Interim Activity Report

INTERIM ACTIVITY REPORT

of

THE ICOM SECRETARIAT

APRIL 2004 – MARCH 2005

.

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E-mail: um

2005/SEC.02May 2005

INTERIM ACTIVITY REPORT

of

THE ICOM SECRETARIAT

APRIL 2004 – MARCH 2005

CONTENTS

I.membership service...... 3

II.PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES SERVICE...... 11

III.communication and publications service...... 25

IV.UNESCO-ICOM INFORMATION CENTRE...... 30

I.membership service

This report covers the period for the months immediately before and after the 2004 General Conference held in Seoul in October 2004 as well as the first three months of 2005. It describes various activities pursued in line with the Strategic Plan (adopted by the General Assemblies in 2001 and 2004). However it must be noted that from April to September 2004, the Unit’s priorities and resources were channelled primarily towards the success of the General Conference that was held for the first time in Asia.

Administration

The Membership Unit of ICOM is composed of two permanent full-time and one part-time permanent staff. Due to the extended medical leave of one staff member, a temporary clerk was hired early in 2005 to help the Unit with its work.

Active Membership

At report’s writing, the Unit ensured that services and benefits were rendered to more than 21,000active members resident or located in 146 countries. It lapsed more than 2000 members who did not pay annual dues; these lapsed members no longer receive benefits from the Secretariat (including publications).

In 2004 and during the first three months of 2005 (at report’s writing), the Unit registered 3241 new members of which 2364 are individuals. However during the same period, 2092 members were suspended mainly because of non-payment of membership dues.

The active National & International Committees, Affiliated Associations and Regional Organizations are listed in the Directory published with each number of ICOM News. The names and addresses (including telephone, fax and email if available) of the Chairpersons and Membership Secretaries of the National Committees are also available on ICOM’s Website. The email addresses of the Chairpersons and Secretaries of the International Committees, Affiliated Associations and Regional Organizations are also noted on ICOM’s website. These lists are regularly updated.

The Unit is in direct contact with more than two hundred members (who do not belong to committees) regarding their payments, renewals and other services.

The following is a summary of membership figures for the period covered by this report:

• 21037 active members in 146 countries of which 8467 (or 40.25%) are members of International Committees
• 115 National Committees of which 64 enjoy regular membership subsidies and 3 had special membership subsidies during the period (Argentina, Botswana and Uruguay)
• 31 countries where members are resident but national committees do not exist
• 30 International Committees
• 15 Affiliated Associations
• 6 Regional Organizations
• 3241 new members enrolled
• 2092 members lapsed
• 14326 payments recorded for 2004
• 2230 membership applications to International Committees processed

Section 4 of this report gives the number of paid-up members recorded (at report’s writing) for 2004 and classified according to their categories.

1.National Committees

1.1.Establishment of New Committees

During the period covered by this report, National Committees from the following countries applied and were approved by the Executive Council: Ghana, Indonesia, Moldova. During the General Conference in Seoul, the National Committee in Iraq was provisionally approved on the condition that it met all statutory conditions.

1.2.Reorganized National Committees

The following Committees regularized their membership situation during the period and are again considered active: Chad, Mauritania, Ukraine.

1.3. Committees Under Reorganization

The National Committees of Central African Republic, Laos, Mauritius and Niger did not remit the minimum annual dues for 2004, nor did their officers communicate to the Secretariat. These committees are considered inactive and their unpaid members no longer receive benefits and services.

1.4.Regular Membership Subsidies

In line with the Strategic Plan, the Membership Officer re-evaluated the membership subsidies granted to individual members. Taking into consideration her report submitted at its June 2004 meeting, members of Council decided to expand the list of countries that can benefit from reduced membership fees. It decided that subsidies are henceforth granted to ICOM's individual members (with or without a National Committee) who reside in countries that are considered as low-income ($ 735 GNI or less) and as lower middle income (GNI $ 736-$ 2935) by the World Development Indicators Database of the World Bank (classification in effect until April 2004).

Thus, for 2005, an individual member living in any of these countries pays 26 Euros or US $ 32, which represents less than one-half of the annual dues fixed for regular individual members (56 Euros or $ 70). This revised list is appended as Annex A. Previously numbering 108, the list now comprises 119 countries, of which 64 have National Committees.

1.5.Special Membership Subsidies

Because of the dire economic situation in their countries, the following National Committees were granted special membership subsidies by the Executive Council: Argentina (2004 and 2005), Botswana (2004 and 2005) and Uruguay (2005). This meant that their individual members would pay the same rates as those committees enjoying regular subsidies (cf 1.4 above).

