ERNWACA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

Transcription

1 ERNWACA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING FINAL REPORT February 2009 Hôtel Novela Star, Lomé, Togo

2 Executive Summary The fifth meeting of the ERNWACA board of directors took place in Lomé, Togo the February 2009 at the hotel Novela Star. The date coincided with the 20th anniversary of the founding of the network. Nine out of eleven board members, including the Minister of Technical and Professional Education in Burkina Faso, attended the meeting. The opening ceremony was presided over by the Secretary General, representing the Ministry of higher education and research of Togo The board analyzed and discussed the reports and other documents submitted to it and made some very important decisions and recommendations. The board received and discussed the Chairman s report on the process of selecting the new RC and the Regional Coordination s (RC) 2008 annual report detailing the continuation of the implementation of the action plan. The board approved the reports after having made some key recommendations on the RC report, notably, that the RC should always report on activities undertaken from the decisions and recommendations of previous board meetings, and that the RC should encourage national coordinations (NC) to produce an annual work-plans together with national budgets. Also, the board approved the 2009 budget with a key recommendation to insert and emphasize a budgetary heading indicating support to national coordinations. The board congratulated the interim regional coordinator for the quality of work accomplished since the beginning of the transition period and approved an Acting Allowance equal to 25 % of the starting point of the salary of the new coordinator with retroactive effect. The board tasked the Regional Coordination (RC) to ensure: 1) diversification of partnerships by providing operational guide to the Regional Resource Mobilization Committee; 2) Elections are held for the post of National Coordinators where they have out-lived their constitutional mandate of more than two three-year terms; 3) modification of ERNWACA statutes to an NGO status with headquarters in Mali; 4) distribution of the procedures manual and statutes to board members and national coordinators with the return deadline to the RC being fixed for 1 April The board discussed a paper presented by the out-going Chairman to institutionalize the membership of the board and agreed on membership to be composed as follows: 3 NCs (2 Francophone and 1 Anglophone), 2 Ministers of Education (1 Francophone and 1 Anglophone), 2 Technical and Financial Partners, 1 representative of research community, 1 former Regional Coordinator and the current Regional Coordinator. The board unanimously elected Prof. Ousmane Gueye as its new chairman in place of Mr. Joshua J.K. Baku. Prof Gueye is a professor of philosophy at Cheik Anta Diop University and the national coordinator of ERNWACA-Senegal. He will preside over the next meeting of the board to be held in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Finally, the board strongly recommended that all National Co-ordinations, along side the regional coordination celebrate the 20th anniversary of ERNWACA. The Page 2

3 exact dates will be communicated to the NCs later after some funding source must have been discovered.. The outgoing Chairman, Mr. Joshua Baku thanked the government of Togo and the Togo chapter for hosting the meeting, and expressed his gratitude to members of the board for their support to make his tenure a success. He was also very appreciative and grateful to the team from the ERNWACA regional coordination for their significant contributions to the network. Report from the ERNWACA Board of Directors meeting Lomé, 12 and 13 February 2009 The program of the meeting was structured around two main activities: the opening ceremony and the business session. 1. THE OPENING CEREMONY The fifth meeting of the ERNWACA board of directors took place in the conference room of the Novela Star hotel in Lomé on the 12th and 13th of February The Secretary General for Education who represented the Minister of Higher Education and Research in Togo presided over the ceremony, which had four addresses. The coordinator of ERNWACA Togo, Mr. Philippe Dzek Amevigbe welcomed members to the board meeting. In his welcoming speech, he thanked the members of the board of directors for choosing his country to host the meeting. According to him the choice clearly indicated the determination of the network in making an impact in each member country. He gave a brief report on the activities and prospects of ERNWACA Togo. The ERNWACA interim regional coordinator, Ms. Mireille Massouka took the floor to present ERNWACA s aims and objectives and the priority themes as defined by the National co-ordinations which the network has been working on over the past four years. She was very happy to welcome to the board Dr. Maxime Some, the Minister of Technical and Professional Education in Burkina Faso, for a three-year term. Ms. Massouka was particularly happy to have observed that the Lome meeting date coincided with the exact date of the 20 th anniversary of the network i.e. 12 th February th February It was next the turn of Dr. Maxime Some to address the session. In his capacity as minister and as member of the ERNWACA board of directors, he congratulated ERNWACA on its 20 years in existence. He emphasized the fact that twenty years was an age of maturity and encouraged the network to consolidate its vision, mission and achievements and in particular its visibility in all the member countries. The Secretary General, Professor Comlan De Souza, who stood in for the Minister for Research and Higher Education, expressed his satisfaction with the choice of his country to host the meeting. He again offered the availability of the Ministry of Research and Higher Education to work with the expressed the willingness and readiness of his ministry to work with ERNWACA Togo whose relevance and usefulness to the mission of educational development in Africa has already been Page 3

