Papers for
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2010
MARLBOROUGH HOUSE
Thursday 22 July 2010 at 4 p.m.
Email info@comassoc.org for further information
AGENDA
1. Welcome by Chairperson
2. Apologies for absence
3. Adoption of Minutes for AGM 2009
4. Chairperson's report for 2009-2010 and Matters Arising
5. Treasurer's Report and Financial Statement for the nine-months ending 31 Dec 2009
- ExCo proposal for subscriptions to the Association to be raised to £15 per annum
6. Election of Officers and Appointment of Auditor
7. Any Other Business
8. Guest Speaker: Mr Richard Dowden, Director, Royal African Society
9. Reception
|
AGENDA ITEM 3 |
REPORT ON THE EIGHTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MARLBOROUGH HOUSE - 21 JULY 2009
The eighth annual general meeting was held at Marlborough House on Tuesday 21 July 2009. Fifty-one members attended and there were many apologies for absence, including from members living abroad.
Chairperson's Report and Matters Arising
Patsy Robertson's outlined points in her Chairperson's Report. A number of issues raised in her report were discussed and decisions taken:
Support for Zimbabwe: The Association will continue to be involved in various consultations on Zimbabwe with a view to assisting the people of that country. Six Association members had been involved in organising the just concluded Commonwealth Roundtable on Zimbabwe (7-9 July, Johannesburg) and vice-chair Stuart Mole had written a comprehensive paper on Zimbabwe's situation and needs for the Roundtable. This paper has been distributed to Association members. The Roundtable has issued a statement urging that a Special Programme on reconstruction be established for Zimbabwe. The final statement will also be distributed to Association members. It was hoped that this programme would be considered by Heads of Government at November's CHOGM in Trinidad and Tobago.
Mrs Robertson said the Association had also agreed to sponsor a Zimbabwe journalist as a delegate to the Roundtable in order to publicise the event in the region and to contribute to discussions on media freedom in that country. The cost would come to about £250. She thanked the Association's members who had indicated their willingness to lend their skills and experience to the reconstruction of Zimbabwe. Their names have been forwarded to the Commonwealth committee which would be considering follow-up action soon.
In the discussion that followed, Sir Peter Marshall said the point should be made at CHOGM that the Commonwealth is an association of people and, as such, it did not believe that the people of Zimbabwe had left the Commonwealth. This was the approach taken towards South Africans in the anti-apartheid struggle. What was important was how to convince governments to frame a Declaration at CHOGM which would emphasise that.
Mrs Robertson thanked members again for their contributions to this discussion and urged them to contact her with any other suggestions or points of view which she could take to the next meeting of the committee on Zimbabwe on 4 August.
Oral History Project: Mrs Robertson urged all members to consider forwarding their memories or papers to the Association's oral history project as it was the right of future generations to know about the good work done by the Commonwealth, especially in the latter half of the 20th century.
Project coordinator David Blake told members there were many ways they could contribute their memories to the history of the Commonwealth: By filling in the questionnaire that had been distributed and getting in touch if they wished to be interviewed on tape, by putting their thoughts in writing or taking part in discussion groups where members could pool their memories on a subject. He also urged members to go through their files and papers to see if they contained any historical material that could fill gaps in the Secretariat's Library or be donated to the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum. Members holding internal documentation should also contact him to see if it could be lodged in the Secretariat library. Mr Blake can be contacted at history@comassoc.org, or at 33 Princes Gardens, Ealing, London W5 1SD or telephone +44-(0)20-89944989
Membership: Mrs Robertson said the Association now had members in over 10 countries and more former staff, including from Commonwealth organisations other than the Secretariat and Foundation were considering joining.
Activities: The Association co-operates with other Commonwealth organisations, such as the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Commonwealth Countries League, to enhance each others' work. In the past year, it has also helped the Secretariat's Social Club to celebrate its 40th anniversary (some Association members were founding members of the Club) and with the Secretariat's photo exhibition marking 60 years of the modern Commonwealth.
The Chairperson's Report was approved by acclamation.
Treasurer's Report and Financial Statement for year ending 31 March 2009:
Rickie Sankar asked that the financial report be amended to read 'Receipts and Payments Account for Period to 31/3/2009' instead of 31/4/2009 as shown. He then presented the unaudited 2009/2010 accounts which showed a cash balance of £1,040.91 at the end of the financial year (31 March). Since the end of the financial year, however, an extra £800 in subscriptions had been received.
The accounts were passed on the proposal of Arvind Barve which was seconded by Raja Gomez and are to be sent to the auditor.
