Initial General Meeting (January 10, 2009)

The Initial General Meeting (IGM) of Pax Earth Nepal was successfully held on Saturday 10th January 2009 at Hotel Fuji, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal. The meeting was chaired by President Mr. Sujan Koirala. Presence of Chairman of Nepal Institute of Development Studies and Former Vice President of Social Welfare Council Mr. Ganesh Gurung and Advisor Dr. Hari Prasad Shrestha made the meeting environment more lively, interesting and participative. The meeting was divided into two session viz. inaugural ceremony and closed session.

Inaugural Ceremony
Without any formal procedure, the meeting began with the welcome speech by Vice President Mr. Shreebatsa Basnyat. He cordially welcomed all the guests, friends, well-wishers, members of Pax Earth and expected the active participation in the meeting.

On behalf of Pax Earth Executive Board, Secretary Mr. Manohar Sapkota presented the report of the activities carried out by Pax Earth Nepal till the date. Similarly, Mr. Harihar Sapkota, Board Member, presented Pax Earth’s proposed activities for the next six month.

Treasurer Mr. Bal Gopal Shrestha presented the income/expenditure of Pax Earth Nepal till date. The actual income of last six month was NRs. 26,402.00 while expenditure was NRs. 21,684.00. Pax Earth Nepal has a net cash balance of NRs. 4718.00. He also presented a budget for the next six month (Mid-January 2009 to Mid-July 2009). The estimated income is NRs. 67,900.00 while estimated expenditure is Rs. 197,100.00. He, however, assured that the deficit of NRs. 129200.00 will be financed with the help of PEJ and friends residing in Nepal and abroad.

Guest and well-wisher Mr. Rabindra Neupane highlighted the past activities of Pax Earth Nepal. He specially stressed on the 1st Youth Leadership Development Camp and vowed for the continuity of Toast Master programme. He is hopeful that the future of Pax Earth is very bright.

Special Guest Mr. Ganesh Gurung appreciated the work done by Pax Earth. The environment made him recall his youthful days and was quite refreshed. He was quite happy finding him among the young and spirited youths. He told that many meetings these days are waste of time because almost time is spent on formalities. He advocated that the need for the change in power structure. He raised the issue on climate change and its impact on agriculture production and farmer’s lifestyle, kidney trading, youth policy which is being drafted and constitutional assembly. He wanted the youths to take the interest on politics and be involved and contribute their level best in making the best constitution for Nepal as well as best youth policy. The time is severe and the youths’ involvement is vital for drafting constitution for Nepal that will determine the future of the country and people. He vowed the youths should know how to exploit opportunities by avoiding threats. He also shared about his study on the mortality rate of NGOs. There are more than 35000 NGOs registered in Nepal; out of which more than 26000 are affiliated to Social Welfare Council. The NGOs which successfully passed 5 years are termed as matured. As per him, only a few NGOs renew each year. The mortality rate among newly registered NGOs is very high. The mortality of NGOs below three months is quite high, even less than 30 days is quite significant. He stressed that whatever Pax Earth does, the community and Pax Earth both should benefit.

He was quite happy with the activities carried out by Pax Earth in last six months. He congratulated Pax Earth for successfully passing six months which is itself a challenge and also extended best wishes for future. He was quite impressed with the overall arrangement and management of the meeting from time to sharing of responsibilities. He really liked the round table interaction which he termed as non-discrimination in terms of power structure. He thanked PEN for inviting him for this very attractive meeting. He assured PEN to extend all possible supports.
PEN Advisor, Dr. Hari Prasad Shrestha on his informal remarks, congratulated PEN for successfully organizing IGM and extended best wishes for the bright future of PEN. Dr. Shrestha advised PEN Board to be careful in recruiting members. He suggested PEN that instead of giving membership to a large numbers, keep the membership on a manageable number.

President Mr. Sujan Koirala humbly thanked Mr. Ganesh Gurung and Dr. Hari Prasad Shrestha for their valuable presence, remarks and suggestion. Similarly, he thanked guests, friends, well-wishers and members of Pax Earth for their presence and active participation in the IGM. He also expressed deep gratitude to all the guests, advisors, friends, Japanese colleagues, well-wishers and friends in bringing the Pax Earth into this stage in a short span of 6 months time. He owed a debt of gratitude for each member’s contribution. He hoped to have the opportunities for interaction, suggestion, contribution, support and help from Mr. Gurung and Dr. Shrestha in the days ahead. After his vote of thanks, Mr. Koirala declared the closure of the inaugural ceremony.

Closed Session:
The closed session was mainly focused on the agenda. The following decisions were made on the IGM.

1. The floor unanimously passed the budget presented by Treasurer Mr. Bal Gopal Shrestha.

2. An election committee was formed under the chairmanship of Mr. Rabindra Neupane and members Mr. Arun Khadka and Mr. Rajesh Ghimire. The election committee carried out the election procedure. As per the constitution of Pax Earth, the election should be done for the following position:
i, President, ii, Secretary, iii, Treasurer and iv, three board members.

Mr. Sujan Koirala, Mr. Manohar Sapkota and Mr. Bal Gopal were respectively proposed for President, Secretary and Treasurer. Similarly, Mr. Binod Prasad Mainali, Mr. Laxman Bahadur Pahari and Mr. Harihar Sapkota were proposed for the board members. Since there were no opposite candidates for the required position, the election committee unanimously declared Mr. Sujan Koirala, Mr. Manohar Sapkota and Mr. Bal Gopal Shrestha as President, Secretary and Treasurer respectively while Mr. Binod Prasad Mainali, Mr. Laxman Bahadur Pahari and Mr. Harihar Sapkota were declared the Board Members. As per the constitution, the newly elected President has to nominate Vice President, Joint Secretary and Joint Treasurer. After the small but meaningful discussion with the elected board members, President Mr. Koirala nominated Mr. Shreebatsa Basnyat as Vice President, Mr. Gunaraj Pyakurel as Joint Secretary and Mr. Dipendra Dangol as Joint Treasurer. In this way, a 9 member board of Pax Earth Nepal has been formed for the next two years.

3. The IGM gave mandate to the newly formed Board to make the decision on the appointment of Auditor and his remuneration as and when required. Since it is just 6 months of registration, the Board will make the decision on appointing auditor and his remuneration on future.

4. The floor decided to appoint President Mr. Sujan Koirala, on behalf of Board, and Mr. Prem Shah, Founder Member on behalf of Member as representatives for attesting the decision made on the IGM.

President Mr. Koirala adjourned the meeting giving vote of thanks to guests, friends and well-wishers for their valuable presence and active participation in the IGM. Board Member Mr. Binod Prasad Mainali smoothly handled the job of Master of Ceremony. Including members of Pax Earth Nepal, 19 persons were present in the IGM.