The General Secretariat has the statutory responsibility of "providing secretariat services to meetings of the Executive Council, the Advisory Committee and the General Assembly" and "carrying out, under the Treasurer's direction, the financial operations of ICOM" (Statutes, article 24 § 4).

ICOM bodies

Since the ICOM General Conference in October 1998, the Secretariat organised and managed seven meetings of the Executive Council, four meetings of the Advisory Committee as well as an extraordinary session of the Advisory Committee convened in December 2000. The Secretariat sent the invitations, agendas and the minutes in French and English to the members of the Advisory Committee, Executive Council and observers, as well as the working documents needed for the meetings. It also provided the follow-up for these meetings and coordinated the various working groups within these bodies. It finally ensured the up-dating of the Ad-Com List (Advisory Committee list of distribution through the electronic mail).

The Secretariat issued the call for applications for the 2001-2004 Executive Council and sent the information and documents needed by the Advisory Committee for the election of its Chairperson for the period 2001-2004, and for the election of the Executive Council that will take place at the the 20th General Assembly in Barcelona in July 2001.

In addition, the Secretariat worked on the organisation of the ICOM General Conference, preparing the meetings organised as part of the event. It ensured, in close collaboration with the ICOM' 2001 Organising Committee, the follow-up of the grant requests (147 requests) and prepared the triennial activity report for distribution at the General Assembly. The production of this report in two languages (English and French) is a heavy task for the personnel but it now constitutes an indispensable tool for the dissemination of information to our members and partners.

ICOM Finances

Manus Brinkman, Secretary General, ensured the financial management of the Organisation along with Piet Pouw, Treasurer of ICOM.

The daily accountancy is run by Sylvie Delice. Mr Jack Dhennequin, Chartered Accountant, oversaw and certified the balance sheets for the period 1998 - 1999 - 2000. An audit was carried out by Mr. François Bensa.

ICOM finances still present a positive balance, which enabled extra-budgetary expenses such as the renewal of ICOM's computers (especially owing to the switch to the year 2000), the publication of the History of ICOM as well as the renewal of ICOM's furniture for its offices.

The monetary change from the French Franc to the Euro will doubtlessly mark the next triennial period.

ICOM Staff

Over the triennial period, the ICOM Secretariat staff was renewed. The staff are divided into 5 sectors of activity:

• Administration which manages the meetings of ICOM bodies and ICOM finances
• the Membership Service
• the Programme Activities Service
• the Communication and publications Service
• the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre

Some members of personnel were replaced between 1998 and 2001 within these 5 sectors:

• within the Membership Service, Sophie Op' teynde, Executive Assistant left ICOM in March 2000 and she has been replaced by Modestito Chan as Secretary,
• within the Programme Activities Service, Valérie Chieze, Sector Officer left ICOM in July 1999 and she has been replaced by Jennifer Thévenot and Cristina Menegazzi was recruited as Programme Specialist,
• within the Communication and Publications Service, Laura Gutman, Publications Officer left her position in March 1999 and was replaced by Saskia Brown as Editorial Assistant. Carla Bonomi was recruited in December 2000 as Internet Editor.

The ICOM Secretariat has a permanent staff of 12. The bulk of the salaries still remains a significant part of expenditure. However, in view of the increasing number of activities undertaken by the Organisation (increased membership, preparation of the General Conference, organisation of workshops in the framework of the triennial programme, development of new publications), the personnel has been extended by new temporary recruitments as well as internships:

• Administration: Margarida Do Rosario Ascenso, Richard Bossuet, Abdelaziz Imedni
• Membership Service: Marina Larioui
• Programme Activities Service: Johanna Åfreds, Yé Sita Barro, Alice Blondé, Lydia Camison, Aurélien Gaborit, Chantal Hot, Sabine Lacaze, Agnès Lacaille, John Lukavic, Hermine Ngo Mbilla, Susanne Peters, Dana Pottratz, Isabelle Rousseaux
• Communication and Publications Service: France Auda, Sid-Ahmed Baghli, Caroline Taylor-Bouché, Armelle Duval, Cristina Patricio, Nitza Sola-Rotger
• UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre: Johanna Finance

ICOM General Secretariat at 30 April 2001