4 proven. She encouraged the members of the board, and through them, all ERNWACA researchers to continue their efforts to accelerate quality research development in Africa. 2. THE BUSINESS SESSION The Agenda The agenda of the board meeting included the following: Report on the recruitment process for the new Regional Coordinator (Chairman, Mr. Joshua Baku ); Report on the transition period (Interim RC); Examination and approval of the 2008 annual report and analyses of the 2008 budget (Mireille Massouka and Moïse Théra); Presentation and discussion of the provisional report on the audit (Moïse Théra and Chairman); Presentation and discussion of the 2009 budget (Moïse Théra); Challenges in mobilizing resources (Mireille Massouka); Celebration of 20 years of ERNWACA (Mireille Massouka); Election of the new president of the ERNWACA board of directors (Outgoing Chairman). 2.1 Report on the selection process for the post of Regional Coordinator Mr. Baku explained the entire process of the recruitment and how he handled the dilemma that arose when the selected candidate declined at the last minute to take the offer. He insisted and illustrated that the selection process was not only rigorous and of very high international standard but also very participatory (especially during the processes leading to the selection of the runner up candidate) and transparent. An Ivoirian Human Resource Firm was recruited to float the adverts, review the particulars of the candidates and shortlist eight of them for the consideration of the Boards selected panel members. The panelists independently assessed the cvs and the vision statements of the shortlisted candidates and sent back their results to the firm which arranged video interviews with the best rated five candidates to come up with the three top-most applicants. Unfortunately, the top-most performer, Dr. Seya turned down the offer and this led to various complications compounded mainly by lack of funds to start the process all over again, an option which a few panelists preferred. The majority however agreed with the appointment of the first runner up. Negotiations had accordingly been conducted with the first runner up, Dr. Djeneba Traore, who was however constrained from assuming duty on January 1 st as planned. She has signed the contract to assume duty on April 1 st, The chairman explained that in order for the new RC to take off on a clean sheet and learn from the experiences of her predecessor, he had directed that an operational audit be conducted dating back to 2002 when the out-gone RC started work with the network. Discussions brought up by M. Baku s presentation brought the board to take the following decisions: Approve the selection of Dr. Traore as the Regional Coordinator and other actions taken by the Chairman in the process. Page 4

5 The board should define the evaluation criteria for the regional coordinator as well as for ERNWACA regional coordination personnel. Accepted the suggestion that the Board Chairman will hold a counseling session with the new coordinator on the weaknesses identified in the process of vetting and consensus building. All NCs should be pleaded with to hold back their personal biases against the candidate and cooperate with her with completely new mindsets in the interest of the network. 2.2 Report on the transition period The ERNWACA transition period began on 1 October 2008 end will end on 31 March The presentation by Ms. Massouka, ERNWACA interim regional coordinator, related 4 principal areas: 1) administration; 2) partnerships; 3) ongoing projects; 4) challenges. The report showed clearly that several initiatives were undertaken, notably with ongoing activities, and relationships with partner organizations. 1) Administration Actions The following institutional and management documents were updated following the recommendations of the last board meeting in Lagos in April 2008: The 2007 annual report was edited taking into accounts comments from the members of the board of directors; The procedures manual from the specialized committee was revised waiting for board approval; The Statutes as revised at the Lagos Strategic meeting has been properly put together, also awaiting board s approval; The 2008 provisional annual report has been prepared and was going to be presented at the meeting. The presentation also brought up the two audits carried out in January 2009: the 2008 annual financial audit and an operational audit for the years ordered by the board chairman. 2) Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Relationships with existing partners have been consolidated while new contacts were made with other potential partners (American Universities, NGOs, etc.). The team at the regional coordination succeeded in making follow-up calls to mobilized funds expected from the following partners: CRDI, Swedish cooperation through CODESRIA, UEMOA, and the Swiss Cooperation. ERNWACA also received funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign affairs for five years of support for the ERNWACA Research Grant Program. Prospects for renewing financing support with certain partners have been promised, but needs to be followed up. 3) Ongoing Projects Ms. Massouka presented details of five main ongoing projects, including the launch dates, allocated budget, participating countries, the person responsible for Page 5

