The EFIL Board met in Brussels, 17-18 November, for its last in-person meeting of 2018.
A large part of the agenda was taken up by the preparations for the 2019 EFIL General Assembly, which will take place in Krakow, Poland, from 30 May to 2 June 2019. The Board approved the proposed agenda and the work plan for the GA. A detailed discussion on the draft EFIL Business Plan 2019-2020 has been scheduled for the next Board meeting. A member survey on the work of EFIL will be sent out to all Members before the end of the year. Results will be compiled and presented at the GA.
Following input from the Working Group on the Election Committee, the Board concluded that the current role of the Election Committee is restricted to what’s described in the Election Procedures and that a change of procedures needs GA approval.
EFIL continues to take further steps towards GDPR compliance. The Board keeps following the process.
The Board discussed and improved a list with criteria to help in making decisions on which new projects to engage in. As a next step, procedures will be considered defining how to use the criteria.
The Board gave its support to the proposal to expand participation in the future ECTP/PEACE trimester programmes (spring and autumn cycles with joint end-of-stay camp in Brussels) to AFS Partner Organisations from all over the global network.
The Board has received the official letter of the Board of AFS Croatia, confirming their withdrawal from the Federation.
As for the situation with AFS Sweden, the Board took note of the two possible future scenarios for the organisation, as shared with the network by AFS International, and trusts that the people included in the decision-making process will find the right and sustainable solutions to help AFS Sweden.
The Secretary-General informed the Board of several initiatives by various actors taking place in Greece (EFIL project “ICL for teachers and pupils”, Intercultura, AFS International). Although there are no current plans for EFIL to invest in setting up AFS activities in Greece, EFIL will follow the developments with a view on potential future initiatives in Greece.
Extrapolation to the end of the year of the current figures indicate that EFIL is heading for a result that’s within an acceptable range of the foreseen end-of-year result in the GA approved draft budget.
The next Board meeting is scheduled to take place on 23-24 Feb. 2019 in Milan, Italy.