Postponement of the 3rd AFRICOM General Assembly and Conference to 2012
The AFRICOM Board of Directors regrets to inform the AFRICOM Membership, the Funding and Technical Partners and the public that the 3rd AFRICOM General Assembly and Conference which had been re-scheduled for October 2010 has been postponed to 2012.
The Board and the Secretariat, have noted the inadequate financial resources owing to global developments which has witnessed reduced funding to non-profit making organizations such as AFRICOM.
In addition, the Board noted that the host partner, the Government of Burkina Faso is holding General Elections in November 2010 making it difficult to organize an event of this magnitude.
This situation, coupled with lack of adequate and timely communication and support from the host partner, has become clear that it will not be possible to host this event in the near future. This regrettable decision has also been influenced by the urgent need to create sustainability at the Secretariat in Nairobi.
Therefore, it is important that funding for supporting the Secretariat should be prioritized in order to ensure that AFRICOM is able to meet its mandate to the membership. The secretariat is therefore engaging with existing and potential partners as regards the General Assembly as well as in regards to AFRICOM sustainability.
Therefore, the AFRICOM Board would like the AFRICOM Membership, the Funding and Technical Partners to take note of the following developments put in place to ensure compliance with the Constitution governing AFRICOM;
a. The AFRICOM Board and Secretariat have re-prioritized the fundraising for this event for the next 24 months. If need arise the Board will re-float the right to host the 3rd AFRICOM General Assembly to all African countries. Assessment and awarding the right to host the event will be determined by the level of partnership between AFRICOM and the potential country.
b. The 3rd AFRICOM General Assembly and Conference will retain the current theme; “New Museums for Africa: Change and Continuity”
c. AFRICOM will retain the current Scientific Committee for the 3rd General Assembly and Conference, and will only replace those that will not be available due to other commitments.
d. The abstracts considered by the Scientific Committee will remain on the presentation list unless the authors withdraw them in writing. At the same time the postponement creates a window for new submissions as well as the improvements on abstracts likely not to be selected by the Scientific Committee.
e. In terms of the AFRICOM constitution, the current Board can no longer remain as the interim Board until their dissolution and subsequent election of new members during the hosting of the 3rd General Assembly in 2012.
Therefore, the Secretariat is assessing alternative voting systems, and these shall be shortly circulated for consideration by the membership. Currently, the Secretariat is refining the membership database in preparation for this alternative voting system.
The AFRICOM Board and the Secretariat regrets any inconveniences that are likely to be caused by this development, which is in the interest of creating sustainability at AFRICOM in the long term.
All enquiries or communications regarding this development should be sent to the Secretariat at secretariat@africom.museum
Deirdre Prins-Solani
The President and Board of AFRICOM
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AFRICOM Vision:“a secure,rich and vibrant African heritage” |
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