SI MONTHLY NEWS SEPTEMBER 2005 EXCO
From SI Exco News
EXCO & E G A, Servas and UN
EXCO ...................
… is currently meeting to prepare the Agenda and other elements of the eGA fixed for Latina, in April, 2006. Consultative sessions have been held with many national secretaries, by new low-cost long distance telephone. Others will take place. Quite a number of sessions have been recommended. With these, there has been a good deal of work undertaken by a Working Group, along with heroic personal effort by Chris Patterson of New Zealand to prepare rules and statute for the Distant Vote.
The eGA Registration form, and Criteria for travel support have also been completed. Download your copy from www.siexco.org and send it soon. An Election Rules workbook has been distributed (thank you for the early, helpful responses!) Please prepare your plans for an exciting and productive meeting which will guide Servas growth and protection.
Financial Reports have been created for review by the eGA; and they are intended to resolve almost all outstanding issues. A Host List Request Team has been created to produce much greater efficiencies, with essential information protection, of Host Lists. Translator Teams, Editing Teams, and others, will help ensure high quality communications. To aid Global Outreach and improve service, the Servas Internet Page is being re-designed. Servas Statutes are also to be revisited, with legal assistance, to make the working rules clear, complete, and helpful and in complete conformity with host-country modern legislation. A special, Opening Day and preorientation activity are being considered, to help make sure everyone starts on the same page of the Agenda!
Please see more information the web page:
www.siexco.org You are welcome to contribute to the eGA discussion on www.servasforum.org
A Servas International UN delegation is networking with 3,000 representatives of other justice-seeking organizations, in NYC in Sept.
This meeting follows energetic activity of the Servas group in New York at UN Department of Public Information. Webcasts of the DPI briefings can be monitored at: http://www.undpingoconference.org/
Servas International has accreditation to attend many UN meetings, all over the world. SI delegations can meet with other justice-seeking accredited groups, governments, negotiating groups, development programmes, etc. Qualified Servas Travelers and Hosts can be accredited to such meetings. The agendas are usually known in advance, and preparation and study for them is an opportunity to create friendships and to develop lasting educational value.
Behind the scenes, there are many vital issues, a lot of energetic volunteer and professional work, and critical issues to be decided and funded by the justice-seeking groups in the UN community, and by governments. A lot of these people could be attracted to Servas, as new travelers. We are experimenting with new Servas International business cards, designed by Mary Jane Mikuriya, to help welcome personal attention to Servas. (Ask for your own Servas International business card, to join our outreach activity!)
The UN wants to encourage more Southern involvement, and Servas is well-positioned to provide it.
Talk, of course, is no substitute for action. Servas can also encourage personal growth and individual actions to advance these global subjects. For instance, it has been proven that travelers respond strongly to personal briefings, so there can be a direct reduction in environmental impacts through good interview techniques and attentive hosts.
You are also welcome to spread the word and to contact me directly. You are also welcome to link with others in the SI delegations at New York: Mary Jane Mikuriya, Noema Chaplin, Rolande Hodel (who is working to establish an AIDS drug factory in Cameroon), and with SI delegates in Geneva and Austria, Hilda Burer and Angelika Hoffmann. We cherish your advice and input; we can help you help the UN and voluntary networks achieve great goals.
Gary Sealey
peacesecretary[at]servas.org
inserted by Amelia
