Annual General Meeting 2007
The Canadian Red Cross Society
General Assembly and Annual General Meeting
June 16 and 17, 2007
Theme: Together for Humanity: Now and into the Future
General Assembly
The General Assembly will be organized in two parts: the morning session will focus on strategic planning and the afternoon session will offer interactive workshops on a variety of themes of current interest and relevance.
General Assembly proposed program
- Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Appointment of the General Assembly Chair
- General Assembly Objectives
- The Fundamental Principles: Youth Representatives
- Reaffirming our Strategic Goals 2008 – 2010 (Plenary)
- Paving the Way towards 2010 – 2015 (Plenary)
- Introduction to afternoon workshops
Lunch
- Workshops:
- Beyond the hurt for adults: This workshop deals with bullying and peer harassment—why, when and whereit happens, how to recognize it and how to create and implement policies and procedures that foster safe, respectful environments for young people. (simultaneous translation)
- Natural Disasters: This workshop, built around a video case study of Hurricane Mitch in Central America, allows participants to explore the human consequences (medical and health, economic, and social) of the hurricane and its aftermath. But the key activity lies in identifying the pre-hurricane aspects of daily life in Central America that led to horrific 10,000 deaths from this disaster--then looking at the three Rs of relief / response, rebuilding and reducing future risk. Personal preparedness and environmental impact are also addressed.
- World History of Racism in Minutes (WHORM): is a series of interacting tableaux or group statues, which attempt to portray the historical origins of the racist ideas that circulate in today’s society. It shows how these ideas are connected to present and past inequalities, power relationships and conflicts. WHORM is about the emergence of ideas, not just the portrayal of historical scenarios. Its aim is to acquaint students with the general lines of history which led to the development of racism and global inequality. It attempts to communicate the understanding that people’s ideas are grounded in real life situations and activities. Challenging racism is not just a matter of changing ideas, but of changing people’s real life situations and relations.
WHORM also illustrates that all cultures have a history that has contributed to the development of humankind. It therefore challenges the Euro-centric notions that are often produced by the standard curriculum. - Building a Culture of Peace Building a Culture of Peace: Starting with Us! This workshop is designed to identify how we as individuals can contribute to a more peaceful world beginning with our own relationships, and our own communities. It is about making our own drop in the bucket, our own contribution to change on a larger scale—“being the change we wish to see in the world”, as Mahatma Gandhi said. Participants will work explore themes of peace through body sculpturing, scenario reflections and discussions, and a couple of other short activities that make a link between how we each think and act and what kind of a world we can build.
- Children and war: This interactive workshop has a multitude of learning objectives. There are independent learning pieces, along with interactive and independent games and finally group work and facilitated discussion.
Section one outlines the seven fundamental principles of the Canadian Red Cross, and offers a pre-quiz to test your knowledge before the workshop. There is also an independent activity to set the tone, and start thinking about Children and War.
Section two is the independent and group working section. Case studies are provided to read along with questions to discuss in small break-out groups, which later is to be presented to the whole group.
Section three involves interactive and independent games, varying from word searches to thoughtful games about Human Rights and Landmines. Finally there are brainstorming and action planning tools to help you discover what you can do to help out internationally and locally. General Assembly participants will have the opportunity toexperience material from a variety of the sections. - Albatross/cross-cultural: This workshop is built around a very engaging cross-cultural simulation, followed by a debriefing / discussion that f irst draws out what happened during the simulation. Then discussion focuses on experiences participants have had in the real world that contain some elements brought out in the simulation. It helps them to consider tangible skills, awareness and attitudes that will enhance cross-cultural contact and communication. (simultaneous translation).
NOTE: This workshop will require that participants have the physical ability to sit on the floor for some time.
All of the workshops will be facilitated by youth.
- Workshops (repeated)
- Observations and conclusions
- Closing Remarks
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The AGM business meeting will include an update on Membership, a presentation on the outcome of the Youth Symposium, a key note speaker and a recommendation from the General Assembly regarding the extension of the 2003 – 2008 Strategic Plan.
- Strategic Plan Extension 2008 - 2010 (PDF, 130kb)
- Strategic Plan Diagram (PDF, 1.3mb)
- Address from Jane McGowan, President
- Address from Secretary General, Dr. Pierre Duplessis
