Task Force (Working Group) on International Committees

Terms of Reference Task Force (Working Group) on International Committees

BACKGROUND

The creation of an International Committees Task Force is one of the significant Recommendations summarised at the beginning of "A Tool Box For Renovating ICOM": Report From Task Force for Review and Reform of ICOM [ICOM-RTF] (R.45). Such a task force has also been incorporated into the ICOM Strategic Plan 2001 - 2007 document - an ICOM-RTF document prepared for Dec.2000 ICOM review and final presentation to the ICOM General Assembly in Barcelona, July 2001.

AREA OF AUTHORITY

1. To investigate and make concrete recommendations on any and all aspects of the role and responsibilities of International Committees within ICOM.
2. To review possible closer connections with the Affiliated Organizations of ICOM that most closely relate to the character of the International Committees.

SUMMARY OF THE AREAS FOR INVESTIGATION

The Task Force on International Committees is asked to review and make recommendations on various issues identified in the Tool Box, as identified below. The approach to these issues should be exploratory, and seek to come up with helpful analysis and recommendations.

The International Committees Task Force is requested to:

1. develop resource files on the workings of the International Committees on a comparative basis: their programs, successful initiatives, and organisational difficulties and needs;
2. explore various models of financing of and for the International Committees, with a view to ensuring their effective operation and continued presence at the heart of ICOM; a review of legal structure and corporate entity considerations should be included;
3. identify possibilities of more productive connections between them (and to the National Committees' work within particular countries), based on demonstrated desire and need for professional interaction by the parties concerned (rather than existing IC interests or "domain-views");
4. examine possibilities of International Committees sharing resources - for example, joint secretariat services for the organisation of joint projects or programs;
5. review with the ICOM Secretariat possibilities of assisting the ICs to feel better serviced and supported by ICOM as a whole;
6. investigate possible extensions of the work of the Program Unit through collaboration with the International Committees, and to recommend a formalized process, if appropriate;
7. identify approaches that enable the ICs to provide basic information about their programs, activities, and publications through simple means (for example, electronically) to any member or other interested parts of ICOM, and at minimal cost or burden to the Committee administratively;
8. identify opportunities that permit members from other parts of ICOM to experience and constructively participate in activities and meetings of any International Committee (on whatever administratively regulated basis the IC finds necessary);
9. research and recommend the process whereby new International Committees may be formed, bearing in mind the following criteria:
   (a) clearly defined professional need from within the museums community for interaction and mutual assistance through ICOM, and
   (b) ICOM's organisational capacities and resources to facilitate such interaction, interconnecting it to ICOM's structures while maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the whole organisation;
10. recommend a process for substantive evaluation of the programs and services that each International Committee provides to its members, and upon which each International Committee's annual subvention will be based. Existing committees are to be given notice that, effective January 2002, automatic subventions based on a simple count of the number of voting members will be discontinued, and a new evaluative approach, which includes compliance with ICOM's Statutes and Regulations, will be put in place to assist in determining levels of subvention;
11. advise on any additional issues or topics that the Task Force identifies as deserving attention and being within its frame of reference.

TIME FRAME

A first report will be presented in June 2002.

LIST OF MEMBERS of THE TASK FORCE on INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEES AND AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS