# General Assembly - Tirana 2021 {% hint style="info" %} On 30 September 2021 GFMD hosted its quadrennial General Assembly in Tirana, Albania. {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} Due to travel restrictions, the Secretariat organised an in-person meeting of just over 20 representatives of GFMD general members in Tirana, Albania, which was combined with a hybrid online General Assembly for all members. {% endhint %} For background and [FAQs on the GFMD General Assembly]() see: {% content-ref url="/pages/-MgpxWhNGVDPqzZeh8xx" %} [Broken mention](broken://pages/-MgpxWhNGVDPqzZeh8xx) {% endcontent-ref %} A full list of [participants](https://strategy.gfmd.info/general-assembly-2021/agenda/participants) is available here: {% content-ref url="/pages/-Mjc\_Tm\_OjtaGhv2h-av" %} [Participants](/governance/general-assembly/2021/agenda/participants.md) {% endcontent-ref %} ## Welcome ### Ricardo Corredor, outgoing Chairperson of GFMD {% hint style="info" %} A video of the speech is [available here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-QCE4uJNs). A text version is available in the [appendices](/governance/general-assembly/2021/meeting-reports/appendices.md). {% endhint %} {% embed url="" %} **The outgoing Chair:** * *Reminded* members that they had voted at GFMD’s 15-year anniversary celebration last year to postpone the General Assembly until at least some members were able to meet in person. * *Thanked* the Albanian Media Institute, especially its Director, outgoing Steering Committee member Remzi Lani, for helping organise the General Assembly in Tirana. * *Reported* that GFMD is in better shape to contribute to overcoming the challenges faced by the sector, highlighting four main improvements over the last five years; financial stability; providing better services to our members; a more solid Secretariat – “We have a staff of 9 wonderful professionals from different parts of the world”; and finally, that GFMD is more influential in the sector. * *Thanked* the [outgoing Steering Committee](https://strategy.gfmd.info/steering-committee/past#2016-2021) and Jaime Abello, General Director of the Fundacion Gabo for their support over the last five years. ### Mira Milosevic, Executive Director GFMD {% hint style="info" %} A video of Mira’s speech can be [viewed here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZIw0WHOVr4). A text version is available in the [appendices](/governance/general-assembly/2021/meeting-reports/appendices.md). {% endhint %} {% embed url="" %} **The GFMD Executive Director:** * *Outlined* the trends that are not working in favour of professional journalism; lack of international development and international cooperation; securitised responses to multiple crises; freedom of expression and media freedom is often an add on, an afterthought and not human rights by design. * *Explained* that GFMD’s response has been to make the case as to why investing in journalism and media is important. * *Warned* of the challenges in the digital sphere, where small, non-profit, community, investigative, and similar newsrooms and media are not recognised by the system and have experienced removal of their content and accounts. * *Expressed* caution that while the media development and journalism support community have an extraordinary track record in freedom of expression policy and advocacy, there are very few organisations that have the resources and expertise to be effective in media and journalism sustainability policy areas as there is a resource, knowledge, and expertise gap. * *Called* for more global voices bringing information, evidence, and local solutions to these debates. * *Thanked* members for their dedication and loyalty to GFMD; seeing value in information and knowledge exchange, policy and decision-making support, and networking; * *Highlighted* the three most challenging issues identified about the media support sector in general; securing funding; working in environments hostile to independent journalism; an inability to diversify revenue. * *Explained* how members could contribute to GFMD’s 5-year strategy by using the spaces GFMD has created to talk, share knowledge and experiences, and act together. > *“As we go forward every organisation and every project in our network should think about contributing to securing the future of journalism, with less competition and more working together.* > > *This means that without policies that envisage new public funding, regulation of digital markets, and enhanced international support systems for non-profit media, independent professional journalism is in danger of becoming an expensive luxury rather than a universal public good.* > > *Over the last five years, GFMD members, Steering Committee, our Secretariat team with generous support from our partners have succeeded in making GFMD a trusted partner and strong organisation.”