Communique on ICASO Strategic Planning Retreat
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Dear Colleagues and Friends:
The International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) held
a strategic planning retreat December 14-18, 2000, in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia. The following brief communique summarizes the discussions
at the retreat and the decisions taken about immediate and long-term
next steps.
Sincerely,
Richard Burzynski (ICASO)
Moustapha Gueye (AfriCASO)
M. Puravalen (APCASO)
Florian Hubner (EuroCASO)
Edgar Carrasco (LACCASO)
Sharon Baxter (NACASO)
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ICASO STRATEGIC PLANNING RETREAT
December 14 - 18, 2000
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
ICASO held a strategic planning retreat December 14-18, 2000, in
Kuala Lumpur. APCASO and the Malaysian AIDS Council were the generous
hosts for a series of productive and provocative meetings. The re-
treat was facilitated by Rutth Gerochi from the Philippines. The re-
gional and central secretariats were represented by at least two par-
ticipants. Four resource persons with different areas of expertise
also attended. The full list of participants is attached.
Background
ICASO initiated an external assessment in 2000 to analyze achieve-
ments, strengths and challenges of the ICASO networking process and
capacity of its secretariats. This assessment is part of a process to
refine ICASO's role in the global response to the epidemic and to
chart a course for ICASO's future direction.
The assessment also served as a key element in the development of the
ICASO global initiative for capacity building of NGOs/CBOs at na-
tional level in the areas of networking, advocacy and human rights.
The strategic planning retreat was built on the global analysis by
the consultants, which served as a foundation for the discussions.
The goals and objectives for the retreat
The goal of the ICASO Strategic Planning process was to enhance and
agree upon a renewed vision for the organization.
Specifically, it enabled the participants to:
1. Discuss and determine key issues of identity and purpose including
its mission, core functions, and key strategies;
2. Examine options and determine direction on the issues of ICASO's
legitimacy, connection to constituency and membership;
3. Examine options and determine directions to improve ICASO's gov-
ernance structure in order to improve accountability and transpar-
ency; and,
4. Clarify and develop the relationship between, and roles of, the
central and regional secretariats."
This brief communique to ICASO's partners and colleagues around the
world summarizes the discussions in Kuala Lumpur of these goals and
objectives, and the decisions taken about immediate and long-term
next steps.
The strategic planning process undertaken in the retreat followed
these four steps:
* An inventory of the external environment and discussion of the con-
text in which ICASO operates;
* Deliberation of ICASO's current response to the external environ-
ment and context in which ICASO operates, and discussion of what kind
of organization ICASO needs to be to provide a meaningful and effec-
tive contribution to the international AIDS epidemic;
* Development of a transition plan to get ICASO to where it wants to
be; and,
* An internal assessment of ICASO's mission, programs, governance,
structure, membership, and operations.
Participants frequently noted the chicken vs. egg phenomenon - which
comes first - proved to be a frequent conundrum, but because the fa-
cilitation of the retreat was respected and because flexibility was
allowed, all agreed that each step was addressed sufficiently.
At the end of the five days, the participants re-visited the strate-
gic planning process and summarized the areas covered:
* The question "Where is ICASO now?" was covered, including a discus-
sion of the organization's strengths and weaknesses.
* The question "What sets us apart?" was covered, and ICASO's niche
and strategic advantage were defined.
* Transition steps were discussed and a timetable agreed to regarding
the adoption of amendments to the organization's by-law to incorpo-
rate the structural changes.
* A strategic plan was discussed, which included deliberation on the
Global Initiative.
PHILOSOPHY
Two statements emerged from the retreat which will be ratified by the
ICASO Board at a special meeting to be held in Geneva, Switzerland,
March 26-28, 2001.
* A Vision Statement, which is long-term; it states ICASO's ideology,
its guiding principles and its values; and,
* A Mission Statement, which describes the nature of ICASO, its core
functions, and defines the unique niche ICASO fills.
These documents are available on ICASO's website:
http://www.icaso.org
PRIORITIES
It was agreed that ICASO will place its emphasis on advocacy and ca-
pacity building. Some specific areas that were highlighted include:
* Implementation of the Global Initiative for Capacity Building at
National Level in the areas of networking, Advocacy and Human Rights;
* Promotion of human rights based on the International Guidelines on
HIV/AIDS and Human Rights;
* Advocacy related to the 6 position papers released at AIDS2000 in
Durban - namely - access to better treatment, the burden of care,
prevention, stigma and discrimination, vaccines, and the allocation
of resources;
* Promotion of the GIPA principle (Greater involvement of people liv-
ing with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS; and,
* Targeted advocacy activities such as those associated with the up-
coming UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS).
GOVERNANCE
It was agreed that the ICASO Board will be expanded in 2001 to in-
clude 10 members and that it may be further expanded as necessary.
For 2001, it will be comprised of representatives from the five re-
gional secretariats, the ICASO Executive Director - with four new
seats established. The criteria for identifying people to fill those
four new seats will be determined at the upcoming special Board meet-
ing.
STRUCTURE
It was agreed that a new organizational structure will be developed
to better represent the relationships between the regional and the
central secretariats, as well as strengthen the global reach of
ICASO. The current Board is also fully committed to developing more
global work plans that will be carried out at the global and regional
levels.
Participants were encouraged that valuable foundations were laid in
Kuala Lumpur, and that the work ahead will require a great deal of
institutional soul searching, candid conversations among the secre-
tariats, and a commitment to a thorough but efficient process.
The upcoming special meeting in Geneva will serve as the next step
for many elements during this transition process. David Patterson,
ICASO Human Rights Advisor, has been contracted to assist in the de-
velopment of the documents and by-law changes to be adopted.
It is important to note one easily reached consensus among the par-
ticipants: that the process must always retain a focus on the people
ICASO exists to serve - namely, those living with and affected by
HIV/AIDS.
ICASO gratefully acknowledges the financial support from UNAIDS for
this meeting.
List of Participants:
Florian Hubner and Deborah Glejser (EuroCASO, Switzerland)
Sharon Baxter (NACASO, Canada) and Mary Partlow (NACASO, USA)
M. Puravalen and Susan Chong (APCASO, Malaysia)
Edgar Carrasco and Renate Koch (LACCASO, Venezuela)
Moustapha Gueye and Coumba Diop (AfriCASO, Senegal)
Richard Burzynski and Mary Ann Torres (ICASO, Canada)
Bai Bagasao, resource person, UNAIDS
Tim MacKay, resource person, Australia
David Patterson, resource person, Switzerland
Milly Katana, resource person, Uganda
Tim Thomas, resource person, USA
Irene Fernandez, resource person, Malaysia
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AfriCASO - Africa
ENDA Tiers Monde
54, rue carnot, B.P. 3370,
Dakar Senegal
Contact: Moustapha Gueye
Tel: +221-823-1935
Fax: +221-823-6615
mailto:africaso@enda.sn
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For more information, please contact:
Richard Burzynski
399 Church St., 4th Floor
Toronto, ON
Canada M5B 2J6
Tel: +1-416-340-8484 ext. 243
Fax: +1-416-340-8224
mailto:richardb@icaso.org
http://www.icaso.org
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