Draft Board Meeting Minutes

Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke ActionAid Denmark Date: th 5 November, 2014 Place: MS Draft Board Meeting Minutes Present From the Board: Anders Hammi...
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Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke ActionAid Denmark

Date:

th

5 November, 2014

Place:

MS

Draft Board Meeting Minutes Present

From the Board: Anders Hamming(Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee)(AH), Dines Justesen(ViceChairman)(DCJ), Gunver Bennekou(GB), Karen Jørgensen(KJ), Nana Gerstrøm Alsted (NGA), Steen Folke(SF), Tea Balle Fromholt Hansen(TFH) and Trine Pertou Mach(TPM). Others: Ole Anand (alternate) (OA), Nils Wiese(NW) Parliamentary Audit, Tue Magnussen (TM) agenda 3 and Henning Kjær (HK) agenda 4. From the Secretariat: Frans Mikael Jansen(FMJ), Jakob Kirkemann Boesen(JKB), Vibeke Vinther(VV) agenda 3, Lisbet Christoffersen(LC) agenda 3, Søren Warburg(SW) agenda 4, Marianne Victor Hansen(MVH) agenda 3, 4 and 5 and Birgit Møller Jensen(BMJ)

Absent

Agenda 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07.

08.

Andreas Dybkjær-Andersson(ADA), David Archer(DA), Ellen Buch-Hansen(EBH), Helle Munk Ravnborg (Chairwomen)(HMR), Silas Harrebye (SH) and Kirsten Bruun(KB) (alternateinstitutional member) Minute –Taker: Birgit Møller Jensen The meeting was conducted in Danish

Welcome and approval of the agenda Approval of Minutes and matters arising from the Board Meeting on 1st October, 2014 AADK Communication Channels with members – including Action Magazine AADK and Social Movements The changed context – inequality and limitations of democracy The government’s proposal on reductions in development assistance – AADK position and implications for priorities and Budget 2015. Information from the Secretariat 1. Mid-term Review of “Together against Poverty” 2. Board meetings in December 3. Board retreat March 2015 4. Letter from AAI CEO 5. Note concerning the financial situation at TCDC AOB

01.

Welcome and approval of the agenda In the absence of the chairwoman, DCJ welcomed board members to the board meeting. DCJ informed the meeting that there were more apologies to this meeting, but the Board was able to make a quorum. Jakob Kirkemann Boesen, Internal Director was invited to introduce himself, as this was the first time that he participated in an AADK board meeting.

02.

Approval of Minutes and matters arising from the Board Meeting on 1st October, 2014 The minutes from the board meeting on 1st October and the status on matters arising were approved without further comments.

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03.

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AADK Communication Channels with members – including Action Magazine DCJ reminded the Board that the Secretariat earlier has provided information about the communication with new recruited supporters and members to the Board. The purpose of this agenda item is therefore to provide the Board with an overview of communication with all members, including the institutional members and to discuss actionmagazine. LC initiated the discussion by providing more detailed information on the user survey made among the receivers of actionmagazine and the importance of having a magazine to send to all supporters. She also informed the Board that more than 22.000 people have now signed the petition on Palestine. In the discussion the following viewpoints among others were expressed: Palestine: 