* Mira and Ricardo gave a tribute to the [outgoing Steering Committee](https://strategy.gfmd.info/steering-committee/past#2016-2021). Special thanks and mention was given to: * **Joyce Barnathan** – outgoing president of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and Chair of GFMD from 2008-2012. * **Mark Nelson** – outgoing senior director at the Centre for International Media Assistance (CIMA) ### Adoption of the new GFMD Constitution The Chair confirmed: {% hint style="success" %} That the voting Commission – himself, Mira Milosevic, and Remzi Lani – had met to verify the results. {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} Out of GFMD’s 103 members, 81 were up to date on their fees and eligible to vote. Of those, 60 general members voted. {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} The votes were cast anonymously and there was no possibility of any member being able to cast more than one vote. {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} **The new Constitution was approved by over 96% of general members.** {% endhint %} As this exceeded the two-thirds threshold outlined in [the previous GFMD constitution](https://strategy.gfmd.info/docs/constitution-2016-2021#6-2), the Chair declared the new Constitution adopted, adding: > *“I hope that you will all agree that the new constitution will make GFMD a much more efficient and effective organisation but also makes our Steering Committee more representative and diverse and therefore better able to work on behalf of the sector.*” The General Assembly also agreed: {% hint style="success" %} The Steering Committee and Executive Committee will be registered in Belgium as Administrators of GFMD. {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} That the new constitution, once reviewed by GFMD’s lawyers, will be registered as the organisation’s new statute. {% endhint %} **The Executive Director:** * *Informed* the General Assembly of a new Belgium law that regulates the operations of companies and also of associations from both local and international that was adopted in 2019 and is coming into force gradually. As GFMD is registered in Brussels this new law requires all general members to meet once per year to adopt both activity and financial reports but also to approve the choice of auditor for the financial audit; * *Gave notice* that when the Secretariat shares the meeting report from the General Assembly, members will also be sent information about the two auditors that GFMD has been using over the last two years. With one of them put forward for General members to approve to audit GFMD’s 2021 accounts; {% hint style="info" %} The GFMD Secretariat has used two auditors in recent years: **VRC REGISTERED AUDITORS** West Point Park, 't Hofveld 6 C3, 1702 Groot-Bijgaarden TVA: BE0462836191 Auditor - Yves Christiaen **CHRISTIAN MISSANTE SRL** Avenue du Martin Pecheur, 56 bte 26 - 1170 Watermael-Boitsfort**,** RPM Bruxelles TVA: BE0466163093 Auditor - Christian Missante *The GFMD Secretariat would like to put forward CHRISTIAN MISSANTE SRL to audit GFMD accounts for the current financial year.* {% endhint %} * *Noted* that annual General Assembly meetings will take place online, with every fourth taking place in person unless the Steering Committee decides that circumstances allow for more frequent in-person meetings. {% hint style="info" %} For details of the voting process and the key changes in the new Constitution see: {% endhint %} {% embed url="" %} ## Adoption of activity and financial reports 2016-2021 ### Activity reports {% hint style="info" %} GFMD’s full activity reports were shared ahead of the meeting and can be downloaded on the[ Annual activity reports page](https://strategy.gfmd.info/reports/activity). {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} GFMD’s strategic reports for adoption can be reviewed and downloaded on the[ Strategic reports page](https://strategy.gfmd.info/reports/strategic-report-2016-2020). {% endhint %} The GFMD Executive Director presented brief highlights from the 2016-2021 period. {% hint style="info" %} A video of the presentation is [available here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C55__Tw1bQQ). {% endhint %} {% embed url="" %} Members of the GFMD Secretariat gave an in-depth briefing of activities and achievements. {% hint style="info" %} A video of the presentation is [available here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFr9a4V12OI). {% endhint %} {% embed url="" %} ### Speakers: * **Fiona Nzingo** – Membership and Engagement Manager – who spoke about the GFMD's recruitment and retention of members: [https://gfmd.info/members/](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description\&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa2YxNGJ5ZkRSenpoZy1YcndkblF4cjJlS2wxd3xBQ3Jtc0tra1Fuak5jdUhmT2hyeWtWOF9qa1pjU19YbUZxd3M1NkZfdzktVFhTSFRtUmdLN0V5cHljUFBTdVRTNjhrTkprU0JWcFhiTGQ4LWctMmRZd1F3bTNqb0VxT1o3enFLZUFwS09tb1A0bjhacHF5cWVBNA\&q=https%3A%2F%2Fgfmd.info%2Fmembers%2F) * **Anne Marie Hammer** – Programmes and Project Manager – who spoke about the launch of the GFMD MediaDev Fundraising Guide[ https://fundraising-guide.gfmd.info/](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description\&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbHpNZlVOcVdKNWlURFBQa3drT0VGS3ZLcjctUXxBQ3Jtc0tuR2ZEdC1hQ0xVNExqQXhjZmgyNUxrRkExaGJxVFZNSlNxa3gxalRWVEhUYUlqT1A1WUtsZDQ1MW5zSm93TmNBZllwRTI5dkRQZVhWM25EZ1lHZE9PZUVCcDAzdTltZ2lQSUw5VnNmRjBMYmx2TmJpVQ\&q=https%3A%2F%2Ffundraising-guide.gfmd.info%2F) * **Ivana