Report IAG General Assembly, 23 March 2025
The meeting of the General Assembly of the International Ambassadors Guild for the year 2025 was held in Brussels, on Sunday 23 March 2025, at 12.00 pm. at "Les Scouts Pluralists" next to the former ISGF headquarters, Avenue de la Porte de Hal, 38 B-1060.
The members of the Board present were Nana Gentimi, Bjorg Walstad, Anthony Florizoone, Martine Levy and Ana Rodrigues, the Chairman of the ISGF World Committee, ex - officio member. Excused was Mida Rodrigues.
Five members of the General Assembly were also present: Jean- Luc De Paepe, Pierre Decoene, Helen Watson, Faouzia Kchouk and Angela Dernbach, while four members sent a proxy for voting. Also, three IAG members (Roselyne Daenens, Birthe Ømark and Mary Fay), were present as non-voting observers.
Nana proposed that the minutes of the meeting be taken by Helen Watson, this was agreed by those present.
The Minutes of the 2024 General Assembly, the Report 2024 and the Financial Report 2024 were presented and approved.
Nana gave a list of our members “Gone Home”. Special tribute was given to Jane Wardropper, Nana reflected that Jane had been a pillar of the Ambassadors Guild and ISGF, and would be greatly missed. Donations in her memory can be made to the fund set up by Shropshire GirlGuiding (UK) to give support to girls to attend international opportunities. This can be done electronically via Donations : Jane Wardropper's Tribute.
New members to the General Assembly and Board
The General Assembly approved the appointment of Elin Richards (past ISGF World Committee Chairman) to the General Assembly. Then Helen Watson and Elin were appointed to the Board. Both nominations were warmly received. We count on their abilities and experience.
In the light of the above the new IAG Board for 2025-2026 is as follows
Chairman Nana Gentimi; Vice Chair Bjorg Walstadt; Secretary Helen Watson; Treasurer Anthony Florizoone; Members in charge of projects: Martine Levy, Mida Rodrigues and Elin Richards; and Ex-officio member Ana Rodrigues, the Chairman of the ISGF World Committee.
Promoting the IAG
The group discussed ways of promoting IAG as a part of ISGF, including looking at ways to attract people through Social Media such as FaceBook. Angela Dernbach offered to take this forward with the ISGF Webmaster.
Nana also commented that there are opportunities this year for members attending the Sub-Regional Gatherings to promote the Guild by doing presentations at the Gatherings, with any presentation material agreed with the Chairman in advance. Norway, Netherlands and Tunisia gatherings will have IAG members attending. All members can spread the word that the IAG could support more projects if more new members joined.
Participation in ISGF events
Reference was made to the 30th ISGF World Conference, Granada Spain, 17-22 September 2024, attended by members of the Board and 40 IAG members. A video presentation was shown in plenary session and a meeting with all IAG members present at the Conference and friends was held in a suitable room provided by the Spanish host committee. There we had the opportunity to get to know each other better and discuss the work of the IAG Board and the projects supported. We welcomed the new members, handed out their pin, badge and membership certificate to the annual fee members while the life members received their diplomas. Eight new members were registered of which three life members and five annual fee members.
Reports on Projects funded in 2024:
During 2024 the Budget was €10,000, which supported the following projects:
1. The Kimou Centre in the Ivory Coast to expand its accommodation for girls attending the WAGGGS World Conference, and the new rooms were now being used to house girls attending the school.
2. On the Scout/Guide camps in Kenya which had been well spent
3. To MASCI in Italy to pay for transporting Scouts from the Ukraine to join the camp in Sardinia (with thanks for a substantial personal donation from one member).
4. To the Scouts of Iceland to help them set up the website for the Scouting Museum.
Projects applications and Budget 2025
The list of projects requesting support in 2025 was discussed. After a thorough discussion and even though the total amount requested exceeded €10,000, it was agreed by all to keep the budget 2025 at €10,000 in line with last year and to support all projects proportionally:
KENYA –Leadership Training events and Family Empowerment sessions
IVORY COAST – To expand the Septic Tank at the CKFN site
GERMANY – To build an outdoor kitchen at the Thuringian campsite
NETHERLANDS – To install self-generated energy equipment (whole site being rebuilt following a fire)
BELGIUM – To install a green roof on a new Scout Group building
SWEDEN – To phase out fossil fuels and switch to green electricity for the Sea Scout activities. 
Amendment to the IAG Constitution
Under Belgian law the Constitution of the IAG needs to be updated whenever there are changes to the Nominated Officers (Jane was an Officer) and Board Members, and there have also been recent changes to some of the Belgian Laws which need to be incorporated into the Constitution which was originally drafted in 2012. Pierre offered to draft the necessary changes. He will do it in French and English, the French version will be the official one. Faouzia will help with the French version. It will be sent to the members of the GA for their comment and for approval.
Data Protection Regulations
The group discussed a recent request from one of our General Assembly members to be able to share members’ details so people could keep in touch directly. It was agreed that sharing lists of home addresses and email contacts would breach the Data Protection Regulations. Nana offered to be a go-between if anyone wanted details of a specific individual, she would contact them and ask for permission to pass on their contact details to the enquirer. The list with members’ names (only) per country will be issued in due course.
New IAG Pins
Bjorg had ordered and donated to the IAG 100 new Ambassadors membership pins; they are larger and will help to visibly promote the IAG. These pins will be given to new members as they join; existing members may if they wish purchase a new pin for €3 each.
General Assembly in 2026
The date of the 2026 meeting of the General Assembly will be announced later this year when the date of the annual ISGF World Committee meeting is confirmed, taking also into account that 20-24 March 2026, the 12th ISGF Europe Region Conference will be held in Cyprus. In addition to the Board and General Assembly Members, other members of IAG are welcome to join in the weekend and attend the meeting as non-voting observers.
Having fun together 
Pierre and Roselyne organised a day trip by train to the beautiful city of Kortrijk, on Saturday 22/3/2025. We had great time touring the Beguine and the historic city centre.
On Saturday evening we had a traditional dinner at the restaurant « La Porteuse d'Eau» booked by Bjorg. The rest of the weekend was full of opportunities to meet up with friends, as we shared evening meals and caught up with each other’s news.
Thank you
Nana Gentimi
Chairman of IAG Board