This report sets out the many activities IRAM undertook in 2018, and the positive results achieved this year.
IRAM turned 60 in 2018, and is definitely still going strong! The big day itself was a great success and we also enjoyed the runup to the celebrations, which included a short story competition that attracted contributors of all ages, a study day, and of course the birthday festivities at La Marbrerie in Montreuil.
The difficult context in Africa significantly increased our activities in crisis and post-crisis zones in 2018 (the Sahel, Central African Republic) … and the need for heightened vigilance to safeguard the security of our partners and teams as they work in challenging conditions. These actions will continue in 2019 as the international development community recognises the paramount importance of assistance in these problem areas.
Different projects also provide opportunities to explore new paths (in areas such as vocational training and job placement projects for young people) and implementation methods, especially by encouraging partnerships within the Groupe Initiatives. Closer to home, we started looking into governance of the IRAM association, reviewing the original model for salaried staff and associate members and preparing a detailed assessment for presentation at our AGM. The overall findings show that people are largely in favour of the organisational setup, which certainly helps motivate salaried staff. There were plenty of suggestions as to how it can be improved, but no major criticisms of the system.
A new working group composed of administrators and salaried staff was set up to look into ‘Research in IRAM’. Having reached this landmark birthday, efforts to ensure IRAM’s institutional sustainability will continue in 2019, with a partial renewal of the board of directors and a change of leadership.
Download the report (60 pages)