Bjelic Vucinic** – Programmes and Project Manager – who spoke about GFMD's coordination activities in Lebanon and elsewhere[ https://coordination.gfmd.info/](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description\&redir_token=QUFFLUhqazRudHVJaHJPNFJ2T21KUkdfV2xLSGVLSFJ5d3xBQ3Jtc0tsTDRVYUlvQWl5THBmR1o3ZU1fMklLd2JJMmVyNXdPRHB3d0NzM19ncGxFN1V2bVdINDFDdnNueGZNZzJsSkRSbElSLVg2WVpneEZFVjRhdWRjWW5MN2FxNXZTVUdFUTI3VVR1aUNLOF8tNndFOVFJbw\&q=https%3A%2F%2Fcoordination.gfmd.info%2F) * **Tom Law** – Head of Policy and Learning – who spoke about the launch of the International Media Policy and Advisory Centre (GFMD IMPACT): [https://impact.gfmd.info/](https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description\&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbTV2akpCU1dyRzlyQ1VqUHJHNXFmNWlwVWtPUXxBQ3Jtc0ttRkRuM3JKNGZicTVQT2Nzcjk2OUFUdnFzNFZkTHlJUDd5emRsemE5eHk2RVBYLW83WVpoeWNZSHc0Zk5RcXZaTGtWcmpNVkJ0bDRYYjNFODBja1NTTWlXR1FhQVl0REhLWHBTNjdoeUtFRFQxa0s5bw\&q=https%3A%2F%2Fimpact.gfmd.info%2F) * **Biba Klomp** – International Partnerships Manager – who spoke about the results of a network analysis of GFMD's membership: * **Olga Komorova** – Communications Manager – who spoke about improvements to GFMD's communications including the launch of the new GFMD website: ### Financial report {% hint style="info" %} Full financial reports were made available ahead of the meeting and downloaded on the[ Annual financial reports page](https://strategy.gfmd.info/reports/finance). {% endhint %} {% hint style="info" %} A video of the presentation is [available here](). {% endhint %} {% embed url="" %} GFMD Finance Manager, **Klea Trbovic Zivkovic**, informed the meeting that over the past five years, GFMD has received core and programmatic grants from institutional and private donors for specific activities including from; the National Endowment for Democracy (NED); Open Society Foundations (OSF); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (UK FCDO); International Media Support (IMS); Free Press Unlimited (FPU); DW Akademie; UNESCO; and BBC Media Action (BBC MA). **The Executive Director:** *Reported* that the Steering Committee has approved GFMD’s financial reports and audits over the last four years. *Noted* that GFMD was in negative equity in 2017 and 2018 but with careful collaboration between GFMD’s members and partners and financial support from some members such as Free Press Unlimited, the organisation is in a good position administratively, programmatically, and financially. *Explained* that GFMD now has a diverse revenue stream. As well as programmatic and core support from donors and funders, membership fees provide between 35 to 38% of GFMD’s revenues. > *“And this is really important to make us a credible partner and also to have some independence and do things that are sometimes urgent, but we don't have funding for them. As we progress, we will think about how to diversify the revenue stream even further and to work with both members and partners to make GFMD an even more strong and stable organization.”* *Predicted* that the GFMD Secretariat will not grow much larger than it is. > *“We are planning to provide better conditions for our staff that have been with us for more than two years, too, also invest more in the capacity of our members around the world to join us in doing joint policy and advocacy."* ### Discussion **Jan Lublinski**, Head of Department, Policy and Learning, Deutsche Welle Akademie: > *“I think this presentation of Mira and the team she's built is quite impressive because it has shown what GFMD can do with the content work that we needed to do. And it can do it on many different domains. \[...] The fact that this team is active and \[...] dealing with all these things is quite an extraordinary achievement of Mira but also of her team.”* **Jesper Højberg**, Executive Director, International Media Support (IMS): > *“It is important to discuss priorities \[...] because the team is not big. \[...] It's actually overwhelming how much you have been able to achieve. So, of course, all praise for that. But I think when we look forward to having an impact on some of these very, very complex issues that you also brought up Mira so well, I think we need to discuss what it is that we expect from the Secretariat. \[...] I don't think we should leave without having somehow clarified some of those key priorities that will allow us, all of us in particular the Secretariat, to not end up being overstretched.”* {% hint style="info" %} For more details about the issues raised by Jesper, see the [Strategic Planning report](/governance/general-assembly/2021/meeting-reports/strategic-planning.md). {% endhint %} **Ricardo Corredor**, Outgoing Chairperson of GFMD: > *“I hope you agree with me that this team deserves a great round of applause for all the work they've done.* ### Adoption The GFMD activity reports and GFMD financial reports were both adopted by general members present in Tirana and those who attended via Zoom. It was noted that the adoption and approval of the audit was provisional to allow members unable to attend in person or by Zoom to vote. Recordings of the presentations will be shared with all members on 11th October. The final deadline for objections and/or questions and voting will be 22nd October. ## Announcement of new GFMD Steering Committee Tom Law from the GFMD Secretariat explained the nomination and voting process: {% hint style="info" %} **2 Aug. - 10 Sept.** – Members were invited to submit their candidacy for the Steering Committee. 21 - 28 Sept. – A full list of [candidates for the Steering Committee](https://strategy.gfmd.info/steering-committee/candidates-2021-2025) was shared with the CEO, Director or designated GFMD representative of each general member with a secure link that tracked who had voted but not who they had voted for. 29 Sept. – The voting commission met to verify that the votes have been cast and counted fairly. {% endhint %} The outgoing Chairperson Ricardo Corredor informed the meeting that: {% hint style="success" %} Out of GFMD’s 103 general members, 81 were eligible to cast a vote (as per the Constitution, only members who are up to date on membership fees are able to vote at the General Assembly). {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} 60 votes were cast. There were no invalid votes**.** {% endhint %} The outgoing Chairperson Ricardo Corredor announced the duly elected members of the new Steering Committee. #### Asia, Pacific and Oceania (2 members) * Owais Aslam Ali, Secretary-General, [Pakistan Press Foundation](https://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/) * Prue Clarke, Co-founder, Executive Director, Editor, [New Narratives](https://newnarratives.org/) #### Eastern Europe, the Caucuses, and Central Asia (2 members) * Drew Sullivan, Co-founder and Publisher, [Journalism Development Network](https://www.occrp.org/en/jdn)/[OCCRP](https://www.occrp.org/en/) * Marija Ristic, Regional Director, [Balkan Investigative Reporting Network - BIRN](https://birn.eu.com/) #### Europe (Western, Central, Northern, and Southern) (1 member) * Lars Boering, Director, [European Journalism Centre - EJC](https://ejc.net/) #### Latin America and the Caribbean (2 members) * Mijal Iastrebner, Co-founder and Managing Director, [SembraMedia](https://www.sembramedia.org/) * Wesley Gibbings, Executive Member, [Association of Caribbean Media Workers](https://acmpress.org/) #### Middle East and North Africa (2 members) * Ayman Mhanna, Executive Director, [Samir Kassir Foundation - SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom](https://www.skeyesmedia.org/en/Home) * Roula Mikhael, Executive Director, [Maharat Foundation](http://www.maharatfoundation.org/) #### North America (1 member) * Sharon Moshavi, President, [International Center for Journalists - ICFJ](https://www.icfj.org/) #### Sub-Saharan Africa (2 members) * Vusumuzi Sifile, Executive Director, [Panos Institute Southern Africa](http://www.panos.org.zm/) * Zoe Titus, Director, [Namibia Media Trust](https://www.nmt.africa/) #### Global (3 members) * Caroline Vuillemin, General Director, [Fondation Hirondelle](https://www.hirondelle.org/en/) * Jan Lublinski, Head of Department, Policy and Learning, [Deutsche Welle Akademie](https://www.dw.com/en/dw-akademie/about-us/s-9519) * Ruth Kronenburg, Director of Operations, [FreePress Unlimited](https://www.freepressunlimited.org/en) #### Topical & policy (2 members) * Tabani Moyo, Acting Regional Director, [Media Institute of Southern Africa - MISA](https://misa.org/) * Toby Mendel, Executive Director, [Centre for Law and Democracy](https://www.law-democracy.org/live/) {% hint style="info" %} The full list is also available: * On the [GFMD strategic resource space](). * On the [GFMD website](https://gfmd.info/who-is-who/steering-committee/). {% endhint %} The outgoing Chair thanked all those who had put themselves forward as a candidate. > *“It is really heartening to see such enthusiasm for the work of GFMD and your willingness to contribute to the future of our network. I am sure that we will find constructive ways to engage you all in our work over the next few years.* > > *It is also very welcome to see that 8 of the 17 members are women. This is a vast improvement from the 5 out 19 women who served on the previous Steering Committee.”* The GFMD Executive Director extended *“warm congratulations to the members of our new steering committee. All of us at the Secretariat are really looking forward to working with you.”* ### Conclusion Tributes were paid to Ricardo Corredor, Outgoing Chairperson of GFMD by Mira Milosevic, Ayman Mhanna, and Jaime Abello. The Chair brought the 2021 GFMD General Assembly to close. **-- ENDS --** {% hint style="info" %} The announcement of the new Steering Committee marked the official end of the GFMD General Assembly. All members were invited to attend the first meeting of the new [GFMD Steering Committee](broken://pages/-MRUbwTq-xpzS8Ya7sek) which was held following a short break in proceedings. The first meeting of the new GFMD Steering Committee voted for a new Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and Treasurer. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://strategy.gfmd.info/governance/general-assembly/2021/meeting-reports/general-assembly-tirana-2021.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.