WACSI Board Expresses Delight with 2019 Accomplishments
On Friday 13 December 2019, the board and management of WACSI held the second and last board meeting for the year. This meeting was the second in the second year of the Institute’s current 2018 – 2022 strategy cycle, and the fourth since WACSI rolled out its new strategy.
The goal of this meeting was to create a space for the management and board to reflect on the Institute’s operations in the year 2019. It gave the board the opportunity to provide oversight guidance to the management on key priority opportunities to take advantage of in 2020.
According to Ms Abiana Nelson, member of the board who chaired the meeting, “this meeting is an important one for us as we look to assess our operations in 2019 and strategise for the year 2020”.
She commended the team for the significant accomplishments realised in the year.
Nana Afadzinu, Executive Director of WACSI, provided an overall programmes update to the board.
“2019 has been one of the busiest years for us. We have had a very activity-packed and impactful year. Even though that means that we’ve had partnerships and things have been happening, it has taken a toll on the team,” she said.
“We have followed our mission this year working to respond to issues impacting civil society in the areas of enabling environment for civil society, women and youth leadership, technology for development and civil society sustainability,” she added.
Board members expressed utmost satisfaction with the accomplishments for the year. They commended the management and staff of the Institute for the dedication to realise the mission of the Institute.
The board encouraged the team to continue in their efforts to boost WACSI’s mission because this will be rewarding for the Institute.
As Mrs Ayodeji Fajemirokun, who was voted the new Board Chair noted, “the stronger WACSI is the more organisations will approach and engage with us.”
To be more robust, the board urged the management and staff of WACSI to, among others:
- Document its impact purposefully and vigorously;
- Provide more post-training support to ensure that impact is made in communities based on the training and technical assistance provided;
- Target networks of CSOs in the countries WACSI work in to ensure that there could be an increased ripple effect of the benefits of the training and technical assistance.
An update of some of the planned interventions for 2020 gave the board an overview of what the year would look like.
“2020 looks very promising but with it comes the responsibility to be ready and for us to make sure that we do not do anything that dilutes our brand or lowers our standards,” said Ms Nelson.
She concluded the meeting by extending words of encouragement on behalf of the board to the team. “On behalf of the board, I want to extend the gratitude of the board to Nana and the staff for holding the organisation together. We want to encourage you to keep up the good work in implementing the strategy. As the board, we are available to support”, she said.
