The Ministry of Labor and Social Development invites civil society organizations to hold their general assemblies remotely

31-05-2020

Director of the Directorate of Support for Non-Governmental Organisations at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Ms. Najwa Abdul Latif Janahi, affirmed that the Ministry has called on civil society organisations under the Ministry’s umbrella to hold their general assembly meetings remotely on their scheduled dates, in accordance with their bylaws, as part of the ongoing measures to curb the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). She pointed out that this step comes within the framework of ensuring the safety of civil society members, including heads and members of the boards of directors of civil society organisations, and ensuring the continuity of their voluntary, charitable and professional efforts and work under a sound legal status that does not prejudice the performance of these duties. Janahi affirmed that the Ministry of Labour and Social Development has authorised associations to hold general assembly meetings via live videoconferencing, and has also authorised the use of specialised technical systems for remote electronic voting, to vote on the discharge of the board of directors in respect of the financial report, vote on the literary report, and vote in the board of directors’ elections. She pointed out that the use of this technology ensures that a complete record of the elections is retained in the association’s files and may be consulted when needed, as it is deemed among the association’s official documents. The Director of the Non-Government Organizations' Support Directorate explained that the Ministry has begun implementing this approach in cooperation with associations that have the technical capabilities to do so, noting that the Ministry has provided its representatives with all necessary technical capabilities that enable them to participate in general assembly meetings remotely, in order to monitor the meetings in terms of attendance rates, election processes and vote counting. She pointed out that implementing this experiment will overcome many of the obstacles that may confront civil society associations, especially those related to ensuring the integrity of their legal status, represented by holding general assemblies and conducting board elections in accordance with their bylaws.