Rickie Sankar then proposed the following resolution in order to bring the accounting year (which runs from April to March) in line with the 'Subscription year' (which is the calendar year):
As the Subscriptions are collected on a calendar year basis which does not coincide with the accounting year which ends in March, be it resolved that the accounting year be changed to the end of December and thereafter the account be prepared on an accrual basis.
This resolution was accepted by members on the proposal of David Blake which was seconded by John Barber. The association's Constitution is to be amended accordingly.
Members then discussed subscription payment methods with some asking that a Standing Order procedure be introduced. Tnhe incoming Treasurer is to look into this.
Election of Officers
There being no other nominations, the following were elected as committee members for 2009/2010:
Patsy Robertson (chair) Terry Dormer
Stuart Mole (vice-chair) Sharon Robinson
Cheryl Dorall (secretary) David Blake
Richard Sisson (treasurer) Lindsay Ross
Dharani Rethnam (membership and
social secretary)
Two further members were co-opted to the ExCo: Arvind Barve and James Allie. Mr Mohamed Yusuf Gulamhusein was re-appointed auditor by acclamation.
Patsy Robertson thanked outgoing ExCo members for their years of dedicated service and singled out Lindsay Ross of the incoming committee as the first non-Secretariat and non-Foundation member of the association.
Any Other Business
Membership: There was a discussion on how to increase membership and involve overseas members in the association's work and activities. Patsy Robertson suggested that non-UK members could form small groups to work to keep the Commonwealth in the public eye: member Hugh Craft did so as chair of the Royal Commonwealth Society in Canberra and former Deputy Secretary-General Mrs Florence Mugasha has been approached in Uganda. Other members could join the Foundation's Friends of the Commonwealth (www.thecommonwealthfoundation.com/friends) group. She added that, funds permitting, the Association could host get-togethers either to mark Commonwealth Day or when enough members came through London on holiday or business.
Members suggested that in order to keep in touch with each other they could exchange information on what they were doing through Facebook, blogs or through the Association's web site. There was a suggestion that the Secretariat in particular could be encouraged to get Association members to meet the Secretary-General on his travels. Although it was pointed out that the Secretariat had so far not shown any real enthusiasm for keeping in touch with former staff members, it was agreed that the ExCo should persist.
Members also suggested that the Association should ramp up its marketing to try to attract younger members, perhaps using new social network technologies, such as Facebook and Twitter, or through online photo galleries such as Flickr. The ExCo will seek the advice/expertise of some members on this.
Mrs Robertson said the Association tried to maintain its profile with current Secretariat and Foundation staff by taking part in Social Club activities where Association members had a standing invitation to the annual Summer Sizzle, to take part in Quiz Nights and meet at the Social Club's social nights on Friday. The incoming ExCo would look at ways of extending its reach.
Activities: Bishnodat Persaud suggested that the Association look beyond a supporting role for the Secretariat or Foundation and seek to act in parallel, perhaps becoming a 'ginger group' which could develop ideas and become more activist in looking at what the Commonwealth is doing, Patsy Robertson said that good ideas from former staff members had been taken to the Secretariat before and had not been taken seriously but that the Association would continue to seek ways of forging a better relationship particularly with the Secretariat.. She also pointed out that the Association's activities were curtailed because of low income and that the subscription had stayed at £10 per annum since it began.
Two suggestions followed: that the Association set up a database on its members and their expertise, and that the Association consider turning itself into a registered charity in order to get an extra 25% on income.
Guest Speaker, Dr Vince Cable MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Liberal-Democratic Party
Bishnodat Persaud introduced Vince Cable as the 'man of the moment' in the UK and one he had been proud to have helped recruit in 1983 as a Special Economic Adviser to the then Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Shridath Ramphal. Prof. Persaud reminded members that in his six years in the Secretariat, Dr Cable had worked on developing such concepts as sustainable development long before they became global catch phrases.
Dr Cable began by saying he had been privileged to work with Sir Shridath and the Secretariat at the time - work which even now he drew on. He recalled that he had been involved in work on the environment by Sir Shridath and Prof. Persaud at a time when environmental concerns were considered "exotic and off-centre." The Secretariat's Expert Group Report was the first by a major international institution on the subject and the Secretariat should be proud of its contribution to the debate at that time.
His address to members centred on what was behind the current economic crisis, what was happening and where we were heading. He described the UK and US economic systems as having had a "massive heart attack" in the last 6-10 months and while surviving on modern economic "medicine" had suffered widespread internal damage.
