JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2021 SECRETARIAL AND ADMINISTRATION REPORT ****This report is presented to the chairperson of the Association of Malawians in Ireland**** The secretariat of an organization is the department that fulfills the central administrative roles and is entrusted with all the general secretarial duties as enshrined in the Article 4.7 of the constitution of Association of Malawians in Ireland Include: • Responsible for the secretarial and administration of the Association • Managing the correspondence of the Association • Convening and organising the executive committee meetings, Annual General Meeting and EGM in consultation with the Chairperson. Achievements in 2021 A. Correspondence and conflict resolutions The secretariat was given the task to correspond between the Ellie Kisyombe and Henry Mkumbira, when the latter raised a complaint to the Association that she was verbally harassed by the current chairperson. However, the issue was successfully resolved internally. B. Transition The office of the secretary was tasked to facilitate the executive transition from the old to the new Association committee. This included colleting cheque books, change of bank account address, bank signatories, and all AMAI assets. Despite a few challenges in the process, the transition went on well. C. Meetings 1. The secretariat office in consultation with the Chairperson was responsible for both the Executive and Committee meetings in 2021. Monthly committee or executive meetings were conducted including emergency meetings. 2. The Secretariat has also been organising meetings for the chairperson with other Irish organisations such as the Dublin City Council, New Communities Partnership, South Dublin City Council, and International Organisation for Migration (IOM). 3. The secretariate convened and administered the meetings between Association of Malawians in Ireland and the Embassy of Ireland in Malawi. D. Reference Letters In line with the Association’s Social Scheme Policy, the secretariat was responsible with all reference letters for all paid-up members of AMAI. By December 31, thirteen paid up members were given reference letters E. Filing All correspondence and reports were kept in both hard and soft copy files. D. Representation in all sub-committees In 2021, the secretariat was represented in all existing sub-committee groups of AMAI such as Entertainment and Social. Challenges The secretariat faced some challenges in issuing of hard files due to lack of IT stuffs such as laptop and the printer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022 Projection The Secretariate will create a lot of room for meetings between the Association and potential donors for a possible funding in 2022.