SI MONTHLY NEWS May 2006 News from Exco
From SI Exco News
News of Exco's activities
Dear National Secretaries
You have not heard from me after the wonderful conference we had in Latina. This may have given you the impression that your new General Secretary has gone into “hibernation” or “sleep” mode! Let me assure you that this is not the case. After the eGA in Latina, most of the EXCO members, including me, spent some time travelling. It was only after all the EXCO members had returned home and settled down, that the new EXCO could start functioning in right earnest. The purpose of this e-mail is to update you on what we have done since then.
Among the unfinished agenda of eGA 2006 were the elections of Statutes and Job Descriptions Committee members, Nominations Committee members and ICT members. These elections could not be held due to lack of time. Additionally, in the case of ICT, eGA took a decision that the ICT members shall be appointed by EXCO rather than elected. The intention behind this decision was to ensure that only persons with knowledge of computers/software were made members of ICT.
There were four nominees for the Statutes and Job Descriptions Committee as follows:
- Eda Guzeldemir, (Turkey)
- Pramod Kumar, (India)
- Diana Sweet, (Suriname)
- Chris Jones, (Canada)
I was one of the four nominees. I informed EXCO about my decision to withdraw my nomination and suggested that the other three nominees be appointed as members of the Statutes and Job Descriptions Committee. They had expressed their willingness to work for this Committee and they should not be denied this opportunity simply because we ran out of time and could not hold the elections. EXCO has accepted my suggestion and appointed Eda Guzeldemir, (Turkey), Diana Sweet, (Suriname) and Chris Jones, (Canada) as members of the Statutes and Job Descriptions Committee.
There were two nominees for the Nominations Committee as follows:
- Michael Johnson, (Canada)
- Everen Ozkan, (Turkey)
EXCO has appointed them both as members of the Nominations Committee.
There were two nominees for the Information and Communication Team (ICT) as follows:
- Omer Ozkan, (Turkey)
- Uwe Federer, (Italy)
Since both the nominees are knowledgeable about computers and/or software, EXCO has appointed them both as members of the ICT.
One of the resolutions passed by eGA 2006 was that,
“GA give Exco the authority to give annual grants of up to 200 US Dollars to countries which apply for them. Such countries must provide an activity report”.
This resolution seems to have created the impression among some members that any member country which applies for this grant of US$ 200 will get it automatically, as long as it agrees to provide an activity report. This is a very wrong interpretation of the resolution.
GA has given EXCO the “authority” to give grants of US$ 200. EXCO will use this authority in a responsible manner and will not sanction this grant without looking into the purpose for which the grant is requested. For example, if a member group applies for a grant of US$ 200 for organizing a party for its members, it is highly unlikely that EXCO will sanction the grant.
In order to ensure that applications for such grants are processed in a fair and transparent manner, EXCO has decided to develop the criteria for processing of such applications. Omer Ozkan has been assigned the task of preparing the draft criteria which will be reviewed by EXCO.
The grants shall be on hold and will not be given till the criteria are established.
During the eGA at Latina, a number of delegates gave a representation to EXCO asking that an “Observer” be sent for the forthcoming election of Servas Nepal. Taking note of this representation, EXCO assigned to me the task of preparing a report on the status of Servas Nepal election. My report has been submitted to EXCO. It has now been decided that SI Peace Secretary Nandasena Amarasinghe will be EXCO’s observer for the Servas Nepal election planned for June 10, 2006.
Keeping the Key List up to date is an important task which is performed by the Key List Group. A new Key List Group is being formed and they will be contacting you soon for getting the relevant information about the current Key Persons in your National Group. EXCO is also working on appointing a Distant Vote Administrator and developing the rules for election of Area Coordinators.
There are a number of other tasks which we have to complete. I would like to assure you that EXCO is aware of its responsibilities and is working on preparing a schedule for completing these tasks.
I will keep you informed and will keep in touch with you on a more regular basis than has been the case till now.
In peace and friendship
Pramod Kumar, General Secretary, Servas International