The entire communication effort connected to Palestine was praised. It is important to develop this further, e.g. by providing more information on the issue. Communication follow-up on the Palestine petition has to be targeted this group. People who signed the petition are not necessarily interested in all the other AADK activities, and the focus should therefore be on activities related to the petition.  It is not just a question of AADK getting more financial supporters, but we shall also provide knowledge and arguments. It is important to acknowledge that here we have provided a platform at the disposal of the people, who wants to support Palestine, which we have to utilise. There is a room for dialogue now, how do we sustain that?  AA France has a lot experience with petitions and links to fundraising, where AADK can learn more. actionmagazine and the reader survey:  Is the survey representative?  The target group are all supporters and members, but who are the faithful readers – and how can we meet their demands?  The focus in the survey was to praise the magazine or indicate do not know – it was difficult to express criticism.  It is acknowledged that it is important to have a magazine to create loyalty and to brand AADK, but this is not enough. Today there is too much loyalty and too little self-criticism in actionmagazine. There is need for articles that problematize and politicise more than the today. The readers need knowledge and information, but the articles shall not be boring.  An online version of actionmagazine on ms.dk is worth a consideration. The different communication channels and how they relate to each other:  AADK need to acknowledge and utilise that different communication channels provide different opportunities to reach our target groups.  It is important to tailor the messages to the different channels and target groups. actionmagazine and www.ms.dk e.g. provide information and knowledge, while Facebook and Twitter provide possibilities for action and this can be combined on certain issues.  AADK shall communicate with our members and supporters and not to them.  The possibility to provide information tailored the individual, based on his/her expressed interests could be further explored.  It is important to meet the people, where they are and to create room for debate.  The possibility to create room for a two-way communication on specific topics was mentioned. This can be setting a specific time, where people can call AADK and discuss a certain issue with either staff or board members.  actionmagazine is an important communication channel, but we shall continue discussing the content and develop the format. VV finally thanked the Board for many input, which the Secretariat will discuss further. 04. bmj

AADK and Social movements SW made a brief presentation on the paper forwarded, where after the Board broke Page 2 of 5

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into groups discussing the questions raised in the paper. In the feedback the groups stressed among others: - The Board found the paper on Social Movements very useful. - The Board also recognized that AADK is not doing enough or that the area has had too little a focus. - It is important to cooperate with social movements. They are there in the South, but not very much in DK. It is still relevant to look to whether the national strategy will need to incorporate some of our thinking in terms of social movements – there might be some of the same mechanisms at stake. - We shall not cooperate only because it is a social movement. Point of departure will always have to be based on our vision and mission. It is important that we stick to our identity and that we sustain our political legitimacy. This will call for political challenges and it is not possible to define one mode of cooperation. It shall always be based on the specific context. - AADK shall develop transparent principles on how we select social movements as cooperation partners. AADK would need to define some procedures that would enable us to support and engage but not take over and choke. - The aim is not that AADK and a social movement fuse. We have to define and build on the comparative advantages in such a partnership and there has to be an interaction. - A possible dilemma will be, if AADK will take ownership! - AADK can provide capacity development to social movements, e.g. by training change agents and through this provide a supporting readiness in the movement. The AADK responsibility here is that e.g. a group of young people become more political. They make up their mind on certain issues and then stand by it. In this regard AADK (and AAI) would also need to consider its moral and legal responsibility (checking in against Duty of Care Guidelines developed on this already). - Other partnerships can be on specific campaigns, where we share the agenda. In this way we work in a chain of organisations and initiatives coming together on a political subject (could be characterised as a movement) - There would be a good opportunity to start working more with partnership countries already interested in the subject – this could be through the youth work and/or the International Platform on governance. - The political risk of working and engaging with social movements might oppose an opportunity rather than organizational risk. The Board welcomed the pilot project “Beautiful Rising” and hoped that results from here can be used in our future cooperation with social movements. The comments from the Board will now be incorporated in the further development of a draft strategic position paper on AADK and Social Movements, which the Board will discuss in March next year. The Board advised the Secretariat to explore the possibility to send an AADK representative to the Civicus meeting in November in South Africa. 05.

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The changed context – inequality and limitations of democracy MVH introduced the topic, where she mentioned that there are a number of general positions on inequality and it would be relevant for AADK to more clearly define where we want to position ourselves. She also mentioned that inequality is already a focus for our work and we should just decide on whether to focus even more, specific objectives and possible alliances related to inequality. The Board then broke into groups and the feedback from the group work e.g. touched upon the following: • It is important to continue focusing on poverty, but poverty has many different aspects, e.g. environment, financial and social. • Inequality covers areas like poverty, political rights, internal redistribution in the countries and redistribution global. How can AADK qualify this discussion? • It is easier to mobilise people when we talk about inequality than when we talk about poverty. There are more possibilities for action. Page 3 of 5

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Why do we need to have such a paper? There are two reasons: 1. It is an ongoing global discussion, where we as AADK need to have a stand on inequality related to areas like SDG, poverty in the middle income countries, democracy (visions for a society without inequality), development assistance and global inequality (wars and our role in DK) 2. We expect that inequality might be a priority in the new strategy from 2017 and it is therefore important to start addressing the issue already now. DCJ concluded that there is a need to develop a draft strategic position paper addressing inequality related to SDG and development assistance now (to be presented to the Board in March 2015) and then unfold this paper to cover the other areas mentioned at a later stage. 06.

