Minutes

Minutes of Establishment Committee Meeting

1-4 December 2007

University of Tehran, Iran

1. Population researchers from across Asia have long felt the need for a professional association to promote comparative and cooperative research. Discussions have been held over a three year period:

a. November 2004 researchers at a meeting hosted by Mahidol University in Bangkok the idea of an Asian Population Association was raised.
b. December 2005 scholars from sixteen Asian countries attending the Sixth Conference of the Population Association of Pakistan discussed the need for a regional association.
c. December 2006 an international conference on Emerging Issues in the Asia Pacific Region, hosted by IIPS in Mumbai, a proposal was made to form an association. The 500 participants from many Asian countries endorsed the concept, and encouraged a small group to put together plans for an association.
d. During 5-11 September 2007 an online discussion among 80 scholars was carried out to make concrete plans for the association, including the name, purpose and administrative arrangements to be made. An Establishment Committee was named, and Professor Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi was asked to arrange a meeting of the Committee to draw up a constitution.

2. The Establishment Committee (EC) consists of: 

a. Professor Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi
b. Professor Moneer Alam
c. Professor Baochang Gu
d. Professor Terence Hull
e. Professor Mehtab Syed Karim
f. Professor Bhassorn Limanonda
Professor John Cleland and Professor John Casterline were appointed as international advisors to the Committee.

The Inaugural Meeting of the Establishment Committee was held 1-4 December 2007 at the Department of Demography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran.

Dr Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi was elected Chair of the Establishment Committee and deputed to coordinate the steps to be taken to set up a Nomination Committee and work with the Secretariat to prepare meetings and activities.

3. The Establishment Committee accepted the offer of the College of Population Studies of Chulalongkorn University to serve as the Foundation Secretariat for the Association. Professor Bhassorn Limanonda will serve as the Executive Secretary and will manage the Secretariat and coordinate activities in consultation with the Chair of the EC.

4. Timeline for activities:

a. 10 December 2007: Announce deliberations of EC Meeting to all Asian Specialist members of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and invite them to join the association as Foundation Members.
b. 15 December 2007 establish the Nomination Committee
c. December 2007- January 2008 Create Website and e-mail address lists
d. January 2008 Design Logo and brochure for the Association
e. January ? June 2008 Register the Association in Thailand
f. January - June 2008 Implement Fundraising strategies
g. May 2008 meeting of the Establishment Committee in Bangkok ? Preliminary discussion of Conference Plans
h. August 2008 Announcement of Election
i. October 2008 Online election for Council
j. January 2009 Elected Council in place ? Establishment of Committees
k. 2010 First Conference of the Association

5. Application for Membership form ? The Chair of the EC will distribute the final draft to the EC. The Executive Secretary will arrange to have this made into a web based form.

6. A cascading Membership drive will be carried out using national and international networks of Population Professionals with a specialized interest in Asian Population Studies. It is hoped that all IUSSP members resident in Asia will join, as will Asian specialists among the memberships of the Population Association of America and the European Population Association. National associations in Asia will be asked to inform their members of the new regional group and encourage them to join. It is hoped that upwards of 500 members will be registered by May 2008. In the absence of a Constitution and Council, the review of applications for membership will be undertaken by the EC and the Secretariat. Conditions for membership will be those in Article 2 of the Draft Constitution of 4 December 2007. Foundation members will not be charged any fee for the first year of membership (2008), but it is anticipated that the first Council will institute a modest annual membership fee from 2009 on.

7. All members registered by 31 July 2008 will be deemed to be Foundation Members, eligible to stand and vote in the elections for the Foundation Council.

8. Timing of Elections of the Council will be confirmed at the May meeting of the EC.

a. The election process should be held in the period from 1 August through 30 October 2008, using a secure computer-based balloting system with member?s email address and password being used to facilitate the process.
b. Members without access to internet will be able to submit a paper ballot.
c. The Foundation Executive Secretary will be the returning officer for the election and will be assisted by two independent scrutineers drawn from the professoriate of Chulalongkorn University.

9. The new Council will take over the running of the Association on 1 January 2009.

10. The Foundation Nominations Committee will be formed immediately. The Chair of the EC will invite the following to serve in this capacity:

a. Chair: Professor Gavin Jones, Australia,
b. Sri Moertiningsih (Toening) Adioetomo, Indonesia
c. Bhakta Gubaju, ESCAP
d. Khawaja Marwan, Lebanon
e. Zeba Sathar, Pakistan
f. Edward Tu, China

Should any be unable to serve, the Chair will determine alternates on the basis of names suggested by the EC.

11. Next Meeting of the EC will be held Bangkok 28-30 May 2008, subject to availability of funding. Grants will be sought to support a one day workshop on The 2010 Census Round in Asia: National Challenges and Regional Collaborations to be held on 29 May 2008. This will allow the EC to invite a range of specialists from the region, including members of the Nomination Committee, to combine academic discussions with the administrative work of the Association. It is hoped that two or three donors will be interested in funding this dual activity. Professor Terence Hull agreed to facilitate the Workshop and collaborate with the EC Chair and the Executive Secretary to approach donors for funding for the three days of activities.

12. Funding and fund raising. The EC Chair will prepare a statement about the Association and its goals to be used in proposals to potential funders. The following should be contacted as a matter of priority: 

a. UNFPA (Mr Sultan Aziz and regional offices)
b. Asia Foundation, San Francisco
c. Packard Foundation
d. Hewlett Foundation
e. Ford Foundation, New York
f. Rockefeller Foundation, Bangkok
g. AusAID
h. JICA
i. MacArther Foundation, New Delhi
j. Gates Foundation
k. Toyota Foundation
l. European Union
m. DFID
n. Population Association of America

13. The Establishment Committee would like to extend their sincere thanks to the Head of the Department of Demography, Dr Hossein Mahmoudian for hosting the Tehran meeting and the Tehran Office of UNFPA, and particularly the Resident Representative, Mr Mohamed Abdel-Ahad for funding the meeting in Tehran.