CECA Annual General Meeting

The first annual general meeting of the Cultural and Educational Centre of Afghanistan (CECA) was held in Canberra on Wednesday 18 August 2004.

The meeting was attended by CECA patron, Mr Richard Alston the former Australian Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Afghan Ambassador H.E. Mahmoud Saikal and Friends of Afghanistan from as far away as Narromine, NSW.

The meeting discussed the setting up and efforts of CECA over the past year and the agenda for the coming year.

Members of CECA elected a new Advisory Board to replace a number of retiring Board members and to provide the full complement of Board members under the constitution. Among the new comers to the Advisory Board was Ms Christine Stevens, author of “Tin Mosques and Ghantowns, A History of Afghan Camel drivers in Australia”. A committee system was also set up to enable CECA to take on the workload that has arisen from its activities and the interest it has created.

After the meeting, Board members and Friends attended an embassy reception, celebrating the Independence Day of Afghanistan. This was followed by a concert of Afghan musicians.

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The Embassy of Afghanistan in Australia was officially opened in July 2002. As an adjunct to the Embassy the Cultural & Educational Centre of Afghanistan has been established.

The impetus for the establishment of the Centre is the high priority that the Afghan people place on the reconstruction of educational and cultural institutions and relationships.

Invasion, war and turmoil over the last 23 years have destroyed basic institutions, disrupted education and reduced knowledge of the vibrant and distinctive culture of Afghanistan to negative stereotypes.

The Centre has been established to disseminate knowledge, encourage debate and provide a forum in which Australians and Afghans come to know each other better.

The Centre's intention is to enable the People of Afghanistan and Australia to know each other in openness and confidence and to be able to engage in their respective potential together.

The Centre is directed by an Advisory Board of four Afghans and four Australians. The Cultural & Educational Attache for the Embassy will serve as one of the Afghan Board members.

Initially the CECA will be supported financially and administertatively through the Embassy of Afghanistan. As the Centre grows, it aims to become self-supporting.

Resources Centre

The Centre provides reading access to a selection of Afghan publications ranging from scholarly books to magazines & newspapers for light reading at its library. There is also a selection of recorded music, films, videos, and various TV programs that are currently popular in Afghanistan. This entertainment may be viewed, or listened to, at the Centre's premises.

The Centre's library and information resources are regularly updated and expanded to meet the growing interests of those who partake of these resources. The possibility of introducing arrangements for borrowing these items from the Centre are to be examined in the future.