27th International Council Meeting (Circular 1) Underlag till styrelsemöte 1-2 juni 2004

Till: Styrelsen
Från: Sekretariatet
Datum: 15 september 2004


To: All Sections and Structures
Date: 3 August 2004

27TH INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING

CIRCULAR 1

Letter from the ICM Chair and Call for Working Party
Chairs and Rapporteurs

Summary

This the first circular for the 2005 International Council Meeting (ICM).

It contains a letter from the ICM Chair, information on the role of the ICM Preparatory Committee
and the issues discussed at their June meeting, as well as the call for nominations for Working Party
Chairs and Rapporteurs.

Distribution

This is an internal organizational circular which is being sent to all sections and coordinating
structures.

Recommended Actions

Please circulate this document to all people in your section/structure who are involved in ICM
preparations.

Nominations should be sent to Sinéad Allan, OLU, at the IS, by the deadline of 15 October 2004.
INTERNAL (for AI members only)

ICM 2005 AI Index: ORG 50/001/2004
Distr: SC, NC
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Amnesty International
International Secretariat
Peter Benenson House
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom

2
AI Members Only AI Index: ORG 50/001/2004

Distr: SC, NC

----------------------------

Amnesty International
International Secretariat
Peter Benenson House
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom


20 July 2004

Dear Friends,

As has been the custom over the last twelve years now, the outgoing ICM Preparatory Committee
(PrepCom) 1 meets in the year after the International Council Meeting (ICM) in order to review the last
ICM and see what needs to be looked at both from a logistical and from an 'agenda' point of view for
the coming ICM. PrepCom met on the first weekend in June in Antwerp, Belgium, to do just that.

The overall evaluation of the 2003 ICM has been that it was a productive and forward looking ICM in
an environment efficient for the working process of a council.

As you will all probably know by now, we will go back to Morelos for the ICM in 2005. The
PrepCom meeting in Antwerp therefore naturally focused on ways of making the decision making
process even more in accordance with Standing Orders 1.1:

"to make the procedures, processes and structure of meetings of the International
Council as accessible, readily understood and friendly as possible"

PrepCom therefore discussed and evaluated logistics, plenary sessions, working party sessions, the
fringe meetings and any other issues relevant for evaluation. PrepCom went through the evaluations
carried out by participants, staff and volunteers. Should you still have points of view on any issues
related to the last ICM, please forward them to me or the ICM Agenda Coordinator at the IS, Sinéad
Allan. We will use as much as possible from the evaluation in the preparation of the next ICM.

The consequence of an ICM without a decision on a new Integrated Strategic Plan (ISP)
At the next ICM we will be in this very special and new situation where we are not going to decide on
an ISP, but we will be bound by the 2003 ISP for the 4 years following the 2005 ICM. We therefore
have to prepare for the ICM 2005 in a way that respects the decisions already taken and at the same
time leaves room for amendments and adjustments that suits the movement in 2005 and onwards. It is
therefore also relevant to be aware of what the purpose of the ICM is.

The 2001 ICM in Dakar decided the following with regard to the role of the ICM, (statute article 6):

"Ultimate authority for the conduct of the affairs of Amnesty International is vested
in the International Council. The primary functions of the International Council
are:

1 The following people were present at the meeting: Albert Gans (Chair ICM 2003), Guadalupe Rivas (Vice
Chair ICM 2003/2005), Claus Høxbro (Chair ICM 2005), Marion Pink (IEC), Johanna Eyolfsdottïr (Working
Party Chair), Mireille Boisson (Working Party Chair), Marj Byler (IS), Chantal Vouillemin (IS), Sinéad Allan
(IS, ICM Agenda Coordinator).

(i) to focus on strategy;
(ii) to set Amnesty International's vision, mission and core values;
(iii) to determine Amnesty International's Integrated Strategic Plan including its financial
strategy;
(iv) to establish systems and bodies of governance and delegation for the movement, to
elect members to those bodies, and to hold those bodies and their members
accountable;
(v) to evaluate the movement's performance against its agreed strategies and plans;
(vi) to hold sections, structures and other bodies accountable"

As you will all know, the 2001 ICM in Dakar decided on 6 (ii) and (iv). The 2003 ICM in Morelos
was focused on 6 (i) and (iii).

The 2005 ICM will probably have important discussions and decision making on issues such as armed
intervention and "core concept" versus "full spectrum".

In accordance with article 6 (v) and (vi) and the ongoing discussion of evaluation and accountability,
the 2005 ICM will probably also focus on these issues.

The 2005 ICM will also have to make some evaluation of the first two years of the ISP and probably
some amendments to the ISP for period 2006 - 2010.