Three things combined to bring about the crisis: the bursting of the asset bubble which had especially seen house prices rise to unreal levels in the UK; the complete collapse of the banking system in which confidence had evaporated because of irresponsible lending, the asset bubble bursting and the extraordinary growth in complexity of financial products which ultimately disguised toxic assets; and the resultant recession when people stopped spending, shops had less takings and business as a whole contracted. The recession is also hurting developing countries which export commodities, manufacturing products and rely on tourism.
The good news, Dr Cable added, was that whereas six months ago there was a real risk of a 1930s style global depression, this time Central Banks and governments have reacted strongly and intervened to keep their economies going. This has worked and more importantly, the system has held together internationally and the fear that some countries would resort to nationalism and protectionism has receded though not gone away.
Dr Cable offered the following thoughts in his conclusion:
--That the worst of the crisis has passed but that the UK and US are sustained only on monetary "steroids," such as low interest rates, which would come to an end soon;
--That the past few months had had a devastating effect on government budgets as revenue had fallen while public expenditure kept increasing; and
--That as everyone was conscious that this was a global issue and the fear of trade barriers going up remained, global consultations now routinely included developing countries as with the G20 - indeed he and Dr Persaud had spent endless hours in the 1980s trying to devise just such structures where developed and developing countries could debate issues and make decisions. The G20 has come to recognise that many of the underlying problems have arisen from the massive imbalance in the world economy - which was exactly what the Secretariat had been talking about in Marlborough House 25 years ago and were never addressed.
To questions from members and invited guests, Dr Cable said that despite the recession the commitment for development assistance remained, which in itself was remarkable progress from the days when the aid budget was one of the first to be cut. The networking role of major institutions such as the Commonwealth were particularly important at this time to maintain international links. The Commonwealth was important, for example, in ensuring that the voices of small and poor countries were heard and not forgotten in international fora where they were not represented, as in the G20.
Vote of Thanks
The Hon. Patron, Sir Peter Marshall, in leading the vote of thanks to Mr Cable, said he had made some of the early running for the Secretariat in innovative thinking and had left the organisation in 1990 with his position and reputation established.
Sir Peter also recalled the 1987 CHOGM in Vancouver where, in discussing early concerns about climate change, a template for terms of reference for Commonwealth Expert Group studies had been formulated: establish the state of the problem, how it affects the development of a country, what the country could do to help themselves, and finally what the international community could do. By the next year, the environmental scientists were describing the Commonwealth as the most forward thinking of international bureaucracies on the subject. Sir Peter looked forward to Commonwealth leadership once again at December's UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Reception
After the AGM, members joined Dr Cable, Secretariat and Foundation staff, and representatives of Commonwealth organisations for a reception in the Blenheim Saloon.
|
AGENDA ITEM 4 |
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Marlborough House - 22 July 2010
Chairperson's Report
Members will be pleased to know that the Association has had an extremely busy and rewarding year. We have raised our profile internationally, and have forged closer relations with the Secretariat, its staff as well as with the entire Commonwealth civil society community.
We had twin priorities in the past year - the first was to ensure that Commonwealth leaders sent a signal to the Zimbabwean people, that when the time was right, their country would be welcomed back to Commonwealth membership. The second was the oral history project, which is proceeding slowly but surely. This will probably our most lasting initiative, as it will constitute an important repository of the Secretariat's institutional memory and, in time, that of other Commonwealth organisations. Early contributions are already up on the Association's website (www.comassoc.org) thanks to David Blake, who is in charge of the project and I would recommend that you take a look at it and realise that memories of your service in the Secretariat and the contributions you made to the Commonwealth are of historical importance.
General
This report covers the period August 2009 to July 2010. Our first initiative after the AGM was to concentrate on maintaining pressure internationally in order to keep the issue of Zimbabwe's return on the agenda of relevant Commonwealth bodies. In order to do that, our second initiative was representation by the Association at the Commonwealth People's Forum and at CHOGM for the last week of November 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago. Thirdly, in response to members comments at previous AGMs, we took the decision to support charities in developing member countries and asked all members to identify suitable projects..
1. CHOGM and Zimbabwe
The mandate given us last year was to involve the Association in all relevant consultations on Zimbabwe with a view to facilitating the return of the country to the Commonwealth and engaging with the people themselves. The Association has continued to be an active member of the Commonwealth Organisations Committee on Zimbabwe (ComZim) which was established in 2008. Cheryl Dorall and I represent the Association on the Committee and many of our members represent other Commonwealth organisations. In fact, the vice-chairman is Mark Robinson, one of our founder members, and the past chairman was Carl Wright. Their presence and that of other members highlights the Association's expanding outreach into the Commonwealth community.
