Updated 6 June 2012
Introduction
The Third Executive Council Meeting for the term 2011 to 2014 took place on 18 and 19 May 2012 in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The meeting was hosted by the KSI Dar-es-Salaam Jamaat and was well attended by Councillors representing various regions across the world including Africa, Middle East, Pakistan, North America and Europe. In addition, there were a large number of invitees and observers.
Click here to view the agenda of the Executive Council Meeting
The President of Dar-es-Salaam Jamaat AlHaj Shiraz Bhai Walji opened the meeting and his speech was followed by an address from The President of Africa Federation Alhaj Anwarali Dharamsi as the host federation. Shiraz bhai spoke about some of the achievements of Dar Es Salaam Jamaat including in the areas of economic upliftment and tableegh. The Africa Federation President spoke about the work conducted by the Africa Federation Secretariat and he stressed on the fact that many of our community members are in dire financial need in Africa.
The President’s Address
Dr Moledina in his speech to the Executive Council pointed out the three key themes this term which The World Federation will focus on:
1. The implementation of The Madrasah Centre of Excellence (MCE).
2. The eradication of poverty in the Khoja community over the next 15 years,
3. Linking together our community.
This will be in addition, to the ambitious 93 points on The World Federation Secretariat Action Plan.
The President in his address also informed the Councillors of the various jamaats he had attended since the last Executive Council meeting. The details of his visits can be seen here
Dr Asghar Moledina, President of The World Federation, thanked the host Jamaat – KSI Jamaat of Dar-es-Salaam for their excellent preparations to host the Executive Council meeting and also recognized and appreciated their dedicated volunteers for their tireless efforts to ensure a successful meeting.
Dr Mohsin Jaffer upon his reflection of the meeting said, "Frank, open and cordial discussions, we agreed to disagree without bad feelings!"
Councillor Hassan Abdulhussein commented, “Networking and with open-mindedness and frankness we aimed to resolve all issues for the betterment of our community.”
Aunali Khalfan - Hon. Secretary of the Africa Federation said "The success of a meeting depends primarily on its end results, the 3rd EXCO meeting held in Dar es Salaam showed great change in the leadership of the WF to work towards the greater and wider interests of our Khoja community world-wide and the focus geared towards the most crucial challenges of eradication of poverty in Africa. The openness and frankness of the discussions on practically all issues provided renewed confidence to the Councillors, and in this context it rejuvenated the mission of the World Federation that – We Exist To Serve.
The Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer of The World Federation, Br Reza Hooda, through the aid of various pictorials, presented the accounts of The World Federation. He noted that income to The World Federation has increased over the last 12 months; however, he poignantly pointed out the need to educate and better inform our donors to send The World Federation more unrestricted funding going forward.
Currently unrestricted funding makes up 10% of total income. When Br Reza Hooda was asked about this he said, “It is vital for the sustainability of this organisation to ensure we can come up with a strategy to increase the amount of unrestricted Huqooq funding. Part of that strategy needs to focus on better informing the donors.”
Secretariat Reports & Action Plans
At the last Executive Council Meeting in Stanmore, the Secretary General formally asked the Executive Council to adopt the Action Plan for 2011-2014. This was borne out of the President’s Manifesto, Conference Feedback and the input of the Regional Federations.
Each of these department’s have Action Plans to ensure not only that progress is taking place, but to measure the progress being made.
The Departments that make up the Secretariat include
1. Health
2. Education
3. International Relief and Development
4. Islamic Education
5. Family Affairs
6. Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme
To see the updated Action Plans for each of these departments please click here.
Health
Dr Munir Datoo, Assistant Secretary General for Health shared the goal of achieving effective sustainability in providing Healthcare around the world. The work of the Health Department is centred on the provision of effective Healthcare in the developing world and providing information and education in the developed world. A great deal of progress has been made and a number of activities are still planned. For full details please view the Action Plan.
Education
The function of the Education Department is to provide information and financial assistance to students who would have otherwise been restricted from the institutions of further education. The task of informing our community of the worldwide education opportunities is central to the development of our community. In addition, the Education Department will now work on identifying careers of the future and providing more information to students and parents on higher education choices.
International Relief and Development
The World Federation’s Relief Manager Kaniz Bhimani, presented a very moving display of the worldwide activities carried out by The World Federation in International Relief and Development. From the teachings of our Holy Prophet and Imams and the guidance of our previous leaders, The World Federation has continued to work towards the alleviation of poverty around the world.
Sister Kaniz’s presentation included updates of work done in Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Haiti, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Middle East.
The Secretary General spoke about the need of focussing on alleviating poverty in our Khoja Community. After some deliberation and strong support from the Executive Council, The Council decided the following:
1. That The World Federation Secretariat will request each of the Regional Federations to investigate poverty (relative and acute) in their regions via the Jamaats. This could be done via questionnaires or through holding regional forums;
2. That the next Executive Council Meeting will include a one day forum on the Eradication of Poverty on the Khoja Community where this data will be discussed and an action plan created.
To see International Relief and Development’s Presentation please click here.
Islamic Education
Sayyid Ali Raza Naqvi, presented the breadth of services our Islamic Education department (including 23 projects on the Action Plan).. The work includes, but isn’t limited to, the publication of books, CPDs for our Aalims and Zakirs, running youth camps around the world,
Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme
Alhaj Masum Bhai Somji, in a spirited presentation outlined the roadmap on The Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme (ZCSS). In his presentation not only did he share the workings of ZCSS but also an emphasis was given to the collection of data within the scheme and a roadmap of objectives were set out to ensure we could continue to provide the best education possible.
A candid discussion took place in which the councillors requested that an information pack about the Further Education part of the scheme be provided to them, so they can raise the funding required to provide Further Education in the developing world. The ZCSS team is looking to finalise the information pack on Further Education and is working to increase the awareness of this scheme (primary, secondary and further education) in our community.
Deputy Secretary General’s Address
Br Sadiq Datoo, The Deputy Secretary General shared with us the work he is doing in assisting the Secretary General. He too is working in a number of areas from Islamic Education to Relief, from ZCSS to Health.
He shared with us the hours he and The Secretary General have put into managing The World Federation’s broad range of activities, so that the Executive Council is briefed on the resources needed at the Secretariat to deliver the actions that have been signed off. Their statistics go to show on average each of them reply to over 300 emails a week, received over 1,200 emails each, they spend over 7 hours a week each on the phone and last but not least they each spend over 45 hours a week each to manage The World Federation’s activities. It is critical for The World Federation to recruit a new generation of volunteers to help deliver the goals and objectives of the organisation.
Br Sadiq Datoo said, “The action plan is provided for those readers who would like to better inform themselves on the goals set for each department. By no means does this include all the work done at The World Federation Secretariat. These action plans do not include the day to day activities that our organisation engages in. They show our strategic objectives for the term – 93 in total.”
Dr Moledina, applauded the efforts of his young team stressing on their busy professional schedules; however, he added, “It is quite evident we have inspired a generation of youth who now lead our community, and it is our task as The World Federation to ensure our institutions continue in the same vein and we increase the pool of young professionals in all spheres of community work.”
Madrasah Centre of Excellence (MCE)
The Madrasah Centre of Excellence is a flagship initiative endorsed by The World Federation Conference. The Madrasah Centre of Excellence is a vital initiative that provides the support structure and framework around our Madaris globally.
The World Federation’s Madrasah Centre of Excellence has now fully been set up and is being headed by Alhaj Naushad Bhai Mehrali. With his extensive experience Naushad Bhai has developed a fully functioning structure for this global initiative.
Shan-E-Abbas Hassam, The Secretary General said, “The vision of MCE is to create a developmental institution with the end goal of nurturing piety in our students. This means that we need the MCE to engage with Madaris to ensure we can identify the needs of each and every individual Madrasah and provide the resources to the Madaris to cater for those needs.”
He added, “We have made progress in Curriculum Development and Assessment and Evaluation. We need to increase the pace of our work in Teachers Training, and our Learning Resources Section will click into gear next year once the Curriculum Development team has laid the platform. Over the next year the global curriculum framework will have been produced so that Madaris can compare their syllabus against this framework and conduct an internal gap analysis. Furthermore, evaluations have taken place in Hyderi Madrasah and many more have been planned. The progress is there but we need to keep at it...”
1. Assessments and Evaluation
Since the creation of MCE, Naushad Bhai and his team have worked hard to provide an Assessment and Evaluation Seminar in Birmingham. This seminar was well attended by prospective Madrasah assessors from all over the world. The point of the seminar was to provide skills and understanding to prospective assessors and as such training manuals and guides were provided to all attendees.
Since then, pilot assessment has been conducted at Hyder Madrasah, and feedback from this assessment has gone a long way to improving the assessments set out by MCE. The next sets of pilot assessments are due to take place later on this year in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi respectively, with more currently being planned.
2. Curriculum Development
Naushad Bhai briefed the Executive Council on the importance of developing a global framework for Madaris on subject areas that are essential contents of any Madrasah’s syllabus. Such a framework is at the consultation stage at the moment and the MCE team is working very hard to ensure the engagement of Madaris so that the end product is one with the highest standards of quality.
