Wednesday, January 16, 2013

New board, but Friends of Burma can’t shake problems


Some former board members question the new board’s legitimacy; new members disagree.

Embassy Photo: Kristen Shane
Inter Pares’ Laurier Street office in Ottawa, in this file photo.
Sneh Duggal
Published: Wednesday, 01/16/2013 12:00 am EST
Last Updated: Wednesday, 01/16/2013 10:20 am EST
 
New directors of the Canadian Friends of Burma’s 10-person board say the “re-energized” organization is moving forward, but others familiar with the group are questioning the legitimacy of the new board and the December meeting at which the directors were selected.
Still others say much will depend on the position the organization now takes on the conflict in Myanmar, and how the board addresses lingering concerns such as tensions with non-profit group and former funder Inter Pares.
Canadian Friends of Burma has been working to support the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar, also known as Burma, for 20 years. But ethnic clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last year led to conflict within the group.
There were claims that some statements by the group’s executive director, Tin Maung Htoo, seemed biased against Rohingya Muslims. Some people who thought they were board members said they had fired Mr. Maung. But that decision was put in question because of a dispute over who was a board member.
Mr. Maung called for an annual general meeting on Dec. 15 in Toronto. 
He said he transferred leadership to a transitional team and the board of directors at the meeting, but that the board asked him to stay on as interim executive director for training purposes for three months. 
Mr. Maung is also part of the board listed on the CFOB website.
He said he thinks he has some responsibilities left to keep the organization alive. 
“I feel like this is a kind of a commitment for me,” Mr. Maung said.  
A Dec. 18 press release on the organization’s website stated that 10 people had been nominated to be directors and all were acclaimed.
The list includes continuing board member Toe Kyi, a professor, a Buddhist minister, a student, and others. Besides Mr. Kyi, Mr. Maung is the only continuing member of the board. While he was executive director previously, Mr. Maung was a board member by virtue of his staff position.
“As far as I’m concerned the new board members aren’t really in fact board members as they were appointed as part of a highly flawed process,” wrote Kevin McLeod in an email. He was listed on the CFOB website as a board member until the end of last year.
The board members, who are located across Canada and will serve a two-year term, are expected to meet sometime this month, according to the website.
 
‘Celebrate the diversity:’ Board member
Karen Harrison, a new board member, wrote in an email that the organization was “very active and moving forward in our work in supporting all the people of Burma.”
“The organization is re-energized with enthusiasm and excellent people to move forward,” wrote Ms. Harrison, a Buddhist minister. 
Depending on whom you ask, there were between three and five members of the previous board, upped to 10 in the new version. 
“I think having a larger board than [before] is an excellent idea,” said Merle Jacobs, an associate professor with York University’s equity studies department, who is also listed on the new board.
“Because we bring more to the understandings of what we can do for advocacy for things happening in Burma and advocacy for people who come from Burma to Canada.”
Ms. Jacobs said they should celebrate the diversity on the board and put everyone’s strengths together. 
Process questioned
Mr. McLeod told Embassy he thought it was in the best interest of the organization that a new annual general meeting be held with proper advance notice.
“This would also have to include Nisha Toomey and Antoine Nouvet, the two board members that Tin Maung Htoo arbitrarily chose to disregard as board members,” he said.
Others say Mr. Maung had the right to call the December meeting since two of the three board members registered with Industry Canada had approved it.
Paul Copeland, a former advisory board member, said he also questioned the legitimacy of the meeting.
“I would say none of it is legitimate, because the people who were on the board of directors weren’t consulted about the meeting,” he said. 
The Toronto lawyer, who also attended the first meeting in Ottawa that led to the formation of CFOB, attended the Dec.15 meeting for a bit.
He spoke and briefly outlined to those in attendance what had gone on within the group during the past several months. He said there were about 15 to 20 people there at the time.

“I said that the meeting was not properly called,” Mr. Copeland said.
According to the CFOB statement on the meeting, about 70 people took part in a process that encompassed people in several locations through the phone and Internet. 
Mr. Maung said legitimacy came from the general membership.
“These are the people who have the right to say about the future direction of the organization,” he said. 
“To want people to register and open up the organization is a positive move; I cannot see it as negative,” Ms. Jacobs said. 
She said it was good for Mr. Maung to bring the meeting together and noted that the directors were voted in. 
“If people don’t like it, then they need to bring that to the new board and talk to us about it, because as far as I’m concerned dialogue is very important, communication is very important,” she said. 
 
Inter Pares remains concerned
Inter Pares also still has concerns. 
“While we still very much hope to work together in the future, at this stage I would say that the [annual general meeting] has merely contributed to the confusion as to who represents CFOB,” said Rebecca Wolsak, who works with the group’s program on Myanmar.
Inter Pares was one of CFOB’s main funders, but decided last year to temporarily suspend its funding and collaboration with the organization until CFOB’s internal issues were sorted out.
Members of the Inter Pares said they raised concerns last summer about CFOB’s public statements on the Rakhine state conflict.
Some of the “statements we believed to be, at times, biased and inflammatory towards the Rohingya community,” read a statement from the group. 
Ms. Wolsak said their original concerns that led to suspending funds “unfortunately remain unaddressed and therefore we do not yet have faith that CFOB is an accountable, legitimately governed and collaborative organization with a commitment to human rights for all.”
CFOB was also suspended from a group of NGOs focused on Myanmar called the Canadian NGO Committee. 
Mary Purkey, co-ordinator of the Mae Sot Education Project and also a member of the NGO committee, said the committee would meet on Jan. 16, and the CFOB issue was on the agenda. 
 
Moving forward
Mr. Maung said many members across Canada want CFOB to “be alive” and continue its work.
Mr. Copeland said there are still several unanswered questions, including what the government’s response will be.
CFOB is well known in NGO and government circles. At an anniversary celebration last year, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the organization has “been a marvellous Canadian partnership of newcomers...and Canadians who had a heart for the situation of the Burmese people.”
 “I don’t know where the government will be on listening to CFOB, whether it’ll have influence or not have influence,” said Mr. Copeland. 
Ms. Purkey said that people would also want to know what the organization’s stance is on ethnic rights in Myanmar after the issues that arose last year. 
Mr. Copeland said that it’s a new era in Myanmar, which means CFOB should try to address new issues.
“It will be interesting to see what happens with it.” 
sduggal@embassynews.ca
@snehduggal

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