freedom Forum and personally meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and Chess Grandmaster Gary Kasparov as well as with the Founder of the Human Rights Foundation as well with other leading authorities in the field of Human Rights and Social Justice, such as the renowned political scientist Professor Francis Yoshihiro Fukujama,
This encounter equipped NIM’s delegates with enhanced skills and knowledge in the fields of human rights and resilience-building to undertake more impactful projects in the future.
The Board of Administrators
During this period the administrators were:
- President and Chairperson projects & research: Maria-Gabriele Doublesin
- Vice President and Chairperson media and communications: Conway Wigg
- General Secretary: Samira Jamil
- Treasurer, First Financial Administrator: Conrad Borg
- Chairperson funding and stakeholder networking: Matteo Privitelli
Board meetings and Subcommittee meetings
Four quarterly board meetings were held and project related subcommittees and NIM Media sub committees for NIM’s initiatives and operations took place every fortnight throughout the year.
Attendance rate: 98%
Projects / Activities during the year
Action Outcome Roundtable: Closure Event of the VOPS 2022 project ‘Together We Strive: Creating a Sustainable Environment Free from Barriers that Divide’ a systemic community engagement project funded through the Voluntary Organisations Project Scheme managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector, supported by the Ministry of Inclusion, Voluntary Organisations and Consumer Rights.
This 12-months project, started in March 2022 was authored by NIM President and Community Counsellor Maria-Gabriele Doublesin with the aim to young members of local and migrant communities focus on a common goal, learn to work together while developing environmental stewardship, promote intercultural dialogue, combat social exclusion and help eliminate hate speech and racism, see: https://nwamiinternational-malta.org/nwami_projects/creating-a-sustainable-environment-free-from-barriers-that-divide/
The project consisted of various educative community engagement activities, a community roundtable with members of the local council, community police, and community influencers from local and migrant communities, as well as a research component to explore the willingness of local and migrant youth to actively engage with each other and the youth’s interest in environmental concerns and to actively do something about it together. The project also brought forth suggestions of policies. All insights and outcomes and implications were outlined in detail in a project book which is available on request as softcopy and a hard copy. https://youtu.be/hfojW2wM8w8?si=1rhMF7VpZF1LjL4k
Marking International Education Day 2023: Two Fully Self-Sustained Initiatives kindly supported by Evarist Bartolo, former Minister of Education and Foreign Affairs
- NIM- ALP Joint Initiative to mark the UN International Education Day 2023. Educational Awareness Video done by students with students attending the Alternative Learning Programme (ALP) at St. Thomas Moore College Paula showcasing the importance of education opportunities for youth hailing with difficult backgrounds living at the margin of society, see: https://youtu.be/HbVIKbXi3lo?si=9j2X81V_dPjkYbvJ
- Working with Migrant Learners – public awareness initiative on what it means to educate migrant learners from all corners of the globe with no common language in collaboration with the teachers at Maria Regina College Induction Hub, Naxxar. https://youtu.be/Rr0vvMSLSJQ?si=hBOqxmLGBDmMj2rT
Holocaust Remembrance Day: Student Art Competition supported by HSBC Foundation Malta
NIM marked the Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January 2023 supported by HSBC Malta Foundation, in form of an art competition themed ‘What does the Holocaust mean to you in 2023?’. The competition, open to all Grade 7 and 8 students in schools across Malta and Gozo invited students to reflect on the causes and impact of intolerance and hate speech and how these continue to pose a threat to society in present day Malta and express these reflections in form of a painting or drawing. https://nwamiinternational-malta.org/art_and_culture/holocaust-remembrance-day-shortlisted-finalists/
The winner was awarded by HSBC Foundation with a check of € 100.
ACF AMAM-NIM Joint Project ‘Moving Beyond The Single Story: Combating Social Exclusion Through Media Literacy & Critical Thinking’
The project, authored by NIM President and Community Counsellor Maria-Gabriele Doublesin was awarded a grant of € 25000 to African Media Association (AMAM) and NIM, with AMAM being the project lead and NIM the project promoter. This 18-month project running from January 2022 until June 2023 consisted of a total of 14 initiatives: 8 Story Cafés, 3 educational awareness panel sessions with experts debating the impact of single stories and the importance of media literacy and critical thinking from social and ethical perspectives as well as from the perspective of media professionals.
https://nwamiinternational-malta.org/nwami_projects/the-smite-project/
- Panel Session 1: https://youtu.be/pVa90HxeZHQ?si=wYuriuvCvozsvNCr
- Panel Session 2: https://youtu.be/HLE6EOhccew?si=g4D_wovSIhGzgK_0
- Panel Session 3: https://youtu.be/BLmV8fK2vzE?si=JfcTYOfkxI2KZWmE
- Launch of Smite Story Café: https://youtu.be/dDlnp13o2HA?si=o3EMOQa_5W7Vy1ye
- Interactive Edutainment Lab 1: https://youtu.be/bDmPCUnaEDY?si=WEd6yZ08LdJCRCck
This project was closed with an interactive Edutainment Lab in collaboration with ZFIN Malta. https://youtu.be/Aq5OyNaYElQ?si=cUadHCFgBnTBiGpp
The project and its outcome, as well as suggestions for policy is outlined in detail in the project book SMITE – Moving Beyond The Single Story: Combating Social Exclusion Through Media Literacy.
2 Cultural Café self-funded initiatives, promoting intercultural dialogue and social exchange:
Our NIM Culture Café consists of a series of casual get-togethers at Ta Detta, NIM’s social hub located at the beautiful Valletta Waterfront easily recognizable by a plaquette bearing our logo on the wall next to the entrance.
The main aim of the Culture Café is using culture to create a bridge to interconnect different cultures. This will happen via many topics, music, art, dance, food. The topics of the 2 Culture Cafés were:
- 12. April 2023 Fashion – influence of culture and ethnic heritage: https://youtu.be/Zn3Vm8fheNE?si=eRhsb6RNfX68XfuH
- 05. June 2023 Packing habits across cultures, genders & age groups.
ACF Bilateral – Oslo Freedom Forum – June 2023 sponsored by the Iceland-Norway-Liechtenstein Active Citizen Fund
In response to a call for bilateral initiatives issued by the Iceland – Liechtenstein – Norway Active Citizens Fund, aimed at supporting activities to strengthen ties between Maltese NGOs and entities from the Donor States, NIM entered into a bilateral project partnership with the Human Rights Foundation for the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum Initiative.
Subsequently, funding was awarded for two of its delegates, Maria-Gabriele Doublesin, NIM President and Chairperson of Projects and Research, and Samira Jamil, the organisation’s General Secretary, to travel to Norway. Their attendance encompassed participation in a series of conferences and panel discussions spanning three days, focusing on promoting awareness, cultural understanding, and sharing insights gained in combatting discrimination and furthering active citizenship, social justice, and inclusion.
More details are available here: https://nwamiinternational-malta.org/nwami_activities/acf-bilateral-2023-oslo-freedom-forum/
Marking the International Day for People of African Descent – 3 self-funded public awareness initiatives:
- Interview with Martin Xuereb, Chairman of RMHC Malta Learning Centre: Commemorating the International Day for People of African Descent on August 31st holds special significance at NWAMI International Malta. Our commitment to fostering inclusivity, cultural understanding, and social justice within our island’s context aligns with the spirit of this observance.
We engaged in a meaningful conversation about addressing racism through education where we posed a crucial question: ‘What single educational policy initiative would he suggest for Malta to tackle racism effectively?’ https://youtu.be/07GBwHRhIYc?si=rgx1UUBZ58G45wqK
- Transformative Education – Critical Thinking and AI – Interview with Salah Khalil: This highly informative and thought-provoking video-recorded discussion is the second initiative to mark the International Day for People of African Descent which is aimed to honour and promote the extraordinary contributions of people of the African Diaspora.
The video recording features Salah Khalil, Founder and CEO of Macat International Limited and Founder of Alexandria Trust, a London-based charity dedicated to restoring world-class education in the Arab Region. Salah Khalil is a global pioneer in the field of teaching critical thinking and one of the contemporary trailblazers in the field of modern education and skills development. He is the developer of industry-leading critical thinking assessment tools and producer of academic content that transforms the way people learn.
As NIM continued its discussions around the theme of fighting slavery’s legacy of racism through transformative education ahead of this year’s International Day of People of African Descent on 31 August, our conversation with Mr Khalil unpicked the opportunities and challenges which new technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence, present to help people in Africa and those who are disadvantaged because of their African origin, finally create a level playing field. https://youtu.be/E7k-tk0t2x8?si=txalv31raklMeGfg
- Public Awareness Initiative: Local media feature: Honouring the legacy of Marva Collins on the International Day for People of African Descent: https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2023-08-31/newspaper-opinions/Honouring-the-legacy-of-Marva-Collins-on-the-International-Day-for-People-of-African-Descent-6736254475
European Sustainable Development Week 2023 Initiative “From Plate to Purpose: Food Waste Awareness and Multicultural Culinary Sustainability (2 self-funded initiatives)
NWAMI International Malta (NIM) proudly launched our new campaign, “From Plate to Purpose: Food Waste Awareness and Multicultural Culinary Sustainability”. This campaign served as our contribution to this year’s European Sustainable Development Week, which aimed to support activities promoting sustainable development.
“From Plate to Purpose: Food Waste Awareness and Multicultural Culinary Sustainability” aimed to disseminate information about the consequences of food waste, fostering a better understanding of its environmental and societal impacts while highlighting practical waste reduction strategies.
Over the subsequent days, we run the “From Plate to Purpose: Food Waste Awareness and Multicultural Culinary Sustainability” online campaign. Followed by a hands-on cooking workshop. By participating in promoting mindful cooking practices, raising awareness about the environmental and societal impacts of food waste, and fostering collaboration among individuals and organisations, we collectively worked towards making a meaningful contribution to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals:
These milestones not only celebrated our collective narratives but also prompted introspection on the impact of stereotypes and single stories that permeate our society.
Financial Report
The organisation managed to successfully close off the two funded projects that were started in the previous financial year.
The ACF AMAM-NIM joint project “SMITE” – Moving Beyond the Single Story: Combating Social Exclusion Through Media Literacy was fully funded. The costs incurred during the year amounted to €10,815 and the funds received and still to be received, totalled to the same amount. The organisation is still to receive €2,525 for this project representing the final claim made.
The VOPs project was 90% funded and the organisation had to fork out the remaining 10%. The costs incurred during the year amounted to €5,912 out of which, only €5,379 were recovered.
The problem with such projects is that the organisation must first fork out the money to pay all related costs, and only afterwards it receives the agreed funding amounts, which procedure puts a lot of stress and limitations to voluntary organisations.
During the year, the organisation received €90 in donations for books published as part of the projects.
NIM also managed to get funds to participate in the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum. The cost of this even amounted to €11,585 out of which, it was refunded €11,469. The difference arose from differences on exchange.
A community engagement cooking workshop was held during 2023 with the name ‘Multicultural Minimum Waste Cooking’. Contributions from participants and support from HSBC Malta Foundation amounted in total to €425 whilst the costs of the workshop amounted to €455 including costs for the purchase of ingredients.
After considering other expenses, the organisation closed off the financial year with a loss of €597 emanating mainly from the costs of the projects not being covered. When this is added to the opening accumulated losses, the organisation closed off the financial year ended 31 December 2023 with accumulated losses amounting to €1,911.
There are no amounts due to third party as all have been paid from funds injected by the president. She also injected funds to cover the 10% project costs not covered by the funding obtained. As of 31 December 2023, the organisation had an amount payable to the president of €4,743. Partly will be paid from the funds yet to be received for the ACF AMAM-NIM joint project “SMITE” – Moving Beyond the Single Story: Combating Social Exclusion Through Media Literacy.
Conclusion
In reflection upon the events and achievements of the past year, NIM stands proud of the progress made despite encountering unforeseen challenges. Through our commitment to community wellbeing and social justice, we navigated through uncertain terrain with resilience and determination. Our initiatives, such as the production of project booklets and participation in prestigious events like the Oslo Freedom Forum, exemplify our dedication to promoting intercultural dialogue, combating social exclusion, and advancing human rights. These accomplishments were made possible by the collaborative efforts of our dedicated administrators and volunteers.
Looking ahead, we are committed to improving our sustainability by addressing financial challenges and streamlining project management processes. Our plans for the coming years include strengthening partnerships, expanding our outreach efforts, and implementing measures to ensure the financial stability of our organisation.
As we move forward, we remain steadfast in our mission to foster inclusivity, cultural understanding, and social justice within our community and beyond. Together, we will continue to strive towards creating a more equitable and harmonious society.
We express our sincere gratitude to all our supporters, partners, and volunteers who have contributed to our success. With your continued support, we are confident in our ability to overcome challenges and achieve our shared vision of a better world for all.
Maria-Gabriele Doublesin
President, Chairperson Projects & Research
