ICA General Assembly, 2019
The 2019 General Assembly of the ICA was held on October 22 at the end of the first day of the "Designing the Archive" conference in Adelaide, Australia.
ICA president David Fricker and vice-presidents Normand Charbonneau and Henri Zuber came back to the organisation’s concrete achievements of 2019: the launch of an online training platform, the inauguration of a disaster relief fund, and the establishment of an expert group on Indigenous matters, among other things.
They also highlighted the international initiatives in which the ICA participates and allows archivists’ voices to be heard, notably UNESCO’s Memory of the World Project and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Normand Charbonneau, VP Programme, David Fricker, President, Henri Zuber VP Finance, Anthea Seles, Secretary General at ICA General Assembly 2019, Adelaide, Australia. Photo taken by Christine Trembleau.
Secretary-general Dr. Anthea Seles underlined the importance of work on the horizon : the improvement of the organisation’s’ operations, the establishment of a strategic vision for the coming years, and the project to reform the constitution to better adapt the ICA to its members.
ICA members were called upon to vote on a number of points, including :
- An increase in member fees for category C members from 200 Euros to 250 Euros, which passed and will come into effect beginning 1 January 2020
- The transfer of accessible reserve funds to inaccessible reserve funds was also approved by voting members to an amount of 10,000 Euros.
- The official redesignation of the Working Group on Human Rights as the Section on Archives and Human Rights.
The General Assembly also paid tribute to members of the ICA who have distinguished themselves through their service to the international community. This year, Simon Chu, Adrian Cunningham and Nolda Römer-Kenepa recieved the distinction of Fellow of ICA. Simon Chu was present to be honoured in person.
Simon Chu receiving the distinction of Fellow of ICA from David Fricker, ICA President, ICA General Assembly 2019, Adelaide, Australia. Photo taken by Christine Trembleau.
The General Assembly closed with an inspiring presentation by Dr. Muhammad Al-Raisi, Director of the National Archives of the United Arab Emirates and host of the ICA Abu Dhabi 2020 Congress. Mr. Al-Raisi promised an extraordinary conference for next year, in both size and professional content. He spoke with conviction of the potential of the host country for the international community.
Dr Al Raisi presenting the ICA Abu Dhabi 2020 Congress at ICA General Assembly 2019, Adelaide, Australia. Photo taken by Christine Trembleau.