Minutes of Global Conscience Initiative 4th Annual Board Meeting April 25, 2009

Global Conscience Initiative on April 25 held its 4th annual Board meeting in the Vianello Hotel Complex in Kumba. The meeting saw the election of a new GCI Board Chair, Barrister Pende Eddie Nelson and a Vice Mr. Ayuk Agbor Raymond. GCI Communication Officer was also nominated minutes secretary of the Board. Please read the minutes of the meeting below.

Attendance:

• Justine Lucas, GCI Programme Director
• Kate Armstrong, GCI Communication Officer
• Ayuk Agbor Raymond, Civil Servant Radiologist
• Sako Emmanuel Enyanson, Trade Unionist DTLLHTEGTLL
• Barrister Pende Eddie Nelson, Pen's Law Firm
• Prince Sone Ebong, Ngenko Law Firm
• Honourable Norbert Mbile, NCHRF, Yaoundé
• Barrister Ambo Daniel, Ambo-Esah Law Chambers
• Barrister Awutah Philip, Amumba Law Firm
• Mawoh John Chokeh, Prestige Pharmacy Kumba

Opening Address from GCI Programme Manager Justine Lucas:

• Thanked the distinguished members for their attendance and commitment.
• Outlined the purpose of the meeting: to elect a new chair and vice-chair of the board and to bring new board members up to date with GCI's work in the first quarter of 2009.
• Defined GCI's vision for the board: a small and committed board of directors.

Introductions:

• Barrister Pende Eddie Nelson: Pen's Law Firm, founding member of the Rural Health Organisation a health and human rights organisation. There are lapses in human rights in Cameroon and GCI is here to fill that gap.

• Saka Emmanuel: Trade unionist, once a member of Mukong's human rights organisation. There are many human rights a buses here and he is grateful that GCI is here to redress some abuses.

• Ayuk Raymond: Civil servant radiologist, co-proprietor of Globiccol, board member of GTEC (behind Azi Motel), part of GCI for some time (GCI helped his son flee to France), hopes for a committed Board of Directors.

• Prince Sone Ebong – Ngenko Law Firm, representing Barrister Ngenko Daniel who is teaching. Has attended GCI talk-shops and even chaired one, worked closely with Samba Churchill.

• Honourable Norbert Mbile: heads the SWR unit of the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms in Buea.

Selection of the Board Chairperson:

• Justine Lucas: the Board of Directors is to support the organisation and to criticise and analyse how GCI is moving forward. The Chief of the Board is there to advise GCI. The Board is in charge of the organisation. CEO Samba Churchill will report to the Board.

• Honourable Mbile: nominates Barrister Pende. The other Board members agree.

• Barrister Pende: Thanks everyone present and expresses his appreciation of the honour given to him to take the position of chairman. “You find me credible and able to do this work. I will do the work because one thousand people are not necessary to do it. Commitment is necessary in every I assure the Board that I will do my best to meet up to what is required for this position. In our community we are suffering from a where human rights are relegated to the background. Thank God many organisations are coming up to talk about human rights. I am glad that Honourable Mbile is here so GCI can benefit from the NCHRF. It is God's design and plan that GCI is in Kumba. Since I started working with them, there has been so much impact of GCI in our society. I have been to the prison, the courts, etc and seen the impact of GCI. With this new beginning we will do much more than in the past. Two or three committed people can do the work that millions could have done. I call on everyone here to give their time and effort to help.”

• Justine Lucas: Thanks Barrister Pende for the help he has given GCI so far and is sure he will be an excellent Chair.

Election of the Board Vice-Chairperson:

• Honourable Mbile was suggested because his position with the NCHRF might benefit GCI, but he does not have time to commit to this position and assures the board that his assistance will be available as he is an ordinary Board Member.

• Ayuk Agbor Raymond was selected.

Nomination of Minutes Secretary:

• Kate Armstrong, Communication Officer nominated as Minutes Secretary of the Board.

Review of GCI's first quarterly report for 2009:

