Monthly Digest - July 2012

Monthly Digest July 2012

a summary of what is happening in the world JB-wise

AJBM 2012 This month the annual meeting for the Americas took place in Paris from the 24th to the 28th. One of the most important happenings in the meeting was that the NJRs voted to change the name of the region from Americas Regional Members (ARM) to Americas Junior Branch (AJB). This way, the region is more integrated with the rest of the JB world.

Some really cool projects came out of the region, such as: AJB blog • The Americas will finally have a blog! A space for communication through the region and with the International Junior Branch.

JB CPR • A AJB info-pack for struggling NA’s within the region. This aims to organize workshops or trainings to help inspire and jumpstart JBs. AJB Team Role description • A document that has a clear definition of the Role of the members of the Team. The AJBM participants could contribute with ideas during the meeting. ...And many more!

AJB Team Check out their Facebook! @AJBTeam

Jerry / Ana / Mariana / Grace

IJBC 2012 This year the International Junior Branch Conference was extra special. Why? Because we questioned the very foundations of our Junior Branch. What is JB? Why do we exist? Should we exist? We came up with this: JB is our “playground�. We can experiment and explore different ideas without the fear of being fired.

Having this, we could work with values and goals and even a whole new structure for the International Junior Branch Team.

At the same time, we worked on our leadership skills and personalities, reviewed and discussed the motions for AIM and elected a new IJR. Busy times!

If you were there, we ask you to please fill out our online evaluation here. Help us make IJBC better!

If you would like to know more about the happenings of IJBC, go to these resources: News of the IJBC on Facebook JB Library user: ijb.guest password: cisv4all The IJBC 2012 Pack Stay tunned @IJBnews

We would like to thank Fran, Nik and Thomas for their awesome work as candidates, and officially congratulate Cande for stepping up as International Junior Representative 2012-2014.

A word from the IJRs Hey JB World!

Firstly, in case you haven't met us before, we are the International Junior Representatives for 2012-13, and we are James from Great Britain, and Cande from Argentina.

It's been a busy and exciting summer, so now we are working on some of the results of this. One priority right now is to organise the IJB Team so we can start supporting local JBs.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS RECRUITMENT: we are now recruiting for around 6 committee members to join us and help us work on IJB through the year.

Read details here: http://bit.ly/QPLZRC Apply here: http://bit.ly/NEtcpy

WORKING GROUPS (WG)!

We are also looking for ideas and initiatives for working groups. Any JBer can start or join a WG and we really encourage wide participation. Write us: working.groups@ijb.cisv.org So far, the Communications and JB Goals WG Â have already started working however, we'd really like to hear from people who want to work on Peace Day this year, so please email

You can read all the details of the new structure here http://bit.ly/QPLZRC .

And, please, don’t hesitate to contact us for further explanation or clarification. You can reach us at ijr@cisv.org And the bigger picture? Our priorities for this year are: -Getting the new IJB Team up and working well - Connecting and being useful to local JBs. - Working closely with the transition team to make sure JB is a part of the changes happening in CISV International this year

Je t’AIMe 2012 As you may know, this year was a year of change for all CISV. As the motions passed, this Annual International Meeting became the birthplace of a whole new structure for our organization.

What this means is that this following year will be a year of transition. A special team will be in charge of - under some guidelines given by the board of trustees - come up with the specifics and design a well-structured plan for the future of CISV. If you are interested in knowing first hand what took place in these decision-making meetings, want to know more about the motions or want to get a clearer idea of the transition process, we invite you to check out the Resources of this year’s AIM.

Final Reflections, by Mateo Velez The News of the AIM team had a little chat with our Outgoing IJR Mateo about the ending of his term and his advice for Cande. Here is what he said: "I’m very glad to transition out of International Junior Branch and glad to have had the opportunity to see the development of JB, over the last eight years at an international level.

In particular being part of the turning point of the organisation this past year, expressing and voicing the opinions of JB in this process. We took that call for change into what we do. We assessed the purpose of JB, asked, why do we exist? We made sure our actions met our goals. For me that’s one of the most valuable things to come out of the Organisation Review. Having that wake-up call for us to re-assess, to see whether we are meeting our purpose. Working on that was amazing.

On the practical side, I’m leaving the team with a more structured way of working as a committee and it’s going to be a very challenging year for the organisation and JB. My advice to Cande is to keep up with involvement at the international level; it’s all about communications and finding spaces. When it comes to the international level it’s a two way relationship, allowing the space for JB to contribute, but also seeking those spaces for contribution.

Have fun and enjoy it. It’s a challenging ride, but it’s amazing."

THANK YOU Mateo for your amazing work for IJB and CISV. We will surely miss you!

More on the AIM: http://www.aim2012.cisv.fr Facebook