Whatever work Amnesty International is doing and will be doing until 2010, has to be covered by the
ISP.

We have to decide carefully what issues and resolutions we want to discuss at the 2005 ICM. We also
have to be aware of the different roles different bodies have up to and at the ICM.

It is the IEC and the sections who decide on the content of the council, and PrepCom then has to make
sure that the discussion and the decision making process is in accordance with the principles laid down
in the statute, the standing orders and the general principles by which we conduct the ICM, while
setting the environment for having fruitful discussions.

With a reminder that all ICM resolutions need to be of a strategic and not operational nature, the ICM
PrepCom asks you to consider how any proposed resolution would, if passed, fit into the ISP. The
IEC and PrepCom have not yet decided how to deal with issues that do not fit into the current ISP. A
first discussion about this is to take place at the September IEC retreat meeting where the PrepCom
Chair will be present. PrepCom welcomes your opinion on this by mid September in order to inform
the discussion with the IEC at the end of the month.

Open Space
In a number of years, there has been an expressed wish to try and make decisions at an ICM by use of
techniques other than the very formalistic approach taken in the Standing Orders. PrepCom discussed
the possibility of finding other useful and effective techniques.

PrepCom asks you to come forward with your opinion on this issue. Do you see a need to change the
format partly or wholly in the very specific way we make decisions at the council? Any change might
lead to changes in the Standing Orders, but leaving this for a moment, we ask you to consider if
changes are needed, and if yes, what possibilities do you see for such a change?

The PrepCom discussed the possibility of using the technique called "Open Space". You can read
much more about this technique at www.openspaceworld.org. At this website Open Space is defined
as follows:

Open Space Technology is one way to enable all kinds of people, in any kind of organization,
to create inspired meetings and events. Over the last fifteen years, it has also become clear
that opening space, as an intentional leadership practice, can create inspired organizations,
where ordinary people work together to create extraordinary results with regularity.

In Open Space meetings, events and organizations, participants create and manage their own
agenda of parallel working sessions around a central theme of strategic importance, such as:
What is the strategy, group, organization or community that all stakeholders can support and
work together to create?

With groups of 5 to 1,000 -- working in one-day workshops, three-day conferences, or the
regular weekly staff meeting -- the common result is a powerful, effective connecting and
strengthening of what's already happening in the organization: planning and action, learning
and doing, passion and responsibility, participation and performance.

To work even partly along these lines at the ICM would be a challenge for all of us. There are a
number of issues that would need to be dealt with, for example, translation issues when working in
smaller groups with the right for each participant to walk from group to group. The choice of topics to
be dealt with using this technique has to be selected carefully. It will not be possible to work with all
issues on the agenda this way. We will therefore probably continue to have the four working parties
from the last council.

It is important for me to stress that we will only move ahead slowly with changes in the procedures
and make sure that only changes that are supported by the delegates are being implemented.

We might try to get some experience working with Open Space at one or two international meetings
before the ICM. The PrepCom would like to hear from any of you who might have experience with
Open Space or similar techniques.

At its September meeting, the IEC will develop some further thoughts on this subject and will advise
you well in advance before the deadline for submitting resolutions to the 2005 ICM. It is important
for PrepCom that the participants at the ICM can prepare for the discussions at the ICM in the best
possible way.

Deadlines and Calls for Nominations
The 2005 ICM will begin on Saturday 13 August 2005. I want to remind you all that the closing date
for Statute Amendments and Resolutions to reach the International Secretariat is seven months before
the opening of the International Council, so this means the deadline is 13 January 2005.

It is also time for me to call on sections to nominate candidates for the posts of Working Party
Chairs and Rapporteurs. Deadline for these nominations is 15 October 2004. These posts are to
be decided early November and are crucial for the running of the ICM. You will find, in Appendix I
of this letter, all the details you need to make your appointments. I especially want to call on sections
that use French or Spanish to think about this issue. Whatever structure the discussion at the ICM
takes, it is important to make sure that we can chair meetings in English, French and Spanish.

Facilitators, who are specifically appointed to help newcomers through the maze of the ICM, are also
invited to come to the fore and present themselves.

As we are evaluating the best way to help newcomers and smaller delegations, there might be some
changes to the way we do this at the next ICM, but we are asking for nominations at this time so that
we are able to appoint facilitators well in advance of the ICM.

The Job Description for facilitators is available from the OLU at the International Secretariat. We will
appoint one in each of the four core languages. Please send any facilitator candidatures to the OLU
and include information about ICM participation (facilitators are required to have lots of ICM
experience), language skills and other reasons why you believe yourself to be a suitable candidate for
this post.

