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The Board meeting was held on 21 June 2007 in Beijing and was chaired by Mr Walfrido Dos Mares Guia, the Chairman of the Brazilian CDES, and the new President of the AICESIS.The President obtained approval of the agenda for the Board meeting and asked the General Secretary to have the various matters on the agenda examined.The following decisions were made:1- The appointment of the Chairman of the Chinese Economic and Social Council, Mr Wang Zhongyu, as Honorary President, will be proposed to our General Assembly by Mr Jacques Dermagne, the Chairman of the French Economic and Social Council and Honorary Chairman of the AICESIS.2- The next Board meeting will be held in Brasilia on 6 and 7 November 2007.3- Mr Bertrand Duruflé was reappointed for a further term in office as the General Secretary. 4- Ms Esther Bemerguy De Albuquerque, assistant to Chairman Walfrido Dos Mares Guia, and Mr Li Xueming, assistant to Chairman Wang Zhongyu, were appointed as Deputy Secretaries-General. The study of other possible nominations of Deputy Secretaries-General and Chargés de Mission will be submitted to the decision of the next Board. 5- In the event of a long-term mission, once a year the General Secretary is allowed to cover the travel costs for his wife.6- The General Secretary is empowered to report to the United Nations Economic and Social Council in Geneva regarding the work of the 10th International Meeting held in Beijing.7- The Board has defined the principles that will be applied henceforth regarding interpreting. The languages used for AICESIS meetings shall be:The 2 working languages of the United Nations: French and English, The language of the President of the AICESIS, The language of the place where the meeting is held, The language spoken by more than 3 active members of the AICESIS. 8- The Board noted the availability of Monaco for holding an AICESIS event, a Board meeting or an international working group meeting.9- The Board accepted the proposal made by the Italian CNEL to hold the 2008 General Assembly meeting. It will be held in Rome on 12 and 13 June 2008.10- The President informed the Board that the 11th International Meeting will take place in Brasilia in June 2009. A date will be proposed at the next Board meeting. The Board unanimously offered its thanks and congratulations to Chairman Wang Zhongyu for the outstanding organization of the 10th International Meeting in Beijing

The General Assembly meeting was held on 20 and 21 June 2007 in Beijing, and was chaired by Mr Wang Zhongyu, the Chairman of the Chinese Economic and Social Council, and the President of the AICESIS.Opening ceremony:After a word of welcome, President Wang Zhongyu read out a message from Mr Hu Jintao, the President of the People?s Republic of China.Then, the following people spoke in succession:Mr Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the Chinese People?s Political Consultative Conference. Ms Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, the President of the UN General Assembly, Mr Pascal Lamy, the Director-General of the WTO, Mr Juan Somavia, the Director-General of the ILO, Mr Léo Mérorès, Vice-President of the United Nations ECOSOC, Mr Luc Guyau, the FAO?s representative, The President then adopted the agenda. Here are the decisions made upon consideration of the various matters entered in the agenda.1- Mr Raphaël Hadas-Lebel presented the report by the working group on the main theme. After having heard speeches by approximately twenty Council representatives, the adoption of the report on the main theme ?Intensifying international co-operation, Promoting common development, Building a harmonious world? was decided on by acclamation. It is the Rapporteur?s responsibility to complete his drafting of the text, taking into account the observations heard on 20 June. Mr Dominique Peccoud, Mr Somavia?s Special Advisor, provided a concluding speech on dialogue between cultures. 