AGM 2010
On Sunday morning in Hampstead, Steve Miller chaired Tzedek's AGM meeting and personally thanked all the volunteers from without whom Tzedek would not be possible. This AGM marked Tzedek's 20th year.
There were opportunities for everyone to get involved with sessions of discussion and feedback. The discussions ranged from people who were new to Tzedek, to detailed debate about best practice in development.
Ian Rosmarin took members through the accounts, which showed a significant rise in the number of grants Tzedek has been able to make in the last year. Clive Lawton commented on the budget and the difficulty of spending money well in development, commenting on the efficiency and success of the Overseas Projects Team led by Will Schreiber.
Tzedek was also honoured to hear from Hamayoon Sultan, Development Education Coordinator at Islamic Relief.
Hamayoon's opening line, 'if you save one man, you save the world' is written in both the Qu'ran and the Talmud, and it was interesting to hear about the comparisons between the Jewish and Islamic communities in response to global poverty. In particular, we learnt about Islamic micro-finance and the absence of interest repayments - an approach that differs from some traditional approaches to micro-finance.
Ironically, just yesterday, a report was released about the effect of debt generated by western governments on Muslim countries. The Jubilee Debt Campaign released the report which can be read here.
Thanks again to everyone who attended and the contribution of volunteers, staff and trustees alike who have contributed to Tzedek over the past year, and over the past 20 years!
