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Update for Unity Committee – Unity Chair Quarterly Report – Jan 2026

Unity Committee Quarterly Report, Janury 2026. Presented at OIAA CBC meeting, Sat 17 Jan 2026

Prepared by Jennifer H, Unity Committee Chair

 

A brief overview of last quarter:

  1. Lots of unsettlement in the Committee; loss of Convention Chair late September, Jen H stepped in as Interim Convention Chair and the committee worked very hard together to deliver the OIAA2025 convention – it was a huge success in bringing together our international membership & connecting more groups with OIAA
  2. Partly due to this continued change, the committee has experienced, and continues to experience, some disharmony, disgruntled members and lack of unity
  3. Further change as Unity Chair stepped down to take on role of International Trustee and a change of Unity Committee Secretary
  4. Jennifer H elected as Unity Committee Chair, therefore Convention Chair position open, and Bleu B elected as new Unity Secretary
  5. We share our gratitude and thanks to Carlos D, Blandine and all other members who have served the Committee over the last 12 months and more.

I would like to personally express gratitude for the new members of the board who have reached out to me directly and are supporting the Unity Committee as we negotiate this new season.

 

Objectives for the next quarter…

  1. Stabilise committee, new commitment to Charter & remit
  2. Build stable, active and consistent membership – naturally falls in numbers after the convention
  3. Fully review objectives and purview of convention and the way forward
  4. Unity Liaison work to be reestablished and develop long-term strategy for outreach
  5. Cultivate cross committee collaboration
  6. Establish regular reporting within the committee and within the OIAA structure, to continue to build on utilising the website more for uploading agenda/minutes and reports – this eases the translation process
  7. Marketing & Communications – new logo development for Unity & Convention to create consistency and a recognisable logo

 

OIAA2025 Convention 

Report will be completed soon and uploaded to website

 

Unity & Convention Finances for 2026

In response to the Assembly vote on revising the budget for 2026 we are currently reviewing the following areas:

  • Interpretation services for committee meetings & convention – exploring different options.
    • If we want to be truly inclusive internationally it is vital to provide fair access to all members, to the absolute best of our ability, and strive to break down barriers to the fellowship; language, deaf/blind community, financial (