2- The Beijing Declaration which, prior to the meeting, took into account multiple requests for amendments, was adopted unanimously by acclamation.3- The Chairman of the Lebanese ESC thanked both the President of the AICESIS and the AICESIS for the message of support that the General Secretary sent him in October 2006, pursuant to the decision made by the Seoul General Assembly meeting.4- Chairman Sung-Joon Cho of Korea informed the General Assembly of the forthcoming holding of a Regional Forum on social dialogue in Seoul. President Wang Zhongyu assured him of the support of the members of the AICESIS in order to ensure the full success of this event.5- Ms Hanifa Mezoui and Mr Bertrand Duruflé received approval of the initiatives taken in order to develop an initiative to promote the MDGs through co-ordination of Centres of Excellence intended to promote training initiatives relating to the MDGs by universities, ESCs and NGOs. They also received approval of the selection of the first Millennium Prize winners, who will receive their awards in Brasilia, when the Board meets. The winners include 2 NGOs (Good Neighbours in Korea and the Hernandiana Foundation in Argentina), and 2 African ESCs (Mali and Ivory Coast). 6- The Laotian National Construction Front was accepted by acclamation as an associate member of the AICESIS. The Front is preparing for the creation of an ESC which, naturally, will be aiming to become an active member.7- The General Secretary was empowered to examine membership requests from the Councils of the Dominican Republic, Peru, Serbia and the Ukraine.8- The financial report was adopted and quietus was given to the General Secretary for his management. The Assembly also approved the projected account for 2007 proposed by the General Secretary. The policy report was approved by the General Assembly.9- Brazil?s candidature for organizing the 11th International Meeting was accepted. In accordance with our Articles of Association, the Chairmen of the Brazilian CDES, Mr Walfrido Dos Mares Guia, was appointed as President of the AICESIS for the period 2007-2009. The 11th Meeting will be held in Brasilia in June 2009; a specific date will be proposed at the next Board meeting.10- The General Assembly ratified the proposals made for renewing the Board. For the period 2007-2009, the Board members will consist of the following Councils: Algeria, Brazil, Cameroon, the EESC, China, France, Hungary, Italy, Mali, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Portugal, Senegal, and the UCESA and the UCESIF.11- The General Assembly adopted the proposal made by the Italian CNEL to organize the 2008 General Assembly meeting. Consequently, it will be held in Rome on 12 and 13 June 2008.12- The General Assembly noted Monaco?s proposal to organize an AICESIS event in Monaco; either a Board meeting or an international working meeting.13- Mr Jacques Dermagne, the Honorary President, presented a proposal by the Board to have Mr Wang Zhongyu appointed as Honorary President of the AICESIS, which was done by acclamation.Closing ceremony:Before the closing speech by President Wang, the new President of the IAESCSI, Mr Walfrido Dos Mares Guia, read his investiture speech, and Messrs Bertrand Duruflé and Robert Tollet, the Chairman of the Belgian Central Economic Council, commented on the 10th anniversary of the AICESIS. On behalf of everyone, Jacques Dermagne, the Honorary President, also read out a motion offering particularly warm thanks to the Chinese authorities and, naturally, to Mr Wang Zhongyu, the President of the Institution which made such a magnificent success of the 10th International Meeting.

The Council regards the formulation of a national law regulating the legal framework for placement agencies as ?necessary and timely?. It also welcomes the consideration of placement agencies as a transition towards ordinary employment for the socially excluded.The Council also approves the limiting of recruitment to socially excluded workers, unemployed women and those registered with the public employment services with particular difficulties in rejoining the job market. The Council considers that it is necessary to distinguish between this specific instrument for social and job-market integration and more general active employment policies, and notes the need to coordinate the various tiers of public administration.The opinion further remarks, however, that the various tiers of public administration, in so far as they sponsor placement agencies, may not use such agencies for the performance of activities forming the core of their functions.

