Johannesburg, South Africa, 31 July 2012: Global civil society network CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is pleased to announce the appointment of three new Board members:
Antonella Valmorbida, from Italy, is the Director of the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA), which has promoted local governance and citizens’ participation in Europe and neighbouring countries since 1999. Headquartered in Strasbourg, France, ALDA also implements substantial civic participation work in Balkan countries. She also served as Chair of the Committee on Democracy and Civil Society of the Conference of the International Non-Governmental Organisations of the Council of Europe from 2008 to 2011, and co-chaired the Steering Committee of the Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership in 2011.
Henri Rouillé d'Orfeuil was the first chairman of GRET – Professionnels du Développement Solidaire and has worked in the World Bank’s agricultural research unit. A French citizen, Henri has also worked for the French Foreign Office as a special advisor on agriculture and as the deputy director of technical and scientific international cooperation. He is the author of the books ‘The Third World’, ‘Economics and Awakening Citizens’ and ‘Non-governmental Diplomacy: Can NGOs Change the World?’
Rasma Pipike, Director of the Civic Alliance in Latvia, has 15 years of experience in civil society, beginning with her volunteer experience with the Red Cross. Through her efforts at Civic Alliance – Latvia, she has been able to assist CSOs in achieving institutionalised partnership with the Latvian government.
CIVICUS has worked for two decades to strengthen citizen action and civil society throughout the world, especially in areas where participatory democracy and citizens' freedom of association are threatened.
“The addition of Antonella, Henri and Rasma to our Board comes at an exciting time for the organisation” says David Bonbright, Chair of the CIVICUS Board. “This year, we appoint a new Secretary General and set a new strategy for the next five years, at a moment of remarkable opportunity around the world for strengthening citizen action and civil society. The insights they bring could not come at a better time for the alliance”.
Antonella, Henri and Rasma join existing CIVICUS Board Members David Bonbright (based in the UK), Marta Cumbi (Mozambique), Maja Daruwala (India), Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda (based in Switzerland), Nabila Hamza (based in Jordan), Rajiv Joshi (based in the USA), Debbie Kaddu-Serwadda (Uganda), Anselmo Lee (Republic of Korea), Amsale Maryam (Jamaica), Uygar Ozesmi (Turkey), Feliciano Reyna (Venezuela) and Samuel Worthington (USA).
The CIVICUS Board of Directors will next meet in September 2012 in Montreal, in the wings of the CIVICUS World Assembly, the global gathering for civil society.