EMDHR: 2^nd Annual Congress, 26 March 2006

EMDHR successfully conducted its Second Annual Congress on 26 March 2006 in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa under the motto … “Challenging our perception: Towards building an enlightened and empowered society.” Although each and every member of the EMDHR was supposed to participate in the Congress, due to financial, proxy and other factors the various Chapters send only their elected representatives who will, at the same time, serve as members of the General Council of the EMDHR for the next year.

Concurrently, the newly elected and those who have being serving as members of the General Council of the EMDHR conducted their second regular meeting on 25 March 2006. The meeting was chaired by the Speaker of General Council, Mr. Kuluberhan Abraham. During this meeting, detailed annual report of the executive arm of the EMDHR was presented in which the report is thoroughly discussed and reviewed by members of the General Council.

The 2^nd Annual Congress was conducted on the following day, 26 March 2006, in a place known as Sammy Marks Square Convention Center in which all members of the General Council, additional members of the EMDHR and invited guests were present. The Congress opened by a welcoming note presented by the Speaker of the General Council. Following from this, the Chairperson of the EMDHR, Mr. Samuel Bizen, presented a sensational speech focusing on the ongoing violations of fundamental human freedoms and their dreadful impact on the overall social, economic and political conditions in Eritrea. He also presented a summary of the annual activity report of the EMDHR and underlined the challenges that need to be faced in the future. Moreover, summary of the annual financial report was presented by the Director of Finance and Administration, Mr. Abdelwasie Mohammedhadish. Mr. Abdelwasie particularly highlighted that the EMDHR performed its annual activities with only 22% monetary expenses than it would have been performed under normal circumstances and average budgetary requirements.

After the Congress discussed the annual report, based on the schedule the Congress continued to review the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the EMDHR presented by the Annual Congress Organizing Committee. Among others, the Congress reviewed and intensely discussed on the mission of the EMDHR and finally adopted through direct voting the following mission statement:

“to promote the values of human rights and democratic principles established in relevant international instruments, through public awareness, advocacy, campaign, and community development and engagement, with the ultimate aim of building a society in which all Eritreans are empowered to exercise their basic rights in order to live their lives in peace, dignity and prosperity.”

In the afternoon, the Congress established an Electoral Committee composed of three members of the General Council. Guided by the Electoral Committee, the Congress elected five members of the Executive Committee, nine additional members of the General Council, three members of Audit Committee, and three members of Disciplinary Committee all of whom through direct voting. Among many nominees, the following five gained majority votes by the Congress to serve as members of the Executive Committee of the EMDHR:

1.      Samuel Bizen: Chairperson

2.      Abdelwasie Mohammedhadish: Director of Finance and administration

3.      Haileab Kidane: Director of Communications management

4.      Yoel Alem: Director of Fundraising and project management

5.      Fanuel Mesfin: Director of Campaign and membership management

Following to the electoral process, letters of solidarity and congratulations sent from individuals and Eritrean civil societies residing worldwide were read to the Congress. The Congress also attended congratulatory and encouraging speeches presented by invited guests. Finally, the Speaker of General Council expressed his gratitude to the participants of the Congress and the event was then closed with huge applaud from the participants. 

Director of Communications management , EMDHR

30 March 2006