3. Teachers’ Training
The MCE team is also going to focus on teacher training. Teachers can be classified as the most vital part of the Madaris jigsaw as they are tasked with the critical mission of passing on knowledge to the students. Some teacher training events have occurred sporadically over 2012; however, a plan is being put in place by mid 2012 to ensure this set of objectives is implemented globally in a more streamlined manner
4. Learning Resources Portal
Work has begun into developing such a resource rich portal for all Madaris to make use of. This is an important investment that will go above and beyond any website simply because it is aimed to help arm teachers with more content to aide them in their work.
To see the MCE Presentation please click here
Health Forum
The Executive Council meeting provided The World Federation an opportunity to bring together the individual regional partners and have a Health Forum to discuss the Healthcare needs of our global community and the work we can all undertake together to cater for those needs.
Dr Rizwan Alidina said, “This was a fantastic opportunity to meet our fellow colleagues from Africa, North America, Pakistan and Europe all working in the medical services sector. We all realised that the needs of each individual region coalesces with our global Healthcare needs as a worldwide community. Therefore the forum enabled us to create synergistic alliances with our counterparts and deliver services together.”
The forum gathered The Central Health Board of Africa Federation, The Health Improvement Board of The Council of European Jamaats, and medical professionals from Pakistan and NASIMCO to work together to provide Healthcare specific to the needs of our community. It was agreed at the meeting that each individual region would take a lead on a specific need, cater for their region and provide the learnings to their global counterparts to implement in their regions.
The following was agreed at the Health Forum:
A. Africa Federation –
i. Will cater for Vitamin B12 Deficiency
ii. Will cater for Vitamin D Deficiency
iii. Provide an Assessment and Implementation plan for Youth Assessment
B. CoEJ –
i. Provide Thalassaemia care
ii. Provide Pre-Marital Screening
C. NASIMCO –
i. Provide an Understanding and Implementation process of dealing with DomesticViolence
Councillor Shabbar Dhalla, who facilitated the event, expressed his admiration to the way in which all the regions took the opportunity to whole heartedly offer their services. He said, “I am delighted to see the cross working taking place at The World Federation and looking forward to seeing the implementation of what we all agreed upon at this event, inshAllah.”
Hussaini Foundation
Hassan Abdulhussein, a World Federation Executive Councillor, and the lead co-ordinator from Hussaini Foundation gave a detailed overview of the activities of the organisation.
It was noted that The World Federation has invested $1.5M in the development of Pakistan. We see our regional partner as being vital to our long-term objective in providing for Pakistan’s Shia community. Hussaini Foundation is an example of the success of The World Federation’s work. The World Federation is a founding member of Hussaini Foundation and the heights to which they have risen is a testament to the vision of development The World Federation aspires to.
Dr Moledina expressed his unreserved gratitude, and support for Hussaini Foundation in Pakistan. He noted that some of the areas they work in are remote and very dangerous but it is the love of the Shia community that inspires and strengthens them to do so.
Media Strategy
Alhaj Munawar Bhai Rattansey, led this session to share the understanding of the terms and references of the Media Strategy Paper. It was resolved by the Executive Council that Habib M Habib from NASIMCO would be the vice chair of this initiative.
Click here to view the Media Strategy Terms of Reference
Women’s Needs Assessments
Councillor Saeeda Jiwa in a lively presentation shared with the august body the work done since she conducted the global Women’s needs assessment. She presented the strategy on what The World Federation and Regional Federations should now do to address some of the poignant feedback received from the needs assessment.
The World Federation and Regional Federation Secretariats will now go through this feedback and look to start effective implementation .
Click Here for Women’s Needs Assessments Action Plan
Foundation Fund
Councillor Sibtein Bhai Asaria provided an update on the progress of The World Federation Foundation Fund. Sibtein Bhai is leading the team and they hope to start fundraising towards the end of 2012. The terms of reference were amended to give the team more flexibility to commence their work with investment decisions being made, as per The World Federation Constitution, by the trustees.
Capital Projects
The Secretary General briefed The Executive Council that he had received a letter from a Regional Federation, on the definition of ‘Jamaat’ under the Capital Projects Paper. After lengthy deliberation, the Executive Council decided that only Members and Constituent Members can apply under the Capital Projects Paper. The Paper was re-drafted accordingly.
In addition, the Kurla Project of Mumbai was discussed. It was decided that since KSI Jamaat of Mumbai was not present at the meeting that the item would be re-tabled at the next Executive Council meeting.
Secretary General’s remarks upon reflection of the Executive Council Meeting
The Secretary General, Shan-E-Abbas Hassam, was pleased with the progress made at the meeting and commented: "I was delighted by some of the strategic discussions at this Executive Council Meeting. In particular I feel that the meeting was a milestone in our history because we agreed a priority to be placed in this term on 3 key areas including the Eradication of Poverty in our Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Community. Our team is working on the process outlined in the meeting and we look forward to the detailed discussion at the next Executive Council Meeting on how The World Federation and the Regional Federations can achieve this milestone together."