Those Interested in Serving on AFRO General Assembly

Background

Because of its geopolitical significance, the Horn of Africa has been a site of serious historical conflicts and changes since antiquity. Currently, the region has become one of the flashpoints of natural and manmade disasters, such as famine in Ethiopia and genocide in Rwanda and Darfur (western Sudan). Ethiopia is also on genocide watch list (see http://www.genocidewatch.org/) .The trend of human rights situation in the region is, therefore, grave. There is a serious concern that pervasive violations of human rights against the Oromo people may escalate. Because of the size of their population and the landmass they inhabit, the consequences of genocide against the people will dwarf the human tragedy witnessed in Rwanda and Darfur.

Goal and Objectives

Concerned by the above grave situation, a few Americans and Oromos, some of whom are naturalized American citizens for whom Oromia is their land of origin, decided to contribute toward the advancement of the cause of peace and justice in the Horn of Africa through advocacy for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The advocacy is guided by the principle that "all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated".

The main objectives of the advocacy are:

• To advance human rights and fundamental freedoms to reverse the existing trend in the Horn of Africa that fosters a cycle of strife;

• To monitor and report human rights violations to seek accountability of state and non-state agents responsible for crimes against humanity and to deter potential violator; and

• to help redress wrongs suffered by victims of violations of human rights.

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Legal Status

To address the human rights concern in the Horn of Africa, the Advocacy for Fundamental Rights of Oromos & Others, Inc. (AFRO) has been registered on March 3, 2005 with the Corporate Charter Division of Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (filing no.1000361991020649).

Application for federal tax-exemption has been filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). To permit IRS to make advance determination of AFRO's tax-exempt status as a publicly supported charitable organization, details of AFRO's organizational structure, governing body and staff, proposed activities, and intended method of operations have been provided in the application. To satisfy other requirements of the IRS, The AFRO has also included in its application: a) program budgets for two full accounting periods, b) current statement of assets and liabilities.

Governing Body

• General Assembly

  • The General Assembly has the power to:

    • Elect the directors of the Corporation,

    • Approve proposal of the Board of Directors to amend the Articles of Incorporation and Byelaws,

    • Approve proposal of the Board of Directors to dissolve the Corporation,

    • Recommend ways and means of achieving the purposes and objectives of the Corporation.

  • The Assembly consists of advisors, patrons, honorary members, associates, and other supporters of AFRO's mission. They are selected and registered by the Board of Directors on the basis of their representation of a broad cross-section of the interests of the community or on their special knowledge or expertise in the organization's fields of activity.

  • The AFRO's advisors are selected from professionals and scholars and prominent individuals who support the purposes for which the organization is formed and also who have special knowledge or expertise to contribute toward the achievement of those purposes.

  • Human right activists, professional organizations, and other civic and religious groups may become associates of the Corporation for the purpose of making the Assembly benefit from broad fields of expertise and also to reflect a cross-section of the interests of the community.

• Board of Directors

  • Directors are selected on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Professional experience and academic qualifications-including managerial, technical, legal, and financial skills, or commitment to humanitarian cause;

  • Community relations value - core values and commitment to human right concerns - including status and integrity to encourage and protect public trust in the Corporation to win recognition and to attract clients, donations and other support; or

  • Accomplished, reputed, and sympathetic public official, prominent personalities that can enhance credibility of the Corporation to qualify for tax-exempt status by satisfying IRS's test of public support.

  • AFRO's initial Board meeting was meticulously organized and successfully conducted on April 9, 2005.

  • All the activities and affairs of the organization are conducted under the guidance and oversight of the Board of Directors. The Board has adopted Bylaws that define the collective duties and responsibilities of the Board (see Articles 5.2 to 5.4). There is a Board Manual to assist the directors to effectively discharge their collective and individual responsibilities.

  • In addition to their collective responsibility as Board members, directors have the responsibility to discharge individual duties assigned them by the Bylaws and guidelines by which the organization operates.

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STAFF

• Executive Officers

  • The AFRO has salaried Executive Officers consisting of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), a Secretary, and a Treasurer. Duties of the officers are defined in the Bylaws. They are responsible for the day-to-day management and operations of the AFRO in accordance with the personnel and financial management guidelines approved by the Board of Directors. The CEO is responsible for managing the human resources and overseeing the management of the financial resources, including the design, development and management of programs of the organization. The Secretary's responsibility includes keeping records of correspondences, a book of minutes, as well as for assisting the CEO in management of the human resources of the organization. The Treasurer is responsible for prudent management of the financial resources of the organization, including budget and program preparation, and fund raising.

• Working Committees

  • Subject to approval by the Board of Directors, the AFRO will have three working committees in its organizational structure: 1) Public Education, 2) Documentation and Reporting, and 3) Planning and Programming . The Board defines the duties of the working committees, including prescription of guidelines to ensure that identification, design, development, management, and evaluation of programs are geared toward addressing concrete human right issues of the target region. For each committee, there will be designated a Board member or another person having the necessary expertise to conduct as a chairperson the activities of a designated Committee.

• Employees and Volunteers

  • The organization hires and deploys employees as may be required to carryout its activities. The organization has prepared an Employee Handbook approved by the Board to outline personnel policies and procedures.

