Report sent to IFMSA About Merger

Dear IFMSA EB and EMR RC,

Since our last encounter in Macedonia, we have been working with IFMSA-Egypt towards the merger between the two entities.

We wanted to keep you updated with what we currently doing and what we have done so far. This is why we are sending you this progress report about the negations and achievements that have been reached this far.

Since August 2009, and following the decision made during the IFMSA General Assembly, mutual efforts have been provided from representatives of both entities to meet the deadline given by IFMSA, the 1st of January 2010, to complete the merger.

Incentive:

Although the biggest incentive for the merger is the avoidance of any damages caused by the application of the decision taken by the IFMSA GA, yet, the concept and efforts for the merger are innate in the concerned parties and they also working on that to guarantee the best working conditions for medical students in Egypt with a keen understanding of the vitality of the issue & the tightness of the timeline available to finish the whole process.

The following steps took place in chronological order:

• In agreement with EMSA; IFMSA-Egypt national board decided to appoint Hatem Alaa, the Cairo University local committee president at that time, as the representative of IFMSA-Egypt during the negotiations. The board also issued a statement to LC Presidents stating the following:

“ IFMSA-Egypt recognizes the importance of caring after the welfare of medical students in Egypt who deserve to have a stable medium for practicing their activities, summoned powers that work together not against , one voice that conveys their opinion to the whole world through IFMSA. We are willing to work together for the best of medical students in Egypt.

During the last IFMSA GA in Ohrid, Macedonia; the General Assembly voted in their plenary endorsing a merger between IFMSA-Egypt & the Egyptian Medical Students Association (EMSA) & didn't want to have 2 NMOs from Egypt as abiding by the IFMSA bylaws. This was mainly because of the concerns raised by IFMSA EB about the financial transparency & exchange system that we operate. We are innately willing to improve any defect in our work & although the GA decision puts a lot of pressure on IFMSA-Egypt to finish the negotiations before 1st January 2010 or else our activities will be frozen completely & in spite the rigidity of the decision that we have seen as very tightening , we are willing to create a taskforce from both sides to maximize the benefits of such a merger & maintain our rights to have an autonomous NMO with its rights in IFMSA ; representing all Egyptian students & at the same time benefiting from the opportunities provided to NMOs & also abide by IFMSA decisions & newly adopted exchange policies

We would like to ensure you that we are working our outmost for the best of all LCs & that all steps in negotiations will be announced regularly to LCs to make them aware of all the consequences. There will be also a joint session between IFMSA-Egypt & EMSA representatives in the negotiations which is preparatory for the taskforce work. It is really important that all concerned people attend to ask all the questions they have in mind & even if they don’t have immediate questions; they will raise the awareness of the taskforce to put it on the negotiations agenda

All the best.

Mohamed Salah

Secretary General & Treasurer 2008-2009
IFMSA-Egypt
President 2008-2010
Zagazig Medical Students' Scientific Association
International Federation of Medical Students` Association
E-mail: mohammed_salah.ahmed@yahoo.com
MSN: hamada2004eg@hotmail.comCell: +2010 3738335
Give us a visit Today! www.ifmsa-egypt.org. "

• A series of meetings between Hatem Alaa; IFMSA-Egypt's Liaison Oficer to EMSA and Ayman Sabae - EMSA Managerial President - to outline the framework for the upcoming period. An understanding on the importance of mutual and combined efforts, commitment to the general welfare, and complete transparency have been established since then.
• A first, open-doors orientation session about the the current situation was hosted in Cairo with the aim of giving concerned Egyptian students from both EMSA & IFMSA-Egypt, the needed information and statements of both entities' attitudes in the upcoming period. The Agenda included:

• Explanation about the decisions taken by the IFMSA GA
• General statement of intentions from EMSA
• The timeline of work for the upcoming period
• A comparative presentation focusing on the general benefits of having an organization that combines the strong points in both organizations and abolishes the weak ones.
• A general questions and answers section.

• The session went very well, and people began to understand the situation and how we are going to, hand in hand, work in not only avoiding any damages to Egyptian medical students international representation, but actually, to get the best out of this merger. You can view parts of the session by visiting www.youtube.com/emsadotorgdoteg
• Following the session, IFMSA-Egypt's community was updated with the steps taken by Hatem Alaa & in the final General assembly meeting of the term; the whole issue was open to discussion in Standing Committee sessions & in the trainings ; where the conflict management training used a role play for negotiations between EMSA & IFMSA-Egypt , something that was really healthy & useful.
• The General Assembly meeting later on 28th September 2009 appointed Hatem as a Liaison Officer to EMSA in order to draft an agreement with EMSA & constantly update IFMSA-Egypt Local committee presidents & GA with the updates.
• The leaving IFMSA-Egypt National Exchange Officer & the elect NEO started a discussion in the exchange session in the GA about the current exchange system & how can we improve it; some changes where instantly agreed upon & a national standard selection criteria is now undergoing a phase of brainstorming with the contribution of local exchange officers of all local committees.
• The general outline of the merger is currently being drawn making sure an agreement marking the initiation of the merger process, is to be ready and signed by mid November 2009.
• A series of task force meetings are currently being conducted for the creation of this agreement and its clauses. A blog, http://emsa-ifmsaegypt.blogspot.com/ has been created to receive feedback, questions and comments from concerned members.

Issues to tackle in the upcoming period:

The task force is now put to the test by being asked to find solutions for a complex situation, the upcoming period, the following issues will be the areas of concern:

• 1) Identity, autonomy, structure
• 2) Finances
• 3) Exchange
• 4) IFMSA and international representation
• 5) Overlap of activities
• 6) Plans for future steps following the end of the official, administrative merger.