Let’s face it: unless you are active on the European level, there is a big chance that you don’t really know what our different bodies are doing, what they are supposed to do and why they were created in the first place. The AEGEEan magazine is here to help and set the story straight. Up first – Mediation Commission.
If you check the current Member’s Manual, you will notice that there is no such body as the Mediation Commission. In its place, stands the Members Commission. The reason for such a name change was the proposal made by the Members Commission Agora Skopje (2011) – Agora Enschede (2012). According to it, the name was tweaked together with its functions. Realizing that the MemCom was being activated already after the problem appeared, it was decided to make an emphasis on mediation, so that problems can be solved earlier and conflicts can be avoided. But let’s not get carried away and start from the beginning.
We work in a multicultural organization full of people with different values and ideas. Sometimes, conflicts appear. At times, they can be very proactive and lead to creation of a completely new and successful concept, however, at other times, conflicts end up being destructive. This is where the MedCom comes in.
According to the CIA, the MedCom is there for three things.
1. It is responsible for making sure that the Data Privacy Statement of the CIA is respected. Here they act as an ombudsman.
2. They can be officially activated by two bodies (NetCom, Audit Commission, JC, CD) or 10 antennas. This action results in a dispute, or “MedCom Case,” and is something very formal and serious. After a thorough investigation, they are allowed to take sanctions up to the point of deleting an antenna. However, their verdict can be reversed by the next Agora.
3. The last point comes from the new name – Mediation. This is a step taken in order to prevent a “MedCom case.” Since Agora Enschede 2012, the MedCom can now be addressed by any person or body of the network. This new function allows any member to turn to them for help/mediation in a conflict. Nevertheless, it is strongly urged that the member first turns to their NetCom as this is what they are there to do. But we will cover the NetCom a bit later.
Agora Budapest elected a new Mediation Commission. Let’s give a warm welcome to our new mediators – Fabian Brüggemann (President, AEGEE-Düsseldorf), Hara Kogkou (AEGEE-Peiraias), Ermanno Napolitano (AEGEE-Catania), Maurits Korse (AEGEE-Enschede), Atanas Nachkov (JC) and Anna Gots (CD observer).
For more information about this AEGEE body, feel free to visit their page – www.commissions.aegee.org/medcom.
They can also be contacted directly at medcom@aegee.org.
Thanks for the photos to Gunnar Erth.
Written by Olga Volovyk, AEGEE-Kyiv