1.6.ICOM Fund

During the period, contributions for the ICOM Fund were received from the National Committees ofFrance and Switzerland. A member of the Executive Council (Mr. Gary Edson) also donated to the Fund.

1.7. Other meetings

The Secretary General and the Membership Officer met with the newly elected Chairpersons of ICOM France in November, 2004, and ICOM UK in February 2005.

Council approved financial assistance from the Fund for members resident in the following countries: for 2004: Mali; for 2005: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Côte d’Ivoire, Iraq. Financial assistance for the members of the Afghan National Committee (that had been in effect since 2003) is valid until 2005.

2. International Committees

At report’s writing, ICOM counted 30 international specialized committees. The newest committee that is devoted to the Collections and Activities of Museums of Cities was approved by Council on a trial basis in October 2004. It is the first committee to draw up their By-laws in line with the Minimal Rules drafted by the Task Force on International Committees and Affiliated Associations (2001-04). These Minimal Rules, with amendments, were approved by Council in December 2004.

The Secretary General and the Membership Officer attended the Constituent Assembly of this new Committee that was held in Moscow, Russia early in 2005. The Assembly approved its official name and mission: International Committee for the Collections and Activities of Museums of Cities or CAMOC. It seeks to ‘stimulate dialogue and co-operation between museums by supporting and encouraging them in the collection, preservation and presentation of original material related to the past, present and future of the city, reinforcing the city’s identity and contributing to its development’. The Secretariat assisted the delegates in drafting their By-laws and in electing their officers in compliance with the new Minimal Rules for International Committees.

2.1.Membership in International Committees

The Unit processed 2230 applications for membership in International Committees during the period. Moreover, the Unit continues to furnish the Committees with their updated membership lists in electronic form. At report’s writing, 40.25 percent of ICOM’s active members are also members of International Committees.

2.2.Regular annual subsidies

Council approved the 2005 regular subsidies to International Committees as based on their active membership. This list (ref: EZ/TC/04/419) was drawn up in November 2004 (see Annex B). International Committees receive € 7.072 for each active member.

2.3Other Meetings

The Secretary General met with the newly-elected Chair of CIMAM in January, 2005.

The Secretary General and Membership Officer met with the newly-elected Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Secretary of ICTOP in Paris in February 2005.

3.Affiliated Associations

3.1.AFRICOM

At the General Conference in Seoul, AFRICOM was officially accepted by Council as an affiliated association of ICOM. A total of 15 international associations are now affiliated with the work of the Organization.

4.Membership Statistics

The following shows the number of paid-up members by category for 2004. Numbers are valid at March 31, 2005.

Comments on the above numbers:

• Data that would show the regional distribution of National Committees and payments as well as the Organization’s largest Committees in terms of their payments for 2004 could not be prepared in time for this report. This information will be given during the June 2005 meetings of Advisory Committee and Executive Council.

• Most of the Sector’s priorities and resources were channelled towards the Seoul General Conference and contributed to an unfortunate delay in the processing of annual dues.

• Due to limited time and unfortunate circumstances related to technical and human resources and priorities, lists from several large Committees could not be recorded promptly, i.e. Germany, Switzerland, Belgium (French association).

• Although the Unit received payments from National Committees, membership lists that should correspond to the payments were not received, thereby causing a delay in the processing of the dues (e.g. Spain, Romania). The French National Committee has also promised to send a payment and list representing its third payment of annual dues for 2004.

• For information: the Unit registered 17591 members as paid-up for 2003.

5.ICOM Foundation

The Unit continues to manage the registration and collection of annual dues from the supporting members or ‘Friends’ of the ICOM Foundation. At March 31st, the Foundation counted 80 active individuals (up from 68 from the previous year) of whom 72 already sent their contributions for 2005. In return for their annual dues, the ‘Friends’ receive ICOM cards and official publications (ICOM News, Study Series).

The Secretary General met with the President of the ICOM Foundation in January, 2005

6.Honorary Members

Dr. Jan Jelinek (Czech Republic), former President of ICOM, died in October 2004. Three honorary members were approved by the General Assembly in Seoul: Alpha Oumar Konaré (Mali), Geoffrey Lewis and Patrick Boylan (both from the United Kingdom). ICOM has at present twelve (12) honorary members from the following countries: Algeria, Brazil, France (2), Israel, Italy, Mali, Nigeria, Russia, United Kingdom (3). The Unit furnishes the following services to them: free ICOM cards and annual stickers, publications, official documents.

7.ICOM News

The Membership Unit continues to handle non-member subscriptions to ICOM News (invoices, renewals, payments, distribution etc.). There are 45 direct subscribers primarily libraries (both public and private). The Unit also handles complementary distribution of the newsletter to a selective mailing list comprising mainly of ICOM’s partners, UNESCO staff members, Permanent Delegations to UNESCO, UNESCO National Commissions, National Libraries and Documentation Centres. At March 31, 2005, this complementary list comprised 453 names and addresses.

