REGION 9 OVERVIEW
Region 9 serves OA in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Western Asia, including all of Russia. It covers a multilingual and multicultural area of more than seventy million square kilometers from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and the North Pole to South Africa, including more than 100 countries.
OA has a presence in more than forty countries with active service bodies, meetings, and/or OA members speaking more than forty languages: Afrikaans, Arabic, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, Flemish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Kazakh, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, North Macedonian, Norwegian, Maltese, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Scottish, Sepedi, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Yiddish, Welsh, and Zulu.
There are 13 National Service Boards, 1 Language Service Board and 52 Intergroups present in the following countries: Austria Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Wales.
A very discouraging piece of news is that the Intergroup with the largest number of affiliated groups has disbanded due to lack of servants. We should reflect on the importance of service and how it is carried out. The risk is that similar situations will arise. But even though many service bodies are disbanding because there aren’t enough members to do the service, I have received news that many service bodies are ready to register. This is good news.
Starting August 2023, the new service bodies affiliated directly or indirectly with Region 9 are:
You may find the updates here: https://oa.org/news/new-service-bodies/
The list is updated quarterly.
The number of the groups is increasing but, unfortunately, there are still many groups that are not affiliated even though there are already service bodies in their countries. The reason for this condition remains unknown; what is certain is that these groups remain isolated.
Registered and unaffiliated meetings are in Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Gibraltar, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Wales.
REGION 9 CONTACTS
My contacts with the Region 9 Board are constant, especially when there is news or updates that may affect the entire fellowship and Region 9. On a weekly basis or when there is need to talk about something important, urgent, or sensitive I directly reach out to the Region 9 Chair. Together we always try to find a common solution. During this last year there were many
REGION 9 ACTIVITIES
TRUSTEE ACTIVITIES WITH R9 COUNTRIES
I have provided support to any group or service body that has asked for guidance, and I follow up until the issue is resolved.
Over the past 12 months I responded correspondence (via email or WhatsApp) either addressed directly to me or referred to me by the World Service Office, from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Iceland, Iran, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine.
Most of them concern Traditions’ practice, Bylaws, Policies and Procedures, meetings organization, service structure, translation process, and many other topics, including the use of the social media. I have also received many requests for information on how to deal with outside issues and breaches of tradition. Perhaps a workshop on these two topics could be helpful, always remembering that we should honor the Tradition Five.
All Region 9 fellows, groups and service bodies are more welcomed to reach out to me if they need guidance with business and concerns.
I keep updated R9 community: every time there’s important news for the entire fellowship, I inform the Communication Officer to pass the relevant info using the R9 Announcements.
2024 WORLD SERVICE BUSINESS CONFERENCE
The second year of the first term ended with the participation in the 2024 WSBC: together with the R9 Chair and then during conference when the chair got sick, with the previous chair, the Red Dragon Intergroup delegate, who replaced the current chair and the other delegates representing the Service Bodies in Region 9, we created enough synergy to let all those attending the 2024 WSBC know that there is much unity and acceptance despite the geographical breadth and cultural and linguistic diversity.
Linguistic inclusiveness was achieved at the end of the Business Meetings when, on the initiative of Region 9, the OA Promise was presented, sentence by sentence, in all the languages present at the Conference – the most intimate and profound moment of the event.
COMMITTEES
During my second year I was assigned to different committees:
I tried to give my opinion on topics, I believe are important for OA as-a-whole: coming from the Region 9 I’ve given a different point of view that may help to broaden the perspective and find the right solution that sometimes couldn’t be the easiest one.
Fortunately, I also had the opportunity to listen to other experiences, especially during the Ad Hoc Realignment/Reapportionment Committee meetings. It was such an amazing experience. Nevertheless, the result was that there was no need to reconsider the boundaries of the Regions at this specific time.
After 2024 WSBC, my second term began, and I’m assigned to two committees:
Conference Planning Committee
Unfortunately, at the time of writing I am not able to reveal the theme and dates of the Conference as they will be voted during the next Board of Trustees meeting at the end of August 2024.
I will be able to update you as soon as it is posted on the 2025 Conference page on oa.org, or better yet, when I attend the Region 9 Assembly. What is certain is that the 2025 Conference will only be virtual.
The only information available at this point is the deadlines, which may help you to check the different stages of the process: https://media.oa.org/app/uploads/2024/07/12125627/dealine-dates-wsbc-2025.pdf
International Publication and Translation Committee
Among the committee’s many activities, the one that stands out with the most interest is spreading the word that funds are available for translation and publication.
The Committee has also decided to send a letter twice a year to the Translation Service Bodies reminding them of the importance of royalties. The Service Bodies agree to pay to OA a royalty calculated as follows 10% of the net income from the sale of licensed OA publications. Royalties are due and payable thirty (30) days after the first and each subsequent anniversary of the effective date of this Agreement, but sometimes this policy is forgotten.
For a short time, I chaired the Strategic Planning Subcommittee on Sponsorship, which was formed in May 2024 by 3 current Trustees and 2 Region Chairs. The goal was to highlight the sponsorship resources available, so we put together a set of materials (a short introductory paragraph, a short video to help navigate oa.org, and a PDF with sponsorship links).
A PERSONAL NOTE
There are days when I wonder why I am doing this service that takes up a good part of my life, with the language and cultural difficulties, the time zone differences, and my daily challenges. Then I think of all the good I have received and find the answer in a sense of gratitude.
Emilia I.
Trustee Liaison to Region 9