ICM 2006 Short Summary

Decisions

Status of Working Groups:
VCV Application:
IEC Election:
Budget 2007:
Recommendations:
Plan of Action 2007:
Next ICM:

· Status of Working Groups:
All International Working Groups underwent the process of voting and their status has been maintained for the year 2007. The Women’s Working Group had been dissolved last year. Recent activities in the Asian regions however, led to the revival of this working group for 2007.

International Working Groups

REGIONAL WORKING GROUPS
Abya Yala - Latin America Working Group
AWG - Africa Working Group
Midi - Mediterranean Working Group
Sava - South Eastern Europe Working Group
AIWG - Asia International Working Group

THEMATIC WORKING GROUPS
RWG - Refugee Working Group
EDWG - Environment and Development Working Group
YUWG - Youth and Unemployment Working Group
LTEG - Long-Term Exchange Working Group
WWG- Women’s Working Group

· VCV Application:
Volunteer Center VCV, an organization that makes exchanges of around 100 volunteers every year, has been approved as a new group of SCI.

· IEC Election:
The ICM unanimously elected Hanna Zandin from IAL-Sweden as the President of the SCI International Executive Committee (IEC) and Chiniya Duwal from SCI-Nepal as a new member of the IEC. Hanna Zandin was previously the Acting President of the IEC.

· Budget 2007:
A proposal to add 900 Euros to the Budget 2007 has been approved by the ICM.

· Recommendations:
1. Recommendation on Strategic Planning
The recommendation on Strategic Planning was formulated by VIA-Netherlands. An exercise on strategic planning showed that some branches quite benefited from strategic plan while others indicated not to have benefited, apparently because they did not know what to do with it. It was stressed that it would be ideal for these branches to try to adapt this strategic plan to the branch level. VIA-Netherlands recommended that IEC provide all the documents relating to Strategic Planning in a single document. This recommendation was approved by the ICM.

2. Recommendation for ICM from the North South Working Groups (I/ICM/06/03/07)
The proposal submitted by the North South Working Groups was regarding the international North South coordination within SCI, the role of Exchange Support LTV at the IS, the direct N/S exchanges (Europe-Asia) and the need for more support of the Exchange Support LTV to regional WGs. It was discussed that direct placements in Asia would not be carried out by the Exchange Support LTV and that the spare time of the LTV would then be utilized more for the North South Working Group Meeting and for the support of Regional Working Groups. It was also decided that the exchange fee for the placement in Asia would be paid to the International Secretariat. Thus the decentralization of the placement of volunteers going to Asia for one year as an experiment and to utilize the Exchange Support LTV’s spare time for other focus areas mentioned above was approved by the ICM.

3. Proposition for Changing Gender Balance Rules in Camp Exchange (I/ICM/06/3/08)
The second proposal submitted by KVT-Finland was about gender balance and how the 50/50 male and female ratio adversely affects participation of female volunteers in work camps. This recommendation was approved by the ICM.

· Plan of Action 2007:
The approval of adopting five working areas within the framework of the Plan of Action 2007 was carried out by the ICM. The five areas prioritized were as follows:

Area No. 1: Improve Capacity of SCI.
Area No. 2: Secure Financial Position
Area No. 3: Maintain Volunteers Exchanges
Area No. 4: Exchange Peace Education and Peace Work.
Area No. 5: Public Relations and Marketing Strategies.

· Next ICM:
CVS Bulgaria has expressed interest to host the ICM in Bulgaria in 2007.