Hosted by Islamic Relief Worldwide and the Humanitarian Academy for Development – Birmingham, UK
October 25-26
Islamic Relief Worldwide generously hosted JLI at their training facility the Humanitarian Academy. Special thanks to our Board member Muhammed Shareef for his attention to all the logistics of the meeting.
The JLI Leadership met for a densely packed two-day meeting! In response to an increased demand for evidence, JLI has grown very fast this year. To bring everyone up to speed on current work and progress at JLI, the first day included briefings by Learning Hub leaders, representatives of external partners: UNHCR and UNICEF, various Board members and JLI staff. The second day started with a business meeting at which JLI became its own corporate entity, Board members transitioned to the new Board and then elected a new Executive Committee. The board accepted the 2018 financial report and approved the 2019 budget, and discussed a strategy for growth presented by the Coordinator. The Board met in an executive session on resource development and surfaced ideas for raising the funds needed to grow the JLI. The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing JLI agenda, and priorities going forward.
The key recommendations and next steps include:
- Funding: Prioritize fundraising, and finalize new agreements with external partners. Revise budget accordingly.
- Hubs: Review and revise mandate, principles lifecycles and TOR of Hubs. In terms of Hub membership, include more academics with key expertise, improve global south participation
- Local Partnership: Consider how we are better informed and driven by local needs; how do local actors choose JLI?
- Research: Review and restate JLI goals and activities relating to research, refining JLI participatory learning approach, and exploring JLI role in research facilitation. Address research ethics and intellectual property issues
- UNICEF: Establish Working Group on UNICEF FSBC project
- Operations: Revise operating plan for 2019
- Governance: 1) complete the transition to the new Board and Advisory Group by following up with members not present; 2) amend the Board TOR and bylaws as requested, 3) complete the transition from a project to an incorporated JLI by the end of the year. The Executive Committee will be meeting next month on some of the open issues from the Board meeting
- Evaluation. Arrange for an impact evaluation of JLI