Democracy Reporting International (DRI) held its 2022 annual meeting in Berlin on Thursday and Friday, 2 and 3 June 2022, the first in-person annual meeting since the pandemic began in 2020. In addition to DRI executive team and staff, colleagues from DRI’s country offices, board members and shareholders also attended the gathering.
During the event, attendees discussed DRI’s programmatic direction for the next year and the organisation’s approach amidst a context of democratic backsliding and the war in Ukraine. This year’s annual meeting was also the last for Ambassador Ilkka Uusitalo as DRI’s Chairperson of the Board. Gabriele Geertz is also stepping down from the Board.
Ilkka, in his farewell speech, highlighted DRI’s strength in having a highly motivated team in its headquarters in Berlin and in the country offices. “Especially with the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. What’s waiting for us? So it’s really important to have the team working in the field,” he said. Further highlighting the importance of DRI’s country offices, Ilkka added that it would not have been possible to analyse the consequences of COVID-19 in so many societies without their presence on the ground.
The event ended with closing remarks from Michael Meyer-Resende, DRI’s Executive Director. In the name of the whole organization, Michael thanked Ilkka and Gabriele for investing their free time to support DRI as Board members over eight fruitful years.
