Invited Focal Points of POETCom gathered in Wallis & Futuna from October 23 to 27 for its General Assembly. This is made possible with assistance of the EU Integre Project, IFAD and UNDP.

The last General Assembly was held in Nadi Fiji in 2014. The movement used the GA to review its structure, governance and membership policy’s. This is important so that we can align the movement as it meets the growing demand of its members.

Recently we conducted a membership survey and the results of that along with learning from the experiences of the organisations functioning over the past 5 years since establishment within SPC has formed the basis for some proposed changes to the current statutes and membership policy. Changes to current statutes and membership policy’s were made at the General Assembly.

Focal points and members provided motions with the Advisory Board approving motions that were heard by the General Assembly. The Advisory Board during its meeting earlier this year put forward motions that it believed will prepare POETCom for its future.

Currently POETCom has 3 membership categories, namely Focal points, members and supporters. At the moment only POETCom focal points can vote on motions presented at the General Assembly. The issue of the effectiveness of this approach was looked at to gauge where the movement and organics will be able to grow in the Pacific.

The issue of registering POETCom as a legal entity was also discussed. Legal opinion was sort and recommendations were put forward to the GA for discussion and endorsement. The relationship of the movement with our current host – the Pacific Community was also an important topic.

More from the General Assembly in the next issue of the Cultivating Community Newsletter.

Ends…