Finally
As the new chair of the next ICM, I cannot thank the outgoing Chair, Albert Gans, enough for his
contribution both to Amnesty work, and also for the enormous work and kind authority he has put into
his work as the Chair of the last 3 ICM´s and as the Chair of PrepCom, not to speak about the number
of years he has served as a member of PrepCom. Albert has made sure that the work at the council
and in PrepCom has always been effective, respectful and fun.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my other colleagues on the ICM PrepCom for the
work they have performed over the last few years. In particular, I should like to thank Johanna
Eyolfsdottïr, who after 4 terms on the team has decided to leave PrepCom. She has brought a lot of
experience and kindness to the team which will be missed.

Lastly, I ask you to send any comments you might have about the content of this letter by mail or by
phone. It is the purpose of PrepCom and thereby also the purpose of the Chair to make sure that the
ICM is a meeting of the participants, that it is conducted in a way that suits your needs and that the
conclusions of the meeting reflect your views.

Kind regards,
Claus Høxbro
ICM 2005 Chair
[email protected]
+45 38 33 33 18
+45 20 43 33 18


Appendix I: CALL FOR WORKING PARTY CHAIRS AND RAPPORTEURS

STATUS AND COMPOSITION OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE

The ICM Preparatory Committee, informally called the PrepCom, is an independent committee whose
members are: the Chair and Alternate Chair of the ICM, - who are elected by the preceding ICM, the
Working Party Chairs, - who are appointed by the ICM Chair, a member of the IEC, the Deputy
Secretary General Resources and the ICM Organizer.

The role of the committee is to ensure the efficient organization of the International Council Meeting.
During the ICM, the PrepCom, together with the working party rapporteurs meet as a Steering
Committee.

Working party chairs and rapporteurs will be invited as special guests to the ICM, and thus they will
not be counted as members of section delegations and their expenses will be covered fully by the
international budget.

APPOINTMENT OF WORKING PARTY CHAIRS AND RAPPORTEURS

The ICM Chair will appoint three working party chairs and four working party rapporteurs who will
be chosen from the nominations sent by sections.

Nominations should be sent to Sinéad Allan, OLU, at the International Secretariat, e-mail
[email protected]

Please note that the deadline for OLU to receive the nominations is 15 October 2004.

Bear in mind when making nominations, that one working party will be chaired in French and another
in Spanish, while the other working parties will be chaired in English. It will still be necessary for all
candidates to have a working knowledge of English so that they can participate fully in all meetings of
the PrepCom.

When submitting nominations, sections are asked to give the following information about candidates:

< Name and full contact details (address, telephone/fax, e-mail)
< Experience in AI
< Experience of ICMs
< Language(s) spoken and written fluency in each
< Suitability for particular working parties
< Special experience (if any) in organizing meetings or special ideas of use for the planning or
running of a council.

ROLE OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE AND STEERING COMMITTEE

The PrepCom will meet in January 2005 (normally in London) in order to:

< Prepare agendas for the working parties;
< Prepare and discuss the handling of resolutions in relation to the Integrated Strategic Plan;
< Prepare amalgamations of resolutions;
< Ensure that appropriate background information to the resolutions is provided, including
costings and resource implications where appropriate;
7
< Indicate how the resolutions would affect the plans and budgets;
< Continue to work on the reform of the ICM.

The second meeting will take place in June 2005 after the IEC meeting (dates to be decided at the
January PrepCom meeting), for discussions with IEC members and IS program staff responsible for
working parties. They will also prepare the resolutions for the second - emergency and amended -
resolutions document.

Just before the start of the ICM, the PrepCom shall meet at the venue and perform the following tasks:

< Decide on the eligibility of emergency resolutions and, if accepted, allocate them to the
relevant working party
< Review the credentials of representatives for any section whose entitlement under Article 13
of the statute has not already been established.

At the ICM, the members of the PrepCom, together with the working party rapporteurs and secretaries,
will constitute a Steering Committee which will perform the following tasks:

< Prepare a schedule for the working parties to report back to the plenary of the International
Council;
< Discuss issues relating to questions of procedure.

Further information on the role and responsibilities of chairs and rapporteurs of the working parties are
available from OLU, at the IS, for those who are interested in submitting nominations.

Please note that Working Party Chairs must be available to attend all meetings of the ICM Preparatory
Committee, as well as the entire ICM and cannot have any other responsibilities at the ICM.

Working Party Rapporteurs must be available to attend the meeting of the PrepCom just before the
ICM, as well as the entire ICM and cannot have any other responsibilities at the ICM.