ICA International

ICAI Board Report:

ICAI online regional gatherings and General Assembly

With member organisations and related organisations and groups in over 40 countries worldwide, online gatherings play a key role in facilitating peer to peer support and collaboration among ICAs and ICA colleagues, within and across regions. ICAI currently convenes online regional gatherings three times per year, for three regional time zone groups – Asia/Pacific, the Americas, and Europe/MENA/Africa.

These regional gatherings are open to all ICA members, staff and volunteers worldwide, and people are welcome to attend another region’s gathering if they cannot attend their own. The third series of gatherings for 2013 were held December 9-11, and attracted 23 people from 19 countries.

The aims of the gatherings are to connect ICAs and ICA colleagues with each other, and help to build & strengthen relationships between them; to share information and facilitate peer-to-peer support and collaboration among ICAs and ICA colleagues; and to hold ICAI accountable to its members, and seek input & support to strengthen our global network and advance our global mission.

The agenda every time includes introductions and questions & discussion on reports shared by ICAs and ICAI. Agenda items particular to the December gatherings, in preparation for the following online General Assembly, included criteria for ICAI financial support to member initiatives, a proposed procedure for developing global policy for ICA, our pattern of face-to-face global conferences, and categories of ICAI membership. A full transcript of the gatherings has been circulated, including links to the meeting papers and online recordings of the three 90-minute meetings – please ask if you’d like a copy.

If you have not been able to join the online gatherings this year, please do let me or another ICAI Board member know if there is anything that we can do to make these online regional gatherings more relevant and accessible to you next year. Please also let us know what alternative approaches to remote networking might work better for you, whether synchronous (such as online meetings and twitter chats) or asynchronous (such as email, facebook and linkedin).

ICAI December 2013 General Assembly

The ICAI General Assembly meets normally once per year. Its aims are to take ICAI membership decisions, including approval of Associate & Statutory memberships; to take ICAI strategy & policy decisions, to direct the work of the Board and to guide & support the peer-to-peer collaboration among ICAs; and to elect the ICAI Board and hold it accountable to the membership, including by receipt of an annual audited finance report.

The 2013 GA was held online on December 16, using Adobe Connect. Nineteen people from 12 ICAs participated, including voting representatives from 10 of 19 voting statutory members. We were grateful for technical support for the meeting from ICA:UK Associate and virtual facilitator Orla Cronin.

Seven ICAs were accepted as new or renewed statutory members, bringing the total to 19. A further 11 ICAs were accepted subject to payment of dues and/or formal request. It was decided to change the term of membership from the January-December calendar year to the 12-month period following receipt of dues. The GA received the audited financial statements for 2012, and Timothy Wright in Canada was re-appointed to audit ICAI’s Financial Statements again for 2014. The seven serving members of the ICAI Board were re-elected as Directors. A new procedure for development of global policy was approved, and a number of ICAs agreed to propose a working group to use the procedure to develop a new global policy for ToP facilitation and training.

In addition to this decision-making, feedback was invited on the Board’s plan to develop its work plan for 2014 on the basis of the 2013-14 strategy approved by the GA in 2013, and no objections were raised. Further discussion was had on the question of whether to call a face-to-face General Assembly for 2014 and/or a Global Conference for 2016, although it was decided not to hold a vote due to insufficiently inclusive and in-depth discussion among members prior to the meeting. The meeting was notified of the new legal requirement to obtain a ‘continuance’ in order maintain ICAI’s registration as a non-profit in Canada. A special General Assembly will be called for February 2014 to amend the Bylaws for that purpose.

A full report is available on request, with a link to the full online recording of the 90 minute meeting. Feedback from those participating included: “Efficient and effective”, “Very smooth and good timing”, “It was excellent. Thanks for all who made it possible”, “Awesome organization! Thank you for such professionalism!” and “Appreciate clarity, preparation from area meetings and moving well”. Isabel de la Maza of ICA Chile was unable to attend but watched the recording and wrote:: “It was a great meeting!!!!, Thanks for a very professional virtual facilitation job. Wow!!! It is incredible what technology is permitting in these days”.

