Withholding of Financial Support from Thailand to AIT [AIT Alumni Association Thailand]

For the past few weeks there has been an attempt made, both in writing and in verbal communication to AIT stakeholders, to accuse AITAA (Thailand) of being accountable for the withholding of financial supports from the Royal Thai Government to AIT; such as,"because of a complaint letter from AITAA Thailand Chapter, the Royal Thai Government has frozen all budget to AIT, including the flood relief package and RTG Scholarships, and the Charter ratification process by Thailand has also been put on hold".

As this is misleading and would pose obstacle to both current and future cooperation between AIT alumni and AIT management, AITAA (Thailand) deems it necessary to announce a clarification as follows:

1. Release of RTG's financial supports was disabled due to the switching of the AIT operation to the Intergovernmental Organization under the New Charter without awaiting the participation of Thailand, whereby the RTG could not approve the national budget to fund an Intergovernmental Organization of which Thailand is not a member.This has nothing to do with AITAA (Thailand). See the attached file for a clear explanation in the Office of Higher Education Commission (OHEC) letter dated April 19, 2012 and its reiteration dated June 19, 2012 where there wasno mention of AITAA (Thailand) in either of the two letters.

2. While the RTG has decided to suspend the ratification of the new AIT Charter until the issues of concern about governance and transparency raised by AITAA (Thailand) are properly resolved by AIT, and while Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has already pointed out in its letter dated 2 May 2012 that the Board of Trustees is the valid legal body to act for AIT; it is necessary that the Board of Trustees be convened to ensure the proper function of AIT and to hear AITAA (Thailand)'s points of concern. A mere clarification by the holder of the AIT presidency under the new AIT legal status is not accepted as valid or legitimate since the operation of AIT under the new status is deemed illegal as MFA has already stressed "the AIT under the new AIT Charter, including its Governing Council, cannot perform its duties in Thailand in the absence of a new AIT Enabling Act".

The approach of AITAA (Thailand) is a check and balance process which is of utmost importance for the transparent operation of any non-profit organization, done for the benefit of all AIT stakeholders and AIT donors. It is clear that before entering into any new venture, the management must prove itself clean, efficient, and trustworthy; otherwise the new venture would be a waste of time and money, which should have been spent fruitfully in many other undertakings.

The attached file is our compilation of key official documents relating to new AIT Charter and AIT status. The most important documents are the two letters from OHEC (Document #7) and the letter from MFA (Document #8).

The fund freezing could have been avoided upon our prewarning and suggestion given late February before it was announced by OHEC late April. Now we would like to suggest how to have the funds released.

1. The holder of the administrative power of AIT should resume original legal status of AIT based on the original Charter, convene the Board of Trustees, and inform OHEC of the status resumption so that the frozen funds can be released.

2. Then the Board of Trustees should appoint an ad-hoc committee, comprising persons of proven integrity, to investigate and resolve the issues of concern raised by AITAA (Thailand) to satisfy the requirement in MFA's letter of 2 May 2012, so that MFA can proceed appropriately with the New Charter.

With kind regards,

AITAA (Thailand)

by Thanin Bumrungsap, President

 

http://tha.aitaa.asia/en/node/69

An Open Letter to AIT Stakeholders from AITAA (Thailand)

For the past few weeks there has been an attempt made, both in writing and in verbal communication to AIT stakeholders, to accuse AITAA (Thailand) of being accountable for the withholding of financial supports from the Royal Thai Government to AIT; such as,"because of a complaint letter from AITAA Thailand Chapter, the Royal Thai Government has frozen all budget to AIT, including the flood relief package and RTG Scholarships, and the Charter ratification process by Thailand has also been put on hold".

As this is misleading and would pose obstacle to both current and future cooperation between AIT alumni and AIT management, AITAA (Thailand) deems it necessary to announce a clarification as follows:

1. Release of RTG's financial supports was disabled due to the change in legal status of AIT without awaiting the participation of Thailand, whereby the RTG could not approve the national budget to fund an Intergovernmental Organization of which Thailand is not a member.This has nothing to do with AITAA (Thailand). See the attached file for a clear explanation in the Office of Higher Education Commission (OHEC) letter dated April 19, 2012 and its reiteration dated June 19, 2012 where there wasno mention of AITAA (Thailand) in either of the two letters.

2. While the RTG has decided to suspend the ratification of the new AIT Charter until the issues of concern about governance and transparency raised by AITAA (Thailand) are properly resolved by AIT, and while Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has already pointed out in its letter dated 2 May 2012 that the Board of Trustees is the valid legal body to act for AIT; it is necessary that the Board of Trustees be convened to ensure the proper function of AIT and to hear AITAA (Thailand)'s points of concern. A mere clarification by the holder of the AIT presidency under the new AIT legal status is not accepted as valid or legitimate since the operation of AIT under the new status is deemed illegal as MFA has already stressed "the AIT under the new AIT Charter, including its Governing Council, cannot perform its duties in Thailand in the absence of a new AIT Enabling Act".

The approach of AITAA (Thailand) is a check and balance process which is of utmost importance for the transparent operation of any non-profit organization, done for the benefit of all AIT stakeholders and AIT donors. It is clear that before entering into any new venture, the management must prove itself clean, efficient, and trustworthy; otherwise the new venture would be a waste of time and money, which should have been spent fruitfully in many other undertakings.

The attached file is our compilation of key official documents relating to new AIT Charter and AIT status. The most important documents are the two letters from OHEC (Document #7) and the letter from MFA (Document #8).

To solve the deadlock, the following actions should be taken:

1. The holder of the administrative power of AIT should resume original legal status of AIT based on the original Charter, convene the Board of Trustees, and inform OHEC of the status resumption so that the frozen funds can be released.

2. Then the Board of Trustees should appoint an ad-hoc committee, comprising persons of proven integrity, to investigate and resolve the issues of concern raised by AITAA (Thailand) to satisfy the requirement in MFA's letter of 2 May 2012, so that MFA can proceed appropriately with the New Charter.

With kind regards,

AITAA (Thailand)

by Thanin Bumrungsap, President

Young ICIMOD Professional Programme (YIPP) - Call for Expression of Interest

We are pleased to inform you about the call for Expressions of Interest in a Research Associate position with the Young ICIMOD Professional Programme (YIPP).  This is a new initiative from ICIMOD with a purpose to strengthen their research capacity and provide valuable career opportunities to young scientists from Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Myanmar holding Master's or PhDs in relevant fields. The Research Associate positions are open in the areas of Water, Ecosystem Services, Sustainable Livelihoods & Geospatial Solutions.

The best and most relevant submissions will be awarded a one year research position at ICIMOD during which associates will work on ICIMOD research topics in their field of interest alongside highly experienced scientists from all over the region and across the globe, and possibly publish their research findings in international scientific journals.

Applicants are requested to apply online before 2nd September 2012 through ICIMOD's online application system.

About ICIMOD

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge sharing centre serving eight regional member countries in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. Working through Regional Programmes across four Strategic Thematic Areas – Water and Hazards, Ecosystem Services, Livelihoods and Geospatial Solutions – and supported by integrated knowledge management, they seek to improve the lives and livelihoods of mountain women and men, now and for the future.

Orientation Program for August 2012 new Students

340 students from 28 countries, spread across five continents joined the new batch of students AIT. At the orientation program held on 10 August 2012, the students, who form the historic first batch in AIT's Intergovernmental era, were welcomed to the Institute with a schedule of day-long activities and festivities. The final number of students enrolling is expected to increase in the coming days.

The students come from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and South America; with Thailand providing the largest cohort of students (103). Myanmar with 59 and Nepal with 25 students, are the other major countries of origin of the students. Other major countries of origin of students include Pakistan (20), Bangladesh and Vietnam (12 each), France (11), Cambodia, India and People's Republic of China (10 each).

During my welcome remarks I congratulated the students on being the first batch under AIT's International Intergovernmental status, after the new AIT Charter came into effect on 30th January 2012.  I highlighted some of the vital attributes students' needs to develop in this continuously shifting, changing, increasingly technological economy such as being flexible, resilient, adaptable, team players, technologically savvy, able to apply skills in different contexts, life-long learners and referred to Alvin Toffler, who stated that in the twenty-first century, "illiterates are not persons who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." Aside from the above, I touched upon the important role academic institutions have in the development of intellectual virtues for students and instilling attributes such as the love of truth, honesty, courage, fairness and wisdom and risk taking.

Prof. I.M.Pandey, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Nitin V. Afzulpurkar, Dean, School of Engineering and Technology (SET); Dr. Barbara Igel, Dean, School of Management (SOM); Dr. Amararatne Yakupitiyage (representing the Dean, School of Environment, Resources and Development and Mr. Rajeev Sinha, President, AIT Student Union also addressed the students. Dr. Louis Hornyak, Director, Center for Learning, Innovation and Quality (CLIQ), was the Master of Ceremony.

My heartiest welcome to all our new students once again and wish all of you a wonderful stay at AIT.

President

Internship opportunity at IFAD Nepal Country Programme

. Internship opportunity at IFAD Nepal Country Programme

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Nepal Country Programme is opening recruitment for several students to support IFAD supported projects in Nepal. The interns are expected to work for the period of 2-5 months in Nepal supporting works of IFAD projects in Nepal.

Support for the Interns: IFAD will take care of their air ticket (international and national) and local living costs, while the projects will take care of local logistics.

Requirement:

•     AIT Student studying in the fields of study related to rural poverty alleviation, community development, gender and peace building.
•     Resourceful and willing to work in the remote areas.
•     Preferably student who are in the process of identifying research area and/or planning for data collection for thesis purpose.
•     Preferably, but not necessarily, Nepalese student or student from South Asia Sub-region.

Students who are interested should send letter of interest and CV/Resume to Dr. Mokbul M. Ahmad (morshed@ait.asia), with copy to Mr. Agus Nugroho (anugroho76@ait.asia) to be forwarded to IFAD. Please state your preferred dates of internship in the letter of interest.

Application Deadline: 15 August 2012.