Romaine has decided to step down as Board member of Wikimedia Belgium (WMBE). Following an international escalating conflict and an unauthorized email, he has been feeling stressed and prefers to live in a safe environment, and give priority to his own health. [1] It is important to provide a safe environment for all volunteers. As such the board of Wikimedia Belgium, based on a proposal of the General Assembly, has requested the Affiliate Chairs to vote to request an Internal audit (based on international best practices/standards/norms) of major WMF procedures. [2] WMBE sincerely thanks Romaine for co-founding Wikimedia Belgium and for his valued work during his years as Board member. WMBE regrets having lost one of her most active Board members. It is a loss for the association, our partners in Belgium and abroad, and for the Wikimedia community as a whole. [3] The WMBE Board temporarily assigns the Treasurer function to the Chair until a new candidate is found. The WMBE statutes allow the Board to assign technical functions outside of the Board. We would welcome candidates. [4] We hope we can return to a safe environment, and that the focus goes back to where WMBE was founded for: activities to get more free knowledge. -- The Board of Wikimedia Belgium (WMBE) -- Geert Van Pamel, Chair of Wikimedia Belgium
[1] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2019-June/092878.html [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Request_for_WMF_Internal_audits_and_appeal_p... [3] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2019-June/092909.html [4] http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/tsv_pdf/2014/10/17/14190820.pdf