  • The organization retains local fieldworkers in its geographic area of focus to monitor and report human right violations. Fieldworkers also do surveys required for program evaluation.

  • The main human resource strategy of the organization is to mobilize as many volunteers as possible, to perform its activities. This applies to people serving on the Board, on the General Assembly, on the staff, and fieldworkers.

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Activities

The AFRO undertakes three types of activities:

1. Raising public awareness of human rights and fundamental freedoms

2. Monitoring and reporting violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms

3. Helping redress wrongs suffered by victims of violations of human rights.

Activities to raise public awareness of human rights and fundamental freedoms include:

• Preparing, recording, and broadcasting of radio programs. The radio program is also presented in forms of World Wide Web pages and audio.

• Preparing and distributing brochures, pamphlets, booklets, and books.

• Organizing public meetings, conferences and symposiums.

• Organizing public demonstrations.

Activities involving monitoring and reporting of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms include:

• Gathering, documenting, and distributing evidence of violations of human rights by state and non-state agents

• Contacting individuals, civil societies, international agencies, and public authorities

• Maintaining a web site and producing a newsletter

• Organizing peaceful public protests.

Activities to help redress wrongs suffered by victims of violations of human rights include:

• Assisting protection of the safety of Oromo and other refugees in a host country while they wait for resettlement

• Assisting refugees to quickly adjust to new life and become productive members of the society that accepts them for resettlement

• Seeking rehabilitation of and compensation for victims of rape, torture, and other physical, psychological, and material damage caused by state and non-state actors in violation of human rights;

• Assisting in rediscovery, preservation, and development of suppressed cultural heritage of oppressed people.

AFRO's full time is allocated to the activity of advancing human rights. The following list gives rough estimates of time allocation, out of a total of ten, among major subdivisions of the activity:

1. Public education of Human rights and monitoring to prevent violations 5

2. Public education of rights of women & children 1

3. Redressing wrongs against victims of violations of right 3

4. Preservation of culture subjected to suppression 1

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Activity Implementation Schedule

• Startup Phase

  • Because of financial and time constraints that make it difficult to undertake all aspects of the organization's activities, actual implementation is planned to be undertaken in phases. It is planned to use the initial six-month period to: 1) build basic management infrastructure, and 2) launch campaign to mobilize public support.

• Building Basic management Infrastructure

  • During the first six-month period, basic human resource will be limited to a full-time executive director and a part-time treasurer. Their main duties during this period will be to:

  • develop human resource capacity by a) recruiting volunteers, and b) preparing and submitting to the Board of Directors for approval guidelines, including human resource management manual.

  • develop financial management capacity, including developing bookkeeping system, preparation of funding proposals and to manage any startup fund that may be obtained during the first six month and the subsequent period. .

  • The basic office equipment and furniture will be two desks, two chairs, one desktop and one laptop computers, a filing cabinet, and miscellaneous office supplies.

• Launching Campaign for Public Support

  • Public support campaign to be undertaken during the first six-month will include: 1) introducing the AFRO and its objectives to the public to mobilize all-round support, particularly the support of the Oromo public, which will be actively involved as grassroots watchdog against violations of human rights of their own people; and 2) designing, preparing, and submission of proposals to charitable organizations for funding, and also conducting grassroots fundraising among the Oromo in diasporas.

  • The method of mobilization of all-round public support and good understanding with local communities and others will include organizing public meetings, press conferences, radio and TV interviews about the AFRO and its objectives. This is, in essence, advertisement for marketing AFRO's programs. Moreover, fundraising events will be organized among the grassroots, particularly among Oromos in diaspora. To broadcast to the Horn of Africa in Afan Oromo about AFRO's objectives, an airtime of at least fifteen (15) minutes per week will be bought from a short wave radio station broadcasting to the region. The radio broadcast will also be digitalized and its audio put on the Internet.

• Operational Phase

  • The operational phase starts during the 2006 fiscal year and subsequent years. Activities of this period are given in VI above.

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Funding

The activity of the organization is funded in accordance with program budget approved by the Board of Directors. The organization has Financial Management Guidelines that define the process of preparation and execution of the budget.

As approved by its board, AFRO's main category of sources of fund is charitable organizations and government units interested in promotion of human rights and prevention of genocide in the Horn of Africa. The second category is voluntary services and also tax-deductible contributions from individuals. The third category of sources of fund is grassroots fundraising, mainly among the Oromo communities in diasporas.

The organization prepares program proposals and applies for funding by government units and public charities that are pre-selected on the basis of their interest in promotion of human rights and prevention of genocide in the Horn of Africa. To solicit contributions from individuals, the main method employed is to write letters to individuals, using the organization's letterhead and signed by an authorized officer, asking them for financial support or contribution in kind to promote human rights. The organization also organizes fundraising public events related to the purpose of the organization, which include charging reasonable fees for incidentals and services.

Revenues and Expenses

The organization has prepared program budget proposals for the fiscal year 2005 and subsequent two years. The bulk of its revenue is projected to be obtained from charitable organizations by submitting program proposals for funding. Management of funds from charitable organizations, including from grassroots fundraising, complies with standards of financial record-keeping and reporting required by the law and fund providers.

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