Meet the Mediation Commission 2015-2016

One of the elections that took place in Kyiv was the Mediation Commission. In a twist, four people decided to run on the last minute, but their gamble paid off since they got the trust from the Agora. We asked some questions to know them better. Ana Gancearuc (AEGEE-Chişinău), apart from AEGEE, she likes running, hiking, swimming, photographing, reading and learning new languages. German by adoption, Damien Latacz (AEGEE-Aachen) loves cooking (anything from all over the world), hiking, spending weeks in the mountains during some nice winter treks and eating Ramen. Lisette Kunst from AEGEE-Groningen has an obvious passion for travelling (a common feature in AEGEE), but she also likes horse-riding, spending time with friends, hitchhiking, reading and organising activities for various students’ associations in her city. And lastly, Niels Perriens (AEGEE-Eindhoven) who is running a students’ bar, travels to new places and likes discovering new beers.

 

The AEGEEan: You applied last minute not as a team, but with common goals. Why?

Niels and Ana: None of us planned to apply for MedCom at Agora Kyiv in advance. We all met during the pre-event in Chişinău, and there, proposals and candidatures were discussed. We were very surprised to see there were no candidatures for MedCom and we thought that maybe that’s because people don’t really know what it is and what it does. We knew there are plenty of capable people in AEGEE that could fulfill this task, but apparently they did not apply. Passionate discussions about the MedCom, its tasks, and why noone applied led to a lot of criticism and also ideas, but we knew that was not enough. For these reasons, we decided to take action and run on the last minute, and we will try our best during our mandate to make the MedCom more visible, so at the next fall Agora, people will step up and try to become candidates as well. This whole shared process led to a common motivation and goals. The decision to apply is however a personal one. Presenting ourselves as a team could have given the incorrect idea that we all think alike and that is not the case so far.

 

During Question time at the Agora, former President of AEGEE-Europe invited delegates not to vote for someone who is not aware of what the Medcom is. How did you take such comment?

Lisette: Although, of course, it stings a bit to receive such comment in front of the Agora, the comment wasn’t what bothered me the most after question time. The thing that frustrated and annoyed me afterwards was that I’d not been able to answer his question 100% correctly. I believe that people who run for a position like this should be capable of showing the Agora that they are fully aware of what they’re signing up for.

Despite of trying to make the most of the few hours of preparation after the last-minute candidature, I couldn’t do this and there are no excuses for that. In short, I think that – although he could have made a statement on this in a less direct way – he was right to point out the flaw in my answer and readily available knowledge of the Mediation Commission. Now that I’m elected after all, I take the comment as a good reminder that I need to put in the work to make sure that I have the right knowledge to do a good job in the Commission this year.

 

Let’s pretend to explain what the Medcom is and what it does to a child. How would you describe your commission to him/her?

Ana: As we all know, we have many locals, bodies and members in AEGEE and even though we all are pro Europeans and fight for our rights, there will always appear small divergences and conflicts between people, or antennae. How does AEGEE solve these issues, who analyses everything and tries to keep up with the procedure? The Mediation Commission, that’s right. These people, who were elected at the Agora, are transparent and visible for the whole organisation and try to keep the harmony within and between locals, bodies and members. We are here to listen to you about any issue you have and need help or a solution in order to make things right and clear.

Lisette: Beside what Ana already mentioned, we are also here to help implement and improve the Data privacy policy to ensure that the data our members give to AEGEE gets handled and protected in a responsible way. If we are called upon, we can also make decisions in cases where an ordinary member doesn’t respect the binding rules of the CIA. In this, we always try to solve conflicts in a friendly way before we consider sanctions.

 

The implementation of the DPPS is still going on. How would things change for locals and European bodies?

Niels: For European bodies, the usage of and access to information is assessed and fitting Non-Disclosure Agreements are already being signed. The next step is investigating the systems and methods used to make sure the agreements are not violated, even if it happens unintentionally.  Moving things to the new Online Membership System in the future might make things easier in this regard, so it’s important to make sure that this system works in accordance to the DPPS. Locals have a lot of decision power over their handling of their internal confidential information. In most cases, they will do things in certain ways because they have always been done in that way or because it is easy. At no point they will think about privacy issues. We want to change this, not by enforcing rules, but by creating awareness. For example, Non-Disclosure Agreement templates will be created and locals can start using within their members.

 

What are the three fundamental things that everybody should know about the DPPS?

Damien: First of all, that it exists! The Agora votes it and you can find it in the CIA. It is not some document made for obscure reasons, it’s there to protect us, members. AEGEE is always using more and more online service: cloud storage, online voting, etc, and it is up to us to keep our structure adapted to these new technologies. Secondly, and probably the most important part of the DPPS, is the classification of datas in three different categories: external data (accessible to all), internal data (accessible only to AEGEE members) and internal confidential data (in a way, data which is accessible only to certain members or in some specific circumstances). Making people aware of these categories and how to handle them is also part of our job in the MedCom. And finally, the DPPS applies to AEGEE-Europe, so mostly Bodies are affected by it, it does not change much in the life of an Antenna. But a local can of course decide to follow it as well. This way, it would improve the Data Privacy of our whole network!

 

Medcom should be super partes and able to solve conflicts, but how much, according to you, members of the commission should be involved in other projects (both on local and European level) to avoid conflict of interest?

Lisette: We believe that the current CIA standards that Medcom members should not be members of the CD, JC, Audit Commission, Netcom, the Chair Team, boards of Working Groups or Supporting Committees and boards of Antenna or Contact Antenna are enough to ensure basic impartiality. Aside from this, we have an internal unwritten rule that if our own local or a local or European level project that one of us is involved in raises an issue to us, the member involved abstains from voting and discussing, regardless of the nature of the issue.

 

In an ideal world, Medcom should never be activated. What is your advice to locals and/or members that you have not involved?

Niels: Stick to the rules and keep communicating! That should keep the MedCom from being activated. That being said, we don’t mind getting involved in an early stage in our capacity as mediators, as it might prevent a possible activation later on.

Damien: I fully agree with Niels: communication is key when it comes to avoiding conflicts. Always saying what you think with complete honesty greatly reduces the risk of conflicts. Many cases arise after people misinterpret each other or feel unconsidered. You can also ask MedCom for some advice in case you feel a current situation could evolve into a conflict. We would be happy to help.

Written by Erika Bettin AEGEE-Verona