The 1st General Assembly (GA) for all SCBRC Personnel for the year 2007 took place on Wednesday, 21st March. The GA began with a prayer service sponsored by the Finance Department and a benediction by the Secretary General, Fr. Anthony Bangoye.
The first item in the agenda was the update on the Secretariat’s move to Juba. The donor partners that pledged to assist in the move have begun remitting their commitments. Trocaire, CAFOD and Caritas Italiana have already done so and the other partners are doing their best to do likewise.
Once the SCBRC will have on hand a substantial amount for the move to Juba, detailed plan and program of actions will be finalized and published. While waiting for this, the SCBRC counsels patience and prayer for the smooth transfer of the Secretariat to Juba.
The next in the agenda were the reports of each department. Three departments have recently concluded their consultation and workshops. The HIV/AIDS Department conducted a Training Workshop for South Sudan Focal Persons in Entebbe. The workshop produced an important document called the Entebbe Strategies that will be the guidelines for the work of the department and the focal persons in the dioceses. (We shall publish this document with photos of the Entebbe Workshop on HIV/AIDS)
The third item was the workshop is the Justice and Peace Training of Trainers Workshop held in Rumbek. The report of this workshop including photos was published in the blogspot earlier.
The fourth report came from the Development & Education Department. It conducted a consultation meeting in Juba on how to properly disburse the donation from the Italian Episcopal Conference supporting each diocese in the Sudan to have kindergarten and primary education program. It was also noted that the Government of South Sudan has begun paying the salary of the staff in accredited non-government schools.
The final portion of the meeting focused on operational systems that need to be followed by all the departments. The systems are already in place and the appropriate forms are available. Some of these forms cover travel plans, advances, use of vehicles and other requests that need the approval of the General Secretary. The policy on liquidation of expenses within a week upon return to the office is requested by the Finance Department. Here will be no release of new money to the department unless the proper liquidation of the previous release has been accomplished and approved by the duly designated authority.
The General Secretary reminds all that the Wednesday Prayer Service is for ALL. In many ways, the prayer service is our collective identity as mission partners of the Sudan Catholic Bishops. No one should absent himself/herself from the prayer service without reasonable cause.
The Assembly ended by a special benediction of Fr. Jun Mercado, OMI who is accompanying the SCBRC for three months in capacity building.
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