[Imc-finance] finalizing imc finance funding process - key outstanding issues
remain
Sheri Herndon
sheri at indymedia.org
Wed Oct 16 22:54:14 2002
hi everyone,
(i deleted cc's to other lists - jay perhaps you could summarize for
those other lists after a few days of discussion rather than
cross-posting?)
jay, thanks for clarifying valentin's original email. it helps
understand the request more and helps us figure out better how to
respond. is there a timeline on this request? i think it is a good
idea that we get something in more of a proposal format.
ACTION ITEMS
1. Ambazonia imc request: how to process a new request for funds
even though we don't have all the concerns addressed from the last
proposal request.
--- matching funds ---
it was suggested a while ago that one easy way to distribute the
funds from the global network would be for one imc to raise funds on
behalf of another imc (like what jay is proposing imc-germany could
do) and then the finance group would "match those funds" from the
global account.
i would support a matching fund of this kind to this new imc.
does anyone have the email that describes this? can we get it up on the twiki?
2. imc finance funding process:
once again, we are now faced with a proposal for funds. we have a
timeline and a precedent for how to move through this process. but
we still have several key outstanding questions that we haven't
addressed since the last proposal for funds for south africa. we
must do this and not continue to put it off until the next ad hoc
proposal. who wants to agree to take this on and return to this
working group within a certain timeline? we have several points
below and there's been lots of good work and thinking already done on
this. i can contribute to this project and help with a group of
folks who are committed to making a draft proposal happen.
i am making a contribution to the question about "guidelines", which
in this email i am calling criteria. do other people have some
suggestions for other parts of of our process that need clarifying?
-----------------outanding process questions-------------------
-- clarifying the finance process
-- timely summaries & translations to languages other than english
-- more dialogue about our Membership, our Mandate, our Guidelines,
our Decision-Making Process.
* i have included some possible draft guidelines/criteria for
our discussion
-- standard proposal format we can ask people to fill out
* i'd suggest something simple: summary of proposal, simple
background and description, pros and cons, how it meets the
crieria/guidelines, and amount requested
-- post all this information on the finance wiki so it's handy
------------------finance twiki pages--------------------
here's the proposal wiki:
http://kropotkin.indymedia.org/moin/moin.cgi/FinanceWorkingGroupSummary
there other twiki: http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/ImcFinance
-----------------draft criteria for possible inclusion and
discussion---------------------
and here's my comments about criteria which are from a specific
proposal that thatcher and i wrote that was for a "global south fund"
- to disburse microgrants to imcs outside the us):
The specific goals for this Fund are to: (1) empower grassroots media
production and facilitation in parts of the world where available
resources make media production extremely difficult; (2) disburse
grants to areas not served by grant-giving foundations (although many
organizations in the U.S. give grants, these types of organizations
are much less common in countries in the Global South; therefore we
will become an intermediary grant giver for IMCs in the South, using
our resources in the North to get grants to create small yet
important opportunities for media makers throughout the southern
hemisphere); (3) survey the IMCs in the South for their needs and
potential stumbling blocks; and (4) counteract the economic imbalance
of the relatively high cost of media making equipment and technology
(wages in the South are low compared with the North but technology
and media equipment costs are fairly stable between the hemispheres).
Additional goals of this Fund are to: (1) inspire greater awareness
for how to use small amounts of money to its fullest potential; (2)
encourage collectives in the South to develop their own mechanisms
for raising and disbursing money; (3) increase international
collaboration and awareness of the priorities of Indymedia as a
whole; and, (4) increase understanding of the different needs and
resources available in the Network, North and the South.
Grant Criteria: The most significant criteria for grant disbursement
are (1) the IMC must be in the "Global South"; (2) the IMC must meet
the Network Principles of Unity and the Membership Criteria; (3) the
IMC must be participating (through their liaisons) on global lists
and facilitating media production at the local level; (4) the grant
should facilitate media making that counteracts the worst failures
and gaping holes in the corporate profit-based or state-sponsored
media; (5) timeliness of the funds will be a consideration (rapid
response element); (6) a limit of one grant per quarter for each IMC
and/or project; and (7) we recognize that emergency situations will
arise and such grants are given a high priority. Thus, successful
application of GSF disbursements can act as a catalyst for future
growth of sustainable democratic independent media in the Global
South.
-----------------next steps------------------
1. receiving more formal proposal from jay and imc-germany
2. getting a working group together to take on the outstanding questions
3. locating key emails to add to the imc finance twiki
4. discuss :)))
love & solidarity
sheri
At 8:37 PM -0400 10/16/02, Jay wrote:
>Hello Imc-finance,
>
>This is Jay from IMC-Philadelphia. Below is a message from
>Valentine from the aspiring Ambazonia IMC. For those of you who
>don't know, Ambazonia is an area in Cameroon (Africa) that was
>formerly British Cameroon. In 1961, French Cameroon took over the
>area. There are people in Ambazonia trying to gain
>autonomy/independence and, as a step, find a way to express
>themselves through independent media. (is this right, valentine?)