To comply with French regulations, the Unit ensures that 4 copies of each language edition are regularly sent to the National Library of France.

8.General Conference (2004)

Together with the former Secretary General, the Membership Officer undertook a mission to Seoul (Rep. of Korea) in June 2004 to assist in the preparations for the General Conference and Assembly.

They also attended the annual meetings of ICOM Japan and the Japanese Association of Museums in Tokyo (June 2004) to help publicize the conference to Japanese museum professionals and encouraged them to attend. The number of delegates in Seoul from Japan was an impressive 67; at previous conferences the Committee has never had this number of delegates.

As a member of the Nominations and Elections Committee of the Advisory Committee, the Membership Officer assisted the Elections Officer in the implementation of new procedures in the election of the Executive Council for the period 2004-2007 and in the election of the Vice Chairperson of the Advisory Committee for 2004-07. They were helped by other members of the Secretariat in the execution of the election of Council members that covered a four-day period during the Conference.

9.Regional Organizations

During the General Conference, the Membership Officer provided assistance and guidelines in the election of the officers of ICOM-ASPAC and ICOM-Arab.

10.Other matters

The Membership Officer revised the ICOM document entitled ‘For More Information’ (November 2004) for dissemination to newly-elected Chairpersons and Secretaries of National and International Committees and Affiliated Associations. This document aims to assist the new officers in the execution of their responsibilities and describes the tasks of each Secretariat staff member.

In January 2005, the Membership Officer and another staff member attended a session organized by a French Association (that groups NGOs falling under the French Association Law of 1901) concerning a new law related to computerized data bases and civil liberties. In the absence of an administrative decree that had not yet been diffused to the public, the session sought to clarify questions related to the management of computerized members’ data bases, especially if the data base contained sensitive personal information regarding its members. In view of these developments, the Organization would need to satisfy certain conditions before its projected membership directory could be made available on-line.

Annex A

Revised List of Membership Subsidies for 2005 (November 2004)

MEMBERSHIP SUBSIDIES FOR 2005

The Executive Council, at its session of October 2004, decided that membership subsidies are granted to ICOM's individual members (with or without a National Committee) who reside in countries that are considered as low-income ($ 735 GNI per capita or less) and as lower middle income (GNI $ 736-$ 2935) by the 2004 World Development Indicators Database of the World Bank (13 April 2004). For 2005, an individual member resident in these countries pays 26 Euros or US$ 32, which represents less than one-half of the annual dues fixed for regular individual members. These countries are the following:

N.B.: INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS FROM THESE COUNTRIES PAY THE REGULAR MEMBERSHIP RATES.

Annex B

Ref: EZ/TC/04/419

November 2004

Regular Subventions for International Committees for 2005

II.PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES SERVICE

This report covers the period for the months immediately before and after the 2004 General Conference held in Seoul in October 2004 as well as the first three months of 2005. It describes various activities pursued in line with the Strategic Plan (adopted by the General Assemblies in 2001 and 2004).

The Program Activities Sector is comprised of the Program Activities Officer, Jennifer Thevenot, and the Programme Specialist, Cristina Menegazzi. The Sector has availed itself of a temporary contract assistant, Isabelle Brianso, and two interns, M.Julien Adnet and Aline Bodin.

During the period covered by this report, the Programme Activities Sector has undertaken the following activities towards the implementation of the three objectives established for its Strategic Plan 2004-2010.

Objective 1: ICOM is recognised as the international leader in the museum field, and a respected voice on issues affecting protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

1.1. Programme for Assistance to Iraqi Museums and Professionals

At the request of UNESCO, the Programme Activities Unit presented a four-pronged programme (with corresponding budget) for assistance to Iraqi museums and professionals. The activities consist of the following:

1.1.1. Database for the Protection of the Iraqi Cultural Heritage

Within the project of establishing a centralised database for the Iraqi cultural property at UNESCO Headquarters, in cooperation with the Iraq National Museum, UNESCO together with a French firm defined the specifications and the overall structure of this database. A small panel of experts was established jointly by UNESCO and ICOM to review the specifications already prepared, to review and validate or propose modifications to the framework of the database, or to opt for customising an already-existing software for the purpose.

UNESCO thus contracted ICOM to organise a one-day meeting to discuss these issues and draw conclusions for future action.

The meeting was held on 3 May 2004, at UNESCO Headquarters, with 5 internationally renowned experts in the field of documentation/collections management, and members of ICOM’s International Committee for Documentation, CIDOC: