INTERNATIONAL ETHICS SUBCOMMITTEE “The Value of our great organization, AIESEC rides on the wheel of Ethics.”
WHAT IS IES? International Ethics Subcommittee (IES) is a group of Ten (10) Individuals, who are Smart, Fast, Savvy and Strong. They are experienced leaders in their respective AIESEC countries and are selected under one team to implement the AIESEC’s Code of Ethics.
IES 09-10
AIESEC International Ethics Subcommittee Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10001008 E-mail: ies@ai.aiesec.org
IES is required to: •
Release a Global Ethical Report for the global plenary at IC every year,
•
Serve as a Case Solving Body when LCs and MCs are unable to solve issues regarding ethics within their countries
•
Bring forward overall ethical issues to the Organizations’ agenda
•
Educate the membership about ethical issues and promote ethical sensitivity
•
Assess the ethical state of the organization
IES 09/10 was selected during November-December 2009. Structure of the team has been:
AI Responsible For IES:
Carolyn Rush –
carolynr@ai.aiesec.org
Chair:
Adonis Tella -
adonis.tella@aiesec.net
Sirat Aman Teitur Helgason Ivan Boscariol Onur Cinar Kara Grimsley Ratidzo Kamba Alexander Ishcenco Liberty Borjal Femi Adebayo
sirat.z.aman@gmail.com teitur@aiesec.is ivanboscariol@gmail.com onur.cinar@aiesec.net kara.grimsley@aiesec.net ratidzo.kamba@aiesec.net alexander.ishcenco@aiesec.net libbyb@aiesecoman.org femex02@gmail.com
IES Team members:
AIESEC International Ethics Subcommittee Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10001008 E-mail: ies@ai.aiesec.org
Evaluation of the Term:
After being selected, IES had a long term silence. Unfortunately the selection of IES was already late and confusions between AI Responsible and Chair regarding to role division, expectations and clear communication and tracking hampered the kick start. Especially lack of tracking and communication between the Chair and the AI Responsible had effects on the performance of IES members. After being selected, members did not receive any concrete JDs and tracking from none of the sides.
In addition; there were problems regarding to image of IES in the network. Members usually are not aware of IES and how IES should be used. During May, IES Members decided to move forward and take an action.
Therefore during May – July;
Wiki on myaiesec.net which is named “AIESEC Code of Ethics” is updated. Members of IES have prepared CoE in Nutshell document. This document is a summary of CoE which has been created in order to be used and understood easier by members from all around the world. By this way CoE would not be overcomplicated by anyone and would be more popular especially for induction educations of new members who join to AIESEC. IES final report is created.
AIESEC International Ethics Subcommittee Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10001008 E-mail: ies@ai.aiesec.org
THE AIESEC CODE OF ETHICS In a nutshell COE POLICIES We follow all principles of the AIESEC Way both in internal and external affairs. a) Internal Respect We value, respect and encourage diversity, and seek to be impartial and nondiscriminatory. We consider only objective criteria in all our activities Transparency We will disclose conflicts of interest and resolve them in a transparent manner.
Accountability and excellence We seek continuously to improve our effectiveness. We have defined evaluation and reporting procedures for our boards, staff, programs and projects on the basis of mutual accountability. Integrity We will use AIESEC resources and properties effectively, for no purpose other than for the advancement of AIESEC’s objectives. b) External We do not partner with any organization or individual that acts against any of the AIESEC Way principles and / or may do harm to the AIESEC brand experience. We cooperate with our external stakeholders in an open, transparent, respectful, and trustworthy way, delivering our promises and using their support (donations / in-kind) purposefully. All confidential information is treated with respect and is not used in a way that may threaten and harm the interests of our stakeholders. We do not allow any political movements to influence or interfere with the political independence and neutrality of AIESEC. c) Whistle Blowing Whistle blowing alerts the appropriate authorities on ethical issues; we shall be aware of its procedures and not feel ashamed of utilizing them in appropriate circumstances
AIESEC International Ethics Subcommittee Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10001008 E-mail: ies@ai.aiesec.org
IES WAY FORWARD
It is recognized that the IES has not lived up to its potential this term. As mentioned throughout the previous sections of the report the IES did not do enough activity throughout the term to be effective. Yet implementation of the AIESEC Code of Ethics and developing an understanding of the importance of ethics at the all levels of the organizations must remain a goal of the international association. This section of the report will suggest key measures that can be taken to ensure the IES lives up to its potential in the 2010-2011 term.
The IES has identified three key areas for improvement
1. IES-AI relationship and communication Without support from the highest level of the international association the IESâ€&#x; ability to fulfil its duty will be inherently limited. Support for the chair in their leadership role and support for the entire sub-committee will contribute to developing its effectiveness.
AIESEC International Ethics Subcommittee Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10001008 E-mail: ies@ai.aiesec.org
Recommendations Applications for Chair role and membership be released earlier (in August) Applications for the role of Chair of the Sub-committee were released late into the 2009-2010 term pushing back the overall timeline and the opportunity to activate the team. By releasing applications in August at IC the Sub-Committee has more time to work and achieve. Clear communication of the role of the IES Establishing clear communication norms at the start of the term as well as ensuring ongoing support will be important for the 2010-2011 term. This would entail: Role Description of the Chair available to the network Terms of Reference for the IES available to the network Expectation setting between IES Chair and AI representative (and this be transparent to IES) Monthly check in with the Chair on progress 2. The IES profile internationally A key problem of the IES this term was a lack of understanding of its operations and purpose (or even its existence) throughout the international network. The result of this is that cases were not brought to the sub-committee because it is not known that the IES could play a role in solving disputes.
Recommendations Clear plan for education activity The best thing that the IES can do to improve its international profile is to be much more active in its educational activities and to have a clear plan of these operations. Below are some ideas for the types of activities: Awareness campaign for the „Ethics in a nutshell‟ document (e.g. put on the office walls etc) Profiling GCPs of ethical decision making (for non-sensitive issues) Profiling Ethical decision making in companies which AIESEC partners with AIESEC International Ethics Subcommittee Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10001008 E-mail: ies@ai.aiesec.org
ďƒź Establish National Ethics Officers in each AIESEC Country ďƒź Developing session outlines and materials for ethics training to be delivered in National and local conferences Promotion of the IES through international communication channels Once the IES is a lot more active in its educational activities it is important that these are promoted to the network and capitalized upon properly. The IES team needs to identify important communication channels early in the term (such as the AI newsletter and the myaiesec.net wiki) and plan for their utilization.
3. Decision making process of the IES Internally the IES case decision making process is not clear. The IES needs to ensure that when cases are brought before it the proper process for resolution is made clear to all parties. Without a set decision making process there is risk of confusion and ineffectiveness.
Recommendations Determine a decision making process This should be determined by the new IES very soon after selection of the new sub-committee members Communicate necessary for bringing forward a case to the network Once the decision making process has been determined it is important that steps necessary to bring forward a case are clear to all entities in the network. , and seek to be impartial and non-discriminatory. We consider only objective criteria in all our activities.
On behalf the International Ethics Sub-Committee 09-10
Adonis Aymar TELLA (MCP 09-10 of AIESEC in Benin)
Chair IES 09-10
AIESEC International Ethics Subcommittee Wiki: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10001008 E-mail: ies@ai.aiesec.org