31 members were present and more than 20 guests. Although many people left after the speech by the main guest, 20 members remained until the end of the meeting.

Bill Evans welcomed special guests Andy King MP, Brian and Claire Linton from the Olney-Newton Link, Marianne Pemagbi from the Sisters Community Delivery Health Centre Bo, Rosemary Clarkson formerly from the School for the Deaf in Freetown, Jariatu Sankoh from Freetown, and Marc Kantungeko from Burundi. He then welcomed and introduced our speaker Lord Frank Judd. A synopsis of the speech is appended.

Mrs Hawa Sumner SL High Commission, James Plaskitt MP, Michael Cashman MEP, Liz Lynn MEP, Margaret Begg, Des Garvey Nepean Outreach to the World, Janie Barrett CEO, WDC, Gian Clare Secretary Warwick UNA, Nigel Roberts, John Francis, Patrick Sesay, Marion Myers, Richard Scott-Herridge

These were accepted as a true record

There were no matters arising

Letter from James Plaskitt expressing his concern at the breakdown of the talks in Cancun (WTO) and saying that he will press the Government to achieve trade reform

John McFarlane presented the accounts for the year April 2002 to April 2003. During this year there was major expenditure on the Community Centre Project and Shipping the container amounting to nearly £27K. He explained that the loans of £3000 are in connection with the Community Centre. Subscriptions and donation income was low. However income this year has gone up significantly and one loan of £500 has been remitted. The meeting's thanks were expressed to John, The approval of the accounts was proposed by Janet Alty and seconded by Myf Hodkin and approved unanimously.

..

Bill Evans introduced his report. He said there had been several promising developments over the year, the community centre was being built, communication is much better. The consequence is more work, and we need to recruit more active members and in particular we need people to act as membership secretary, promoter, and fund raiser. We also need to encourage more visitors from Bo. He thanked the British Council for its support. He thanked John Myers, Secretary for his work and all the committee members who have worked so hard. He then invited sub-group convenors to report.
Brian Austin said that there is now some grounds for optimism as a few primary schools are becoming more actively engaged in linking with their Bo partners, but they do need external support from OWL in guidance and practical support of teaching materials. The sub-group does need a practising teacher to join it. Brian also reminded the meeting of the monthly postal service to Bo, and encouraged members to use it more.
Janet Alty said we have recruited new people to the Women's support group for Kayoma and thanked Catheryn Ravenhill of Bath Place for providing the stimulus. Money has been raised, with thanks to Myf Hodkin for her sponsored swim on her 80th birthday; and communication established with Kayoma. The impending visit to Bo by Maria Franchi will help to build on this. She also asked members for ideas on a place where a container could be kept as a store for goods to be sent.
Jane Knight said that there is more formal support being established with the Leamington Town, Warwick District and Warwickshire County Councils; and the LGIB and CLGF also recognise our work. This still has to be turned into a practical project to support local government in Bo.
Approval of the report was proposed by Julie Bradley, seconded by Margaret Watkin and carried unanimously

The following were elected: Chairperson - Bill Evans, Secretary - John Myers, Treasurer - John McFarlane. There were no nominations for Membership Secretary. Jane Knight will give it some thought. The job description will be sent to the CVS Volunteer Bureau.

John Myers proposed that all existing committee members be re-elected. He said that 2 new people had indicated interest in joining the committee and suggested that they be considered by the committee for co-option into 2 of the 3 vacant places available for co-option. This was agreed.

Amnesty Action - the meeting agreed to support the Amnesty International call displayed on a table in the room that Charles Taylor should be brought before the special court in Sierra Leone.
WTO -The meeting expressed its concern at the breakdown of WTO negotiations in Cancun and asked the committee to consider appropriate action bearing in mind the impact on Sierra Leone, the views of our Bo partners, and the nature of our aims and objectives.
News service -It was reported that the excellent Sierra Leone Web News Service has been terminated and it was very much hoped that a similar service might be developed in it's place.

This is the first time the Annual Meeting has been held at Bath Place Community Venture; it was felt to be a satisfactory venue generally

The meeting ended at 2.15

Lord Frank Judd addressed an audience of over 50 people at the One World Link Annual Meeting in Leamington on Saturday. He moved them with an eloquent but hard hitting view of the world drawn from his experiences in Voluntary Service, Overseas Development, and Politics. A significant source of his learning, he said, comes from the University of Life.
"We are involved in a dangerous and depressing phase of human history. We are part of an inter-dependant global community. There is no way of living our lives without people in other parts of the world being a large part of our reality. We need a global management of the economy; but that needs a moral underpinning. There are immense issues of social justice. The World Trade Organisation talks in Cancun Mexico broke down because the agenda was not that of the global community." "What is the point", he asked, "of creating a level playing field for all countries when not everyone is fit to play on it?"
Turning to the question of the threat to world security from terrorism, he stated that when millions of people are involved in a desperate struggle to survive until tomorrow they may start to think that the terrorists are on their side. When highly able people in the developing countries feel themselves devoid of power or influence then they will become frustrated. Only when we have made the whole world a fair, just, and decent place to live in will there be no scope for terrorists. This means that there must be a redistribution of power through a reformed United Nations. The alternative is a nightmare for our children and grandchildren. He finished with a strong appeal for all of us at whatever level to work towards the re-distribution of power.
He told the members of One World Link that what they are doing is absolutely and crucially important. In linking communities of people across the world. "You are helping to make solidarity real and finding joy in diversity. It is a God given opportunity to discover the richness of creation" He emphasised the importance of doing this in a spirit of community, self reliance, and mutual self respect.
In answer to questions. He thought that raising money to assist our partners was alright provided it was done in a spirit of mutual respect and interchange. The main instrument for sharing power should be the United Nations and other institutions such as the World Bank and IMF should be reformed. He saw no justification for the free movement of capital when the same freedom is not allowed to people; and there should be a compensatory intervention in the free market to the restriction on free movement of labour. He agreed that personal relationships between people in Bo and Warwick is a crucial element as long as it is not a mere self indulgence. His last quip was that people born in the UK need to take an exam for citizenship just as much as immigrants.