The following decisions were made:1- Chairman Diop informed the Board of his appointment as the President of the UCESIF. The Board congratulated him and everyone agreed that henceforth the Chairman of the Senegalese Council of the Republic for Economic and Social Affairs will represent not just his Council on the Board, but the UCESIF as well.2- The Board permitted Messrs Raphaël Hadas-Lebel and Wang Shenghong to present their report on the working theme ?Intensifying international co-operation, Promoting common development, Building a harmonious world?. This report received the general approval of the members of the Board. The President mentioned that he had received 16 requests to speak regarding the report?s theme and that he intended to give the floor to everyone, with 5 minutes each being allocated.An exception will be made for Chairman Babes, who will have 10 minutes to speak on behalf of Algeria and the UCESA. 3- The President received the Board?s unanimous approval to present the Beijing Declaration for adoption by the General Assembly. This Declaration took into account all the amendments received within the set timeframe.4- Ms Hanifa Mezoui and Mr Bertrand Duruflé were given approval to propose the action platform for the Millennium Objectives to the General Assembly.It features two sections:Ms Mezoui, who has been seconded to Geneva for 6 months to UNITAR (the United Nations Institute for Training and Research), will seek to co-ordinate the regional Centres of Excellence (by continent) which, completely in line with the round tables, are responsible for promoting initiatives in the field of training (at all levels) which are useful for achieving the MDGs. Mr Duruflé will ensure dissemination of all the initiatives that may concern the ESCs to those ESCs that are members of the AICESIS. Ms Mezoui and Mr Duruflé are pursuing the establishment of a Millennium Prize which, for the first year, received a grant of $20,000 from Total and WSA. This will enable 4 Prizes to be presented at the Board meeting in Brasilia to organizations chosen by the Selection Committee, which met in Beijing at 3pm on 19 June. The prize-winners include 2 NGOs (Good Neighbours in Korea and the Hernandiana Foundation in Argentina), and two African 2 ESCs (those of Mali and the Ivory Coast), who were selected for the support that they provide to NGOs that are particularly active in the training sector. Ms Mezoui is seeking to firm up the conditions for a 3rd Prize which would be awarded to a university. 5- The Board approved the presentation to the General Assembly of the candidature of the Laotian National Construction Front as an associate member and asked the General Secretary to take stock of the membership requests made by the Councils of the Dominican Republic, Peru, Serbi and Ukraine. Examination of these requests must be continued so that the next General Assembly meeting in 2008 may make a decision.6- Approval was granted for the policy report and the financial report prepared by the General Secretary to be presented to the General Assembly.7- Brazil informed the Board of its intention to lodge its candidature for organizing the 11th International Meeting and the Board granted its approval.8- The General Secretary informed the Board of the composition of the new Board which was to meet on 21 June. Asia and Latin America will continue to be represented by China and Brazil. For Europe: Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg will be replaced by Portugal, Hungary and the Netherlands. Italy, France and the EESC will remain on the Board for a further term of office. For Africa: Tunisia will be replaced by Algeria. Cameroon, Mali, Mauritius and Senegal will remain on the Board for a further term of office. 9- Mr Duruflé quickly outlined the principles regarding interpreting, which he will propose for the Board meeting on 21 June to decide on. These principles were approved.Henceforth, the languages used at AICESIS meetings will be: The 2 working languages of the United Nations: French and English, The language of the President of the AICESIS, The language of the place where the meeting is held, The language or languages spoken by at least 3 active members of the AICESIS. 10- Mr Duruflé briefly outlined the forms of support that he is requesting in order to once again request confirmation by the Board meeting on 21 June of his reappointment for a further term in office: The possibility of calling on the Chargés de Mission (who know all about the AICESIS) to stand in for him at certain international meetings, as Mr Roger Briesch, the former President of the EESC, has already had the opportunity to do (successfully) in Latin America? This would be done in order to cut down on the General Secretary?s travel. The possibility of covering the travel costs for his wife once a year should he go on a mission that lasts longer than 5 days. The Board approved these terms and encouraged Mr Duruflé to request a further term in office.11- The General Secretary outlined his intentions regarding the appointment of Deputy General Secretaries.Chairman Babes of Algeria, who received the approval of Chairman Vahid of Mauritius, held that consideration would need to be given to another type of organization, with 3 Deputy General Secretaries truly representative of the African, Asian and Latin American continents. These Deputy General Secretaries could make preparations for relieving the General Secretary. Chairman Vahid stressed that the AICESIS should express itself not only through reflection, but also by taking action. These issues shall form the subject of more in-depth studies when the Board meeting is held in Brasilia.