• A Programme Director and Finance Officer were appointed to help move GCI forward.
• GCI has two international Advisory Board Members.
• Solid pro-bono legal partnerships have been formed.
• Two talk-shops on Administrative Detention have been held. There is a desire for more so a schedule has been developed.
• A city-wide workshop on corruption is planned for June- August.
• A Human Rights Resource Centre has been established – publications were donated and a bookshelf built.
• The GCI website is undergoing improvements.
• GCI released the first quarterly general newsletter, Global Voice, at the end of March.
• Continuity with interns has been established.
• The Prisoners' Rights Project: supplied legal advice and assessed conditions in the prison; forwarded 8 cases to lawyers; recruited an international consultant, Quincy Diep, to help find the most effective way to release the information we have gathered.
• CAMs: Council trainings on Mediation and Corruption have been performed at 8 councils; evaluations have been positive and shown the workshop is effective; re-visits are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness.
• Human Rights Clubs: These are established to educate students, who run the clubs themselves. New interns are coming in September to work exclusively on the project in August.
• Environmental Health: This has been developed over the last four months; GCI will meet with the Government Delegate and Mayors to discuss progress; a water report was made for International Water Day.
• Human Rights Hour: Input and suggestions from the Board are welcome.
• Communications: After investigations into human rights abuses, GCI prepares reports, press releases, articles for Global Voice and Behind Bars.
• Receiving complaints: GCI receives individual complaints, maintains a complaints file, offers advice and follows up with legal assistance where appropriate. Anti-corruption Cameroon , an international NGO with a base in Yaoundé, has collaborated with GCI in investigating corruption in the transport sector in Kumba. The Senior State Prosecutor has now started a preliminary investigation into this.

Discussion of the Quarterly report:

• Honourable Mbile: Have CAMs been initiated in urban Kumba? If only the villages are targeted, the people in urban Kumba will be missed our. Suggest targeting village meeting houses in urban Kumba.

• Barrister Pende: What is the progress on the Environment Project/ Keep Kumba Clean?

• Justine Lucas: An assessment of Keep Kumba Clean was done in April and a report will be written. Meetings will be set up to discuss the findings.

• Barrister Pende: Suggests that the Environment Project be broadened into Community Quarter Action so it is not just one day per month that Kumba is cleaned and communities are consistently organised to keep paths clean, security, etc.

• Honourable Mbile: Concern expressed that this exceeds the mandate of the Environment Project.

• Barrister Awutah: GCI must remain focused on human rights and should direct the officials concerned with the environment to use resources for good facilities. As human rights activists we should draw the authorities' attention to issues of security.

• Barrister Ambo: Suggestion Government Delegate can instruct people to put trash cans at junctions in the quarters.

• Honourable Mbile: Big trash cans to contain the dirt of the whole quarter, as in Douala and Yaoundé. Note that we should guard against projects that would make those in power look at us as a threat. Rather than ask to see the sanitation budget, we should organise the communities to clean up, then ask for money when we need it for assistance.

• Sako Emmanuel: Human rights education programmes for families under the direction of quarter heads suggested.

• Barrister Awutah: There are certain things we should not shy away from. There should be a number to call if a person needs the assistance of the police, like in Yaoundé. Taxpayers should insist on the jobs their taxes pay for being done.

• Barrister Pende: We should not get too involved in the day-to-day running of the state- this would not help is. But we can tactfully advise. Wording things carefully can have a greater effect.

• All: we should avoid politics and controversy.

• Prince Sone: GCI must carefully plan projects so as not to clash with other organisations or the authorities.

• Justine Lucas: We have to work with the political institutions in place. We try to create change through collaboration, but sometimes friction occurs because we are trying to create change.

• Honourabe Mbile: Kumba now has the opportunity to initiate projects at the level of the region as I am the coordinator of the NCHRF for SWR. We can propose projects to them and maybe even get funding.

• Justine Lucas: GCI is opening an office in Buea and is very interested in partnership with the NCHRF.

 

Review of the 2009 Budget:

• There was an overall loss for March, but with interns arriving from June there will be an influx of fees which will cover project costs. GCI will also be collecting Board of Directors and ordinary membership dues. GCI is making funding requests e.g. to the British Challenge Fund.

• Honourable Mbile: GCI is not doing badly.

• Why has the expenditure for salaries increased from January to March? Compensating staff for not being paid is previous months.

• Why is the amount paid for rent higher in January than February and March? GCI owed rent for December.

• What is ‘equipment'? Partial payment on Samba Churchill's laptop, bookshelf for resource centre.

• Who are our main funders? Interns, Board of Directors, Advisory Board and ordinary members dues, individual donations. We are making funding applications, but have not been successful yet.

• What are ‘supplies'? Printer ink, flash web calendar for website.

• Honourable Mbile: let us resolve as board members to realise the budget – first by contributing our own dues and by looking for other members.

• Barrister Pende: we should print membership cards. Let us try to get projects funded, especially by the NCHRF.

• Discussion of how Board Membership dues should be paid.

• Honourable Mbile: calls on GCi to give Board Members incentives to pay their dues.

• Justine Lucas: I hope this meeting has shown our good impact. Board members will always be kept up to date with GCI's work with news releases, Behind Bars, Global Voice. Board members will be advocates for the organisation and will receive Board Membership cards.

Resolutions:

- Board Membership dues must be paid in full on or before July 31, 2009 .