Shortly after our AGM last year, ComZim launched a Commonwealth Special Programme on Zimbabwe which was established under the aegis of the Commonwealth Foundation. This Programme has been a work in progress and the Association has been able to take part in some media initiatives to assist Zimbabwean diaspora journalists. The education consortium led by Peter Williams and Carl Wright's Commonwealth Local Government Forum are also involved in this Programme.
CHOGM: The Association was represented at CHOGM and the People's Forum by Cheryl Dorall and myself. We lobbied very hard before and at these meetings for the inclusion of a line in the People's Statement calling on Heads of Government to look forward to welcoming Zimbabwe into the fold when the time was right. This statement was presented to Foreign Ministers in Trinidad and Tobago and we were very pleased that similar phrases emerged in the final communiqué from CHOGM. This was a step forward because at the Kampala CHOGM in 2007, the issue of Zimbabwe had been ignored altogether.
The Association will continue to play an active role in this worthwhile cause.
2. Oral History Project
At the last AGM, members voiced continued support for the Association's Oral History Project. We are pleased that Tony Eggleton, the Secretariat's first Director of Information (1971-74), has submitted two short pieces on the origins of the Commonwealth logo came about and how former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau got Heads of Government to speak more informally at the 1973 Ottawa CHOGM.
The project is also being broadened to enable a wider range of members and other former staff, including those who might not wish, or be unable, to record interviews to participate. This will include written submissions and organising discussion groups around named topics.
David Blake, who is the former Librarian of the Secretariat, is also developing guides to books and articles which have been written by former staff members either specifically about their time at the Secretariat or clearly derived from their experience. Additionally, he is producing a guide to archival resources for the study of the Secretariat. This is in the early stages, but David has already discovered copies of personal diaries of Arnold Smith, the first Secretary-General, at the University of Leeds and audio materials in the national archives of Singapore and Australia. It is hoped these guides will be on the Association's web site and will grow as more material is found.
The project is proceeding slowly partly because of resource constraints but also because members and other former staff are either shy or reluctant to talk about their work. To them I say, you are part of the history of the Commonwealth and your voice should be preserved through our project, so please come forward.
David can be contacted at history@comassoc.org.
In due course, this project will include other Commonwealth organisations
3. Membership
On the eve of the Association's first decade of existence, membership stands at 150 and we continue to be represented in many Commonwealth countries. This underscores our outreach to former colleagues and it is still our ambition to increase representation overseas. We are relying on members to play an active role in encouraging former colleagues to join. We have cemented our relationship with the web team and internal communications officer of the Commonwealth Secretariat to put more information on the Association on the Secretariat's web site and intranet.
Our web site has been revamped recently and in order to cut down costs we will be putting more information on it, including news on members, perhaps in the password-protected part of the site. We urge members to bookmark the site (www.comassoc.org) and visit it regularly. In order to cut down postal and stationery costs, we will continue to communicate with you by email from time to time - but ask you to please notify us at info@comassoc.org of any change in email address or other contact details. For the few of you without email addresses, we will send you important papers by post.
We wish to record with sorrow the recent death of our member Sam Njie of The Gambia. Sam was a Senior Programme Officer with the Governance and
Institutional Development Division from 1995 until he left the Secretariat in 2004. Members and the Association have conveyed their condolences to his family.
4. Advocacy and Information
Members are aware that one of our most important activities is our outreach to other Commonwealth organisations and personalities. In the past year, we have worked closely with the Ramphal Centre for policy studies, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Commonwealth Countries League and many of the other Commonwealth bodies in London and elsewhere.
We continue to have warm relations with the Secretariat's Social Club which includes us in events such as the Summer Sizzle, the Quiz Nights and other special events. In my capacity as Chair, I was invited to address a meeting of the Secretariat's Staff Association recently, and to speak about the early days of the Secretariat and the establishment of the Staff Association and the Social Club.
5. Fundraising
I have left the most heart-warming item for the end. At previous AGMs, members have suggested raising funds for worthwhile projects in developing countries and after the last AGM we asked members to suggest the kind of project which we should support. The response was encouraging, and we received many excellent suggestions. We have now chosen a project which I know you will all wish to support. It is a modest project as this is our first attempt to support a good cause in a Commonwealth developing country.
As this was our first fundraising effort and we had no idea how much support we would receive, the decision was taken that we would choose a project which would not require a great deal of money to be effective. We finally selected the Tanzania Albino Centre in Arusha and the importance of our selection was underlined shortly after when the media reported that a gang in Tanzania had been given the death penalty for killing several albino children for medicinal and other purposes. An important CNN award has recently been given to a film on the plight of these albino people.