6 the project and the projected completion date of the project. The projects were: Research Grants Program, Panafrican agenda to integrate new technologies in teaching (Panaf), project on decentralization, and the publication of the African Review of Research in Education (RARE). With the exception of Panaf which will enter its second phase for a period of two years, all the projects will take place over the course of at least 3 years. 4) Challenges encountered The report identified two principal challenges: The absence of a roadmap to define the responsibilities of the interim regional coordinator; Lack of initiative on the part of several national coordinations in mobilizing their own resources. After the presentation of the transition period report, the board took the following decisions: Congratulated the regional coordination for the initiatives put in place during the transition period; Endorsed the assessment of efforts to follow-up and mobilize resources; Approved an Acting Allowance equal to 25% of the starting point of the salary of the new regional coordinator to the interim regional coordinator for the quality of work accomplished, The approval takes retroactive effect from October 1 st, The Board strongly recommended that: National co-ordinations should Endeavour to mobilize their own resources independent of those coming from the regional coordination. The NCs may gradually be tune towards a situation where funding support from the Regional Coordination is made proportional to the locally attained/ generated resources. 2.3 Presentation and Approval of the 2008 annual report and the 2008 audited report The interim regional coordinator presented the network s 2008 annual report. Thereafter Mr. Théra s also presented for discussion the 2008 audit statement. The results of the examination were that the entire budget of FCFA is a 28% increase from the previous fiscal year. This increase is linked to the launching of several programs: decentralization, institutional support for recruitment, e-learning, and JERARE with Swedish SIDA revenue amounted to FCFA, a 9,5% increase from the previous fiscal year. Expenditures equaled FCFA divided among different sectors: 74% for research and strengthening capacities, 2% for communication and advocacy, 10% for institutional development, and 14% for administration. The network achieved its financial management goals for The board took the following decisions and made some recommendations thereafter: Congratulated the regional coordination for the richness of the report in Page 6

7 information, as well as images; Noted with satisfaction a net improvement in the presentation of the financial report; Appreciated innovations in presenting the annual report, in ERNWACA publications and at the national and regional levels; Approved the 2008 annual report. The board recommended that the Regional Coordination should: present activities undertaken in compliance with the decisions and recommendations of previous board meetings, indicating the reasons why some decisions were not implemented; ensure that reports received by NCs are synchronized; encourage NCs to hold regular ERNWACA cafes in member countries; increase NCs managerial staff to increase their capacity for intervention, thereby ensuring the visibility of the network at the national level; encourage NCs to develop partnerships with national ministries of education by signing conventions, agreements, or contracts; encourage NCs to produce an agenda of annual activities, a budget, and statements of accounts or financial reports at the end of each year. Presentation and discussion of the provisional report on the audit The chairman of the board of directors authorized the audit of the 2002 to 2008 operations of the network to assess the quality of management during this period and to determine areas that can be improved upon. The document was read beforehand by all board members, and several points deemed pertinent where brought up by Mr. Théra and the chairman in their presentation. The report from the audit was presented in the form of a table divided into three sections: a) Official report; b) risks; c) recommendations. After a lengthy discussion of the report the board took the following decisions: Authorized the chairman of the board to submit the audit report to the former regional coordinator for her reactions to questions posed. ERNWACA Statutes ERNWACA has been legally registered as a professional association in Mali, since 13 September However, the 20 years of existence, ample ERNWACA activities and the challenges faced by research today in its member countries oblige ERNWACA to revisit its status. Therefore: The board authorizes the RC to find ways and means to modify ERNWACA s status into that of an NGO with the aim of obtaining a headquarters agreement with the Malian government. Board of Directors The board considered it compelling to revisit the composition of its membership in light of new challenges it must face: It was therefore decided that the board from Page 7

8 henceforth be composed as follows: o 3 representatives from NC (2 francophone and 1 anglophone); o 2 representatives from Ministries of Education (1 francophone, 1 anglophone); o 2 technical and financial partners; o 1 former regional coordinator; o 1 representative of the researchers named by the regional scientific committee; o 1 current regional coordinator The number of members was maintained at 11 (eleven). Regional Coordination The weaknesses in management noted at the level of the RC were explained by the non-adoption of operational documents at the regional and national level. The board authorized the RC to forward to the NCs and to the members of the board the procedures manual and statutes revised. These should be looked at and comments passed on to the RC. The deadline for reception is 1 April 2009; The board recommended that the RC integrate the roles and responsibilities of the regional committee for resource mobilization in the procedure manual; The board recommended the RC to draft a document that stipulates the engagements of, and hierarchy between the regional coordination and national coordinations. National Coordinations As with other ERNWACA leadership, national coordinations are headed by a national coordinator elected by his peers for a term of 3 years but is renewable. Several national coordinators occupy the post for un-determined terms. The board authorized the RC to ensure in 2009 the renewal of the leadership of national co-ordinations who have exceeded the three-year term; The board authorised NCs to demand payment of annual dues by all members and all actors who benefit from projects and grants. Personnel Management The audit noted irregularities in the remuneration of different posts and personnel. This brought the board to recommend the: combination of the post of webmaster with that of information officer; Contracting the services of a human resources consultant to address the salary scale structure for staff at the regional coordination. The board assigned Mr. Bih and Mr. Dougnon to assemble information about salaries at other international institutions similar to ERNWACA. Signature of check and other banking documents The board recommended that staff within the regional coordination sign ERNWACA banking documents (financial officer + RC with approval of Page 8