The government’s proposal on reductions in development assistance – AADK position and implications for priorities and Budget 2015. The Board had prior to the meeting received a note on the planned reductions in development assistance and a copy of a feature in the Danish newspaper Politiken. FMJ also informed board members about a planned joint ad campaign, which will be launched in Danish dailies the following day. The Board were pleased that so many organisations were behind the feature in Politiken. The Board also stressed that it is important that a campaign demonstrate that there is a need for Denmark – both the political leadership and the Danish citizens – to demonstrate a responsible Denmark, who understand the present state of the world as opposed to a closed Danish society gazing at its own navel. FMJ also discussed the possible implications for AADK’s priorities and budget for 2015 with the Board, e.g. and he will now include the feedback from the Board in the further development of the priorities and budget 2015 in the Secretariat, which will be presented to the Board in December.

07.

Information from the Secretariat Mid-term Review of “Together against Poverty The Board agreed that there shall be two council members in the working group and board members shall be invited to express their interest to join the working group. The chairmanship will present a draft TOR for the working group, including members, which the Board shall finally approve during the December meeting. The Contact Group had presented a proposal on how to select the two council members to working group and the Board approved this proposal GB reminded the chairmanship that the Board has earlier agreed that the mid-term review shall look on how to address sustainable development as a transverse approach. FMJ mentioned that staff members are not supposed to become members of the working group, but they will be invited to present the status of their respective areas. DCJ stressed that the purpose of the mid-term review is not to develop a new strategy, but it is expected that it will be more than adjustment of the figures and the current implementation plans. The mid-term review will also form part of the AADK response to the Danida review on capacity development and finally the mid-term review shall also address sustainability as a transversal approach in the strategy. Board meeting in December The Board agreed to extend the board meeting in December from 3 hours (17.00 – 20.00) to five hours (15.00 – 20.00) due to number of agenda items already planned. Board retreat March 2015 The Board decided to extend the board retreat in March from the planned Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon to be from Friday afternoon until Sunday just after lunch to secure time enough to discuss the mid-term review, the draft positions

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papers and other items planned for this meeting. Letter from ActionAid International Chief Executive Officer (AAI CEO) The AAI CEO has urged all national ActionAids to secure financial support to the ongoing Ebola crisis in Western Africa. The Board discussed this at length and found that AADK is not a major player on emergencies like this in DK, but asked the chairmanship and the Secretary General to find resources to be used for this purpose in solidarity with the ActionAid countries affected by Ebola. Note concerning the financial situation at TCDC The Board had prior to the meeting received a note describing the financial situation at TCDC indicating that the budget forecast for TCDC shows an expected negative deviation according to the budget, which will influence the AADK 2014 results. The note was further discussed and the Board stressed the importance of having tools, which will alert the Secretariat (-and the Board, if necessary) at an earlier stage and not close to the financial end of the year. FMJ and JKB informed the Board that a number of initiatives, which will influence the 2015 budget, have already been implemented. The Board will as part of the 2015 budget and the mid-term review discuss matters having a longer perspective. AOB Board members received the status of participants signed up for the Membership and Council day on 29th November 2014 (25). The Board briefly discussed the number of participants and concluded that the output of the Membership and Council Day is more important than the number of participants. The Board has this year planned a process involving council members in preparation of the draft strategic papers, which the Board shall present to the Council Meeting in 2015 and the Membership and Council Day is part of this process. All board members were encouraged to remind people in their networks to sign up for the Membership and Council Day.

The meeting closed at 20.05

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