We have been fortunate to attract the partnership of the Rotary Club Westminster West for this project which has kindly secured for us the Rotary district headquarters at 6 York Gate, Regent's Park, NW1, for a fundraising evening to be held on Saturday 11 September this year. There will music, entertainment, a stunning raffle draw and fine examples of the best cuisine from member states.
The bottom line is that about £380 can help to educate and train a young albino child for a year and give him or her lifeskills that enable them to be self-sufficient. Our appeal is up on our web site, together with a video clip, and a number of Commonwealth organisations, including the Secretariat, are assisting our efforts selling tickets for the event. We hope all members will support this cause and contribute generously to it.
We have also encouraged our Canadian members to identify their own project and have urged support for the John Small Commonwealth Scholarship at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. The late John Small was a Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General in the early 1980s and these scholarships were set up in his memory. The scholarship is for visiting exchange agricultural or rural development students from a Commonwealth developing country. Small's daughter had written to me seeking support for the scholarship and I asked our Canadian members if they could form a support group. Association member Michael Sinclair has taken on a coordinating role and has reported that a strategy is being suggested to seek donations from Canadian (and other) members of The Commonwealth Association as well as from other organisations.
6. Conclusion
As in the past, it is my pleasurable duty to record our gratitude to the Commonwealth Secretary-General for allowing us to hold this annual event in Marlborough House. His staff have been most supportive of our efforts and we are grateful to them. Finally, I would like to place on record our thanks for the hard work and support which our Honorary Patron Sir Peter Marshall and members of the Executive Committee have extended to the Association
Patsy Robertson
Chairperson
15 July 2010
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Agenda Item 5 |
Treasurer's Report 2010: Receipts and Payments Account for
Nine-Month Period to End 31 December 2009
|
|
9 months to 31/12/09 |
12 months to 31/3/09 |
|
|
£ |
£ |
|
Receipts |
|
|
|
Subscriptions |
1,200.00 |
380.00 |
|
Interest |
|
|
|
Sundry |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Receipts |
1,200.00 |
380.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
Payments |
|
|
|
AGM and social functions |
1,207.94 |
878.64 |
|
Postage, printing, photocopying |
165.21 |
|
|
Subscriptions paid |
20.00 |
|
|
Bank charges |
28.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Payments |
1,421.15 |
878.64 |
|
|
|
|
|
Excess receipts over payments / (payments over receipts) |
(221.15) |
(498.64) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Balance Sheet |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cash at Bank |
|
|
|
HSBC |
820.76 |
1,041.91 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net Assets |
820.76 |
1,041.91 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Financed by |
|
|
|
Accumulated Fund |
1,041.91 |
1,540.55 |
|
Excess receipts over payments / (payments over receipts) |
(221.15) |
(498.64) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
820.76 |
1,041.91 |
|
|
|
|
Notes:
- These accounts have been prepared on a cash basis for the period.
- The subscriptions are paid on a calendar year basis.
- At the AGM in 2009 a resolution was passed changing the financial year end from 31 March to 31 December so that the accounting year and the subscription year would coincide. Hence, these accounts have been prepared for the 9 months ending 31 December 2009.
- The resolution at the 2009 AGM also resolved that future accounts should be prepared on an accruals basis. So these will be the last accounts to be prepared on a receipts and payments basis. Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2010 and for future years will be prepared on an accruals basis, the main effect of which will be that any subscriptions requested for that year which remain unpaid at the end of the year will be shown in the accounts as debtors.
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AGENDA ITEM 6 |
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 22 JULY 2010
NOMINATIONS RECEIVED FOR OFFICE BEARERS
|
POST |
NAME |
PROPOSED BY
|
SECONDED BY
|
|
Chairperson
|
Patsy Robertson |
Michael Fathers |
Amrit Sarup |
|
Vice-Chairperson |
Stuart Mole |
Jack Cowan |
Janet Singh
|
|
Secretary
|
Cheryl Dorall |
Rupert Jones-Parry |
Neville Linton |
|
Treasurer
|
Richard Sisson |
Jagdish Gandhi |
Gina Mason |
|
Committee Member 1
|
James Allie |
Shireen Gunasekera |
Domini Bingham |
|
Committee Member 2 |
David Blake |
Elizabeth Hinks |
Bernie Dare |
|
Committee Member 3
|
Dharani Rethnam |
Keith Mather |
Valerie Karunaratne |
|
Committee Member 4
|
Sharon Robinson |
KBK Rao |
Sallay Williams |
|
Committee Member 5
|
Lindsay Ross |
Kaye Whiteman |
Rickie Sankar |
These are the complete set of nominations received by
12 July 2010.