9 project heads), beginning 1 April 2009, the date when the next substantive regional coordinator takes office. Tax and special taxation regularizations Due to failures adhere to certain tax laws of the host country, action must be taken at both financial and legal levels: The board authorizes Mr. Denis Dougnon to meet with the auditor for a briefing on the weaknesses/tax offences revealed; The board recommended the recruitment of a legal tax advisor to help ERNWACA restore its credibility as a balanced liability institution. 2.4 Presentation and discussion of the 2009 budget The proposed 2009 budget statement which amounted to FCFA, an 8% decrease from the previous year was presented by Mr. Théra. This decrease is linked to certain projects coming to a close. The make up of financial partners shows that 60% of the budget is financed by CRDI, 28% by the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, 7% by the UEMOA, and 5% from Swedish SIDA. Analysis of the budget by activities reveals that 68% is dedicated to research activities and strengthening capacities; 11% is committed to communication and advocacy; 8% to institutional development and 14% is for administration FCFA of the overall budget goes to NCs to cover their administrative costs. In the discussion that followed the presentation the board: congratulated the RC for the vision, aspirations and clarity of the 2009 budget; recommended that in future the RC presents a financial report clearly indicating the support allocated to NCs, as well as a narrative describing changes in the budget. adopted the budget. 2.5 Challenges in resource mobilization Ms. Massouka s presentation addressed resource mobilization and the necessity for ERNWACA to diversify its partnerships. In the current action plan which ends in 2010, it is observable that 60% of the budget comes from the International Development Research Center (IDRC). Other partners such as the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, the UEMOA, the Swiss Co-operation, Swedish SIDA, and USAID provide the remaining 40%. In the discussion that followed the board took the following decisions to raise funds, and diversify partnerships: Initiate a strategy to strengthen ERNWACA s capital funds by organizing trips to the 14 member countries to mobilize funds; Recommended that the RC provide operational means to the Regional Resource Mobilization Committee to enhance its work; Recommended that the Regional Resource Mobilization Committee Page 9

10 should submit its operational plan for 2009 not later than April 30, 2009.; Authorized the RC, with the support and guidance of Mr. Mohammed Chérif Diarra to approach the African Union for great cooperation and support; Encouraged the RC to pursue an agenda of training national level personnel in effective resources mobilization. 2.6 Celebrating 20 years of ERNWACA February 12, 2009, marked the 20 th anniversary of ERNWACA. Discussion on how to mark the anniversary brought out the following recommendations: The board authorize ERNWACA national coordinations to organize events at the local level to celebrate the 20th anniversary so as to mobilize resources and increase the network s visibility; The board recommended that the regional coordination mobilize funds, notably through the Malian government to celebrate organize a regional celebration of the anniversary especially through a conference and/or a publication. 2.7 Election of a new board chairman Mr. Joshua Baku, the General Secretary of ERNWACA/Ghana had completed his three year tenure as chairman of the board and presented his farewell message to the board, wishing it success in all its future endeavours. Professor Ousmane Gueye, NC of ERNWACA/Senegal and Mr. Max Njie, NC of ERNWACA/Gambia were the two representatives of national coordinators who qualified to be elected to the chairmanship position. However, Mr. Njie stepped down for Prof. Gueye to make his election a unanimous decision. Prof. Gueye has thus become the second Board Chairman and will serve a three years un-renewable term. He accepted the responsibility and pleaded for the cooperation of all members. He also hoped Mr. Baku would always be available and approachable to him to place his experience at the disposal of the board and the network. Location of the next meeting After 20 years in existence, the board decided to retrace its steps to Freetown, Sierra Léone, which was the birthplace of ERNWACA, for the next meeting. The meeting finally concluded with a final thank you message from the outgoing chairman to all the board members, and congratulations message to the new chairman. Members observed a minutes silent prayer. Page 10

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