A brief online survey has been circulated by email to 99 representatives of 42 ICA locations worldwide to seek further feedback, particularly from those who did not participate, to help the Board make future online gatherings and GAs more inclusive and more effective.

ICAI Board          board@ica-international.org

BANGLADESH:

Happy New Year!

For the country as a whole, the year 2013 was abnormal due to the deteriorating political situation. Strikes, blockades and demonstrations over the past months severely affected the work of businesses, development organizations and the public sector agencies. ICA Bangladesh colleagues have faced difficulties organizing events and holding project activities as per the action plan. The national election is scheduled to be held on January 5th. But the non-participation of the opposition party in the 10th national parliament election created uncertainty regarding political stability. By now, hundreds of lives have been lost due to political violence and law enforcement encounters. We hope the year 2014 will bring in political harmony and establish democracy on a strong basis.

The good news is that our learning centers for the street children in Dhaka City, and for the disadvantaged children in Chandur were not affected much by the political unrest. But staff development was badly affected as our colleagues could not attempt to travel to the ICA office given the risk of burning buses or other public transport. However, reports and audits for the past year projects were submitted to the NGO Affairs Bureau.

We hope to revise our action plan and budget soon after the election if everything goes well. Fundraising from local sources is likely to be uncertain as the economy is badly affected by the political turmoil. Our wish is that the new year will bring peace and justice to society!

Staff           admin@ica-bangladesh.org

NEPAL:

Training and Facilitation:
December has been an eventful month for ICA Nepal in terms of Training and Facilitation.

Capacity Building Training for GIZ:
Twelve days of capacity building training was conducted for the ILRA Project supported by GIZ from 1 Dec. to 15 Dec. 2013. The GIZ supported project, Improvement of Livelihoods in Rural Areas, (ILRA), is being implemented in Baitadi and Bajhang districts.
The objective of the project is to improve the livelihoods of the local population through the promotion of labour intensive infrastructure development and rehabilitation works, introduction of new income opportunities, improvement in agriculture, and capacity development.

ILRA is in the process of consolidating its activities in the districts, hence in order to strengthen the capacities of its social mobilizers and to increase their employability, the capacity building training was organized. ICA facilitated the program and training was held in the ICA Training Hall Babarmahal. The content covered Social Mobilization, Facilitation Skills, Social Artistry Leadership and Result Oriented Leadership and Management. The program was coordinated by Ms. Ishu Subba and facilitated by Mr. Atma Ram Timsina, Mr. RC Lamichane and Ms. Pramila KC. There were 10 participants from Bajhang and the Baitadi districts of Nepal.

Training on Gender & Development for, Handicap International-Nepal:
The Handicap International Federation, a not-for-profit association, governed works to improve the living conditions and the social and economic inclusion of children, and men and women with disabilities in Nepal. Realizing the need of awareness of gender issues in human resources, Handicap International organized a day long training on Gender and Development for its whole staff. The training was held on 23 Dec. 2013 at Orchid Hotel, Tripureshwor. There were 33 participants and Mr. Bed P. Sapkota and Ms. Januka Karki facilitated the training.

Training on Facilitation Skills for Handicap International-Nepal:
Specifically for Handicap International's - Nepal program officers, a three day long training session on facilitation skills was conducted from 29 Dec. to 31 Dec. 2013. There were 13 participants and the course was facilitated by Mr. Narayan Pradhan and Mr. Rupendra Maharjan.

Social Artistry Project- Developing Junior Social Artists
Regular activities in the orientation of social artistry tools are being given to school going children. At present, the students are developing micro projects incorporating the tools that we shared with them in past orientation programs. Initially the project is concentrating on the students from the Glen Buds School and the Oracle Academy. Under the supervision of Dr. Tatwa P. Timsina and coordination with Ishu Subba, Ms. Pramila KC is working directly with the school administration and students to develop the micro projects.

Providing Office Facilities:
ICA provided its space and service to various organizations, such as Multi Stakeholders Forestry Program (MSFP) and Alternative to Violence Program (AVP).

Ishu Subba        ishu@ica-nepal.org