First Regular General Assembly

At seven-thirty in the evening on Friday, November 9^th, 2007, the general membership of the society gathered for the first ordinary assembly. Over half of the members attended, and were joined by a representative of the Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor.

The meetings was led by the Chairman of the Board, architect Adli Qudsi. He gave a summary description of the society and its goals, followed by a slide-show of photos of the conservation, restoration, and rehabilitation works which have taken place in the last eight years in the citadel. These works were done by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) in cooperation with the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums. A slideshow was also given on the current project taking place in the Citadel Perimeter, executed by the AKTC in cooperation with the Directorate of the Old City of Aleppo.

After this brief presentation the floor was opened for questions and suggestions from the attending members of the society. Members contributed useful ideas about how to further the interests of the society. Many questions were related to the work plan and method of the society’s work.

Raising funds to begin and implement projects of the society in the Citadel and its perimeter was an issue raised in the majority of comments. The possibility of coordinating awareness programs was also discussed along with other options.

Five acting committees were constituted during the session. The Secretary of the Society described the tasks and actions of each of the committees, and requested the members in attendance about their desire to work on one or two of the committees.

The Secretary of the Society also spoke about the volunteer clean-up project which took place in a section of the Citadel Perimeter during the past summer. Youth volunteers from the society were joined by youth volunteers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (Aleppo Branch). Detailed news of this activity will be covered shortly.

The meeting finished at approximately nine in the evening, after which a visit to the citadel was announced. This visit will take place on November 10^th, 2007 at 11 AM, for any interested members to enhance their knowledge on this landmark and works of the past eight years.

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