APPENDIX IV
19TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF AMAN
MARSEILLE, 29 JUNE 2010
Ladies and gentlemen,
First, I would like to express, on behalf of APS, which holds the rotating
presidency, and on behalf of all delegates and guests here present, my deepest
thanks to our friends of AFP, especially the Chief Executive Officer and Eric
Scherer, as well as to their assistants for the warm welcome, for all their efforts
to make our stay as pleasant as possible and for all the conditions that have
been set to ensure complete success of our meeting, which will be held in this
beautiful Mediterranean city.
Dear colleagues,
Since the 18th General Assembly of our Alliance, held in June 2009 in Algiers (for
the second time after 12th Alliance's GA in 2003), following the withdrawal of the
agency that was due to host the meeting and upon the requests of some
member agencies of our Alliance, APS has held the presidency.
First, I would like to thank you for your confidence in our agency, and for all the
help provided by our partners, members of the Follow-up Committee, who
spared no effort to help us successfully carry out the mission we have been
entrusted.
As regards the activities planned for the duration of our presidency, I remind you
that the Follow-up Committee met, as agreed and in accordance with our
Alliance's statutes, on April 9th, 2010 in Paris with the cooperation of AFP. And I
would like to thank, once again, our AFP colleagues who help us to organize the
meeting in good conditions, with the participation of all the members of the
Follow-up Committee, namely APS, AFP, LUSA and CNA.
During this session, the Follow-up Committee's members examined several items
on the agenda before they are submitted to the General Assembly for
examination and approval.
Among others, they tackled issues relating to the financial situation of our
Alliance, relooking the Alliance website to make it more attractive, as well as
naming the winners of the competitions for best article and best photo, and the
results will be given by the Secretary General.
All these items will be examined by our General Assembly, and the Secretary
General and the Webmaster (the representative of the NNA in charge of
managing the website) are ready to give you further details about this matter.
Concerning the Med-News bulletin, we have noted some improvements, but
some member agencies persist in not contributing to it.
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We seize this opportunity to reiterate our invitation to participate, given the
insignificant number of dispatches to send.
As regards the financial contributions of the member agencies, I also seize this
opportunity to invite the agencies that didn't fulfil yet their commitments to
regularize their situations, since the amount of this contribution is almost
derisory.
Also, I would like to pointed out that during this presidency, our colleagues of
CNA, who I have to deeply thank for, as usual, they have spared no effort to
contribute to the activities of AMAN, by organizing at Limassol a seminar on
"News agencies: Problems and challenges"
Further information about these activities will be provided by AMAN Secretary
General.
Assistance to member agencies:
In accordance with the recommendations of the previous General Assembly, the
Alliance has fulfilled its commitment to provide some equipment to the
Palestinian news agency (WAFA). The Secretary General will give you further
details about the matter.
Moreover, the Alliance was invited to partake in the General Assembly of the
Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) in Seoul (South Korea), and
in a seminar organized in Budapest (Hungary) as part of EANA activities.
AMAN was represented by the current Chairman and the Secretary General.
In addition, the Follow-up Committee examined and approved a proposal made
by the CNA for the publication of a book on the history of AMAN and its member
agencies. This proposal has been submitted to you to enrich it if necessary.
In summary, these are the main actions carried out during our one-year
presidency.
Finally, I would like to thank, once again, all our friends of AFP for all their efforts
and their readiness to provide assistance. I would like also to thank our
colleagues, members of the Follow-up Committee, who spared no effort to
ensure the smooth running of our organization. And I would like to pay a special
tribute to our Secretary General George, and to Mariana who watch over the
smooth running of the Alliance.
Thank you for your attention.