Annual Board meeting
The 2003 ECLOF International Board meeting took place
on 20 and 21 November at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva,
Switzerland.
Seminar
A half-day seminar on "The Role of Board and Management" preceded
the meeting. The seminar began with a showing of ECLOF's
new training video on governance, after which discussion
took place on the issues raised.
Seminar participants spent the rest of the time considering
aspects related to the interpretation of financial statements.
William Temu, ECLOF International Board member and Director
of Management for the World Council of Churches, spoke
about interpreting financial statements in general. Joy
Lumbag, ECLOF International Board member and Treasurer
of ECLOF Philippines, then addressed aspects specifically
related to the interpretation of the financial statements
of ECLOF International and national ECLOF committees. Karen
Prudente, ECLOF International Treasurer, moderated the
session.
Karen Prudente (Photo: Peter Williams)
Business
Besides the regular general agenda items, the Board turned
its attention to the future and focused on a new three-year
credit plan, as well as strategic issues that arise from
the plan. These will be addressed in the coming year in
preparation for the 2004 Board meeting.
Another important item on the agenda was a discussion
of ethical guidelines relating to investments, grants and
project financing. With certain modifications to reflect
the nature of ECLOF's activities, the Board adopted the
investment guidelines of the World Council of Churches.
Elections
Rev. Prof. Christoph Stückelberger was re-elected
to serve for a second term as Chairperson. Günter
Rath and Nils-Gunnar Smith were re-elected to the ECLOF
Board for a second term.
Dr Hendrik Aart Johan Moll was elected for a first term
in the Agencies Category to represent the Netherlands/United
Kingdom/Ireland agencies.
The ECLOF International Executive Committee met in July.
(left to right) Priscilla Daniel, Programme
Executive; Günter Rath, Partner Agencies; Karen Prudente,
Treasurer; Sam Kobia, Vice Chairperson; Muhungi Kanyoro,
Director; Christoph Stückelberger, Chairperson; María
Blanca Juele, NEC representative; George Petty, Programme
Executive; Nejib Ababor, Finance Manager.
New Board member
Alice Youmbi Kengne (left) with Mariam Yessayan
from Armenia,
who represents the European ECLOF committees
on the ECLOF Board.
Alice Youmbi Kengne from Cameroon and President of ECLOF
Cameroon has been elected to the Geneva ECLOF Board to
represent the African ECLOF committees.
Ms Kengne is a lawyer and currently works as a principal
civil administrator. She is the co-author of several laws
in Cameroon including those related to Cameroonian nationality;
the regulation of non-governmental organizations, and the
penal procedure code.
Earlier this year, Ms Kengne completed a ten-year term
as National President of the Christian Women's Health Organization,
which has a membership of 30,000. Now, she co-ordinates
a savings and loan project.
Fond farewells
A number of ECLOF Board members have come to the end of
their terms. They are Samuel Kobia, Bonnie Fatio, Aye Kywe,
Joy Lumbag, Vincent Ngwira and William Temu. We thank these
people for their commitment to and hard work for ECLOF.
Retiring Board member, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia was unable
to be at the December Board meeting due to commitments
related to his taking up the post of General Secretary
of the World Council of Churches in January (see p.
4) . However, at the ECLOF Executive Committee meeting
in October, the ECLOF Chairperson, Rev. Dr. Christoph Stückelberger,
held a special luncheon in honour of Dr Kobia. Dr Stückelberger
said Dr Kobia would always be part of the ECLOF family
and he hoped the ECLOF family would always remain a part
of Dr Kobia.
Bonnie Fatio, who represented ECLOF's Swiss constituency,
left the Board after two four-year terms.
Aye Kywe, from Myanmar, the second Board member who represents
the ECLOF committees in Asia, came to the end of her term.
Joy Lumbag, from the Philippines and representative of
the ECLOF committees in Asia, ended her second four-year
term on the Board.
Vincent
Ngwira, who retired from the Board after serving as the
rotating Board member from Malawi, and representative of
the African ECLOF committees.
William Temu retired from the ECLOF International Board
to devote himself full time to his new position as Director
of Management for the World Council of Churches. In his
farewell speech, Mr Temu said his relationship with ECLOF
went back many years and that relationship was sure to
endure.
Staff change
Richard Pavlic, Programme Assistant for Administration,
will leave ECLOF at the end of the year and pass on his
duties to Angela Lopes. ECLOF is happy to welcome Angela.
She has considerable experience with a number of non-governmental
organizations both as full-time staff and volunteer. Angela
is also a board member of a Greek non-governmental organization
that focuses on international development. Angela was born
in Portugal but has lived for many years in France, Portugal,
Greece and Switzerland. She has a degree in political sciences
and is near completing doctorate work in archaeology. She
also speaks fluent English.
