Minutes of the IAVE members meeting in Singapore 2011

For the first time since Panama in 2008, the IAVE members met to hear reports from the board of directors, this time at the World Volunteer Conference in Singapore. 

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR VOLUNTEER EFFORT

Minutes of the Members Meeting - Singapore, January 25, 2011

Welcome and apologies

IAVE president Dr. Lee opened the meeting by welcoming IAVE members, guests and friends to the meeting. Apologies were received from Mary Ripley, Stan Fisher, Ellen Linley, and Omar Chowdery.

Minutes of the last meeting

IAVE secretary Patricia Nabti read the minutes of the last meeting in Panama on April 4, 2008, which were passed.

Report of elections and introduction of board members

Mark Molloy, chair of the nomination committee, said since 2010 a number of new board members have been elected. Within the N. America region, David Styers was automatically elected as the only candidate. Within the Europe region, out of a large number of candidates, Eugene Baldas from Germany was elected. Within the Asia-Pacific region Dr. Amelita Go from the Philippines and Indira Dasgupta from India were elected. Within the Latin America region, Dacil Acevado from Panama won the post. Yesterday, the National Representatives elected Ruth MacKenzie as the new representative for NRs. Finally, taking over Rose Ekeleme’s position, and out of a very strong group of four candidates, Kylee Bates from Australia was elected. Mark acknowledged the outgoing board members, including Maria Teresa Gnecco, Debbie Huang, and in particular Rose Ekeleme. Mark mentioned Collette Robert and other board member who could devote as much time to the board as they would have liked for various reasons. 

Board report

Kylee Bates outlined some of the highlights of the last two years, including the GCVC research project, the Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Kaohsiung and the Latin America Regional Conference in 2009. In a hard decision, the board elected to close the IAVE Youth Office in Catalonia after the MOU and funding from the Catalonian government came to an end, and there was no indication that it would be continued, IAVE decided to end the office, while acknowledging the contribution the office had made to advancing IAVE’s youth component. Looking to the way forward, a new policy on youth will be presented at the Youth Summit in Colombia in November. Finally, IAVE made progress towards completing the revision of its strategic plan. 

Kathi Dennis said IAVE joined CEV meetings, UNV meetings, and other partner organizations to contribute to the report on the state of volunteering, to be presented to the UN at the end of this year. IAVE was also able to join the Clinton Global Initiative, where IAVE built its relationship with the World Association of Girl Guides and Boy Scouts. Finally, Kathi and Dr. Lee spoke at a Russian conference on volunteering, where they discussed the possibility of working with the host city of the Winter Olympics, Sochi. 

Dr. Lee mentioned preparations for the Arab Regional Conference in March, and the Africa Region Meeting in June in cooperation with the Red Cross, the Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Korea in October, and the Youth Summit in Barranquilla in November. 

Membership

Kenn Allen, special consultant for membership services, said (1) membership had been very stable over the last year, at around 500 in 70 countries, which should rise to 600 at the end of the country; (2) he encouraged everyone to find one more member to double the membership; and (3) urged the members to contribute to E-IAVE by sending him at least one thing that interests them.

Treasurers Report

IAVE treasurer David Styers said there was a lot of good news in IAVE’s financial report. IAVE started 2010 with assets of US$136,000, US$85,000 of which was unrestricted and US$51,000 restricted. Over the year, IAVE exceeded its funding goal by $200,000 and thanks to being diligent, spent $70,000 less than expected. The net result is just over $92,000 in unrestricted funds, and $258,000 in restricted funds. David thanked the members of the GCVC whose sponsorship has enabled IAVE to keep doing the good work it does. 

New mission statement

The mission of IAVE is to foster a culture of volunteering worldwide in order to build a more fair, peaceful, inclusive and compassionate world. 

IAVE Youth Summit 2011 and World Conference 2012 

Matt Claussen, from Partners of the Americas, and IAVE Latin America representative Daniel Buritica urged everyone to attend the Youth Summit in Barranquilla. Elaine Bradley followed by encouraging everyone to go to Dublin from the September 22-26, 2012.

Other business

Kylee reminded everyone about the regional meetings tomorrow; and introduced Kathi, who took on the part-time post of IAVE executive director after the Panama conference. Wendy Osborne invited any interested organizations to attend the national volunteer center meeting tomorrow. 

Dr. Lee invited questions and comments from the floor. Since there were no questions, Kathi said the regional meetings were also a chance to raise issues.

Dr. Lee officially closed the meeting by inviting everyone to the World Conference in Dublin in 2012.