>
>A few months ago Valentine contacted the new-imc working group about
>the possibility of forming an IMC. He is currently located in
>Germany, and has been working with the Germany IMC on this project.
>Their test site is at "http://ambazonia.indymedia.de". He is also
>organizing with people on the ground in Ambazonia.
>
>I'm going to be in Nigeria at the end of November/beginning of
>December for some journalism research. Of course I'll be meeting
>with members of the Nigeria IMC while I'm there. I originally
>thought I was going to be able to make it to Abazonia, but now I
>know I won't be able to get there. However, the imc-Ambazonia group
>is interested in organizing a delegation to go to Nigeria to meet
>with me, and members of imc-nigeria.
>
>Below is a request for financial support of 600 euro (currently
>about $580, if I'm not mistaken) to support pre-orgainzing for the
>delegation, and the delegation itself. I believe Valentine has
>already asked for assistance from IMC-Germany. Valentine, will
>IMC-Germany be able to help?
>
>My instinct is that Valentine, imc-de, imc-nigeria and should I work
>together to turn this into a proposal that will split the funding
>between IMC-Germany and network funds. In a sense, IMC-Germany
>could raise 300 Euro and the global fund could match it. I haven't
>been in touch with imc-germany yet about this, or imc-nigeria, just
>valentine. Because Valentine had sent the below message to
>imc-finance, though, I just wanted to explain a bit of background,
>and indicate that there may be a proposal coming at some point.
>
>I'm sorry to not be up on things completely on imc-finance. Is
>there a document circulating on the proper format for a proposal for
>funds? If so, please e-mail it to me so we can put it to good use.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jay
>
>At 10/5/2002, valentine V eben wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 05 Oct 2002 14:08:14
>> imc-ambazonia-contact-admin wrote:
>>>Dear Comrades; I'm Valentine from IMC.Germany-Stuttgart group. After
>>> getting the IMC experience it was obvious that I try to introduce it to my
>> > comrades in Ambazonia(Ex-British Southern Cameroons). Here are 5.3million
>>> people trapped in disease and misery as well as being brutalised and
>>> murdered on an almost daily bases by the occupation troops of French
>>> Cameroon(who occupied the territory since 1961). One of the greatest
>>> trouble experience by this community is the inability to express their
>>> views in the press, as all the media outlets as well as the journalists
>>> that try to go the way of educating about basic-rights end up coming under
>>> serious pressure from the regime. We are in the process of starting an IMC
>>> Ambazonia. I've been talking with people in the territory who are ready to
>>> be involved in a media project were they can express themselves
>>> (especially anonymously if they want). A volunteer from IMC-Germany helped
>>> set-up a test site online at http://ambazonia.indymedia.de
>>>
>>> Jay from IMC San Francisco will be paying a visit to IMC Nigeria in the
>>> end of November/early December 2002. Unfortunately his schedule cannot
>>> permit him visit the Ambazonia collective. Thus we wish to send a
>>> delegation to Nigeria for a joined meeting with IMC Nigeria during the time
>>> Jay's on visit . This meeting is absolutely very important for our
>>> collective and I doubt if we'll get this kind of a chance again for such an
>>> interchange .Thus this will be a great opportunity to inspire and
>>>strengthen our collective. This will be very important for our local group
>>> to get a face to face meeting with people experienced on how
>>>IMC's work, this
>>> will be different from email/phone communication which has been our main
>>> way of communicating ( I'm in exile in Germany).To make the most of this
>>>meeting we agreed to Organise another nation-wide awareness campaign to
>>> be able to get together for this encounter as many interested persons as
>>> possible. For this awareness campaign and the IMC Ambazonia
>>>meeting with IMC Nigeria
>>>I'm on behalf of IMC Ambazonia asking for financial support from
>>>of the sum of
>>>6,00 Euro. The contact address and numbers of the two main persons
>>> involved in the grassroots work from Africa I can made available on
>>> request (security worries stop me from including it here as this list ha s
>>> a public achieved). With all regards. Yours in the struggle
>>> Valentine
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>____________________________________________________________
>>>Watch a championship game with Elway or McGwire.
>>>Enter Now at http://champions.lycos.com
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>imc-ambazonia-contact mailing list
>>>imc-ambazonia-contact@lists.indymedia.org
>>>http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-ambazonia-contact
>>>
>>
>>
>>____________________________________________________________
>>Watch a championship game with Elway or McGwire.
>>Enter Now at http://champions.lycos.com
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Imc-finance mailing list
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>>Summary Page: http://docs.indymedia.org/twiki/bin/view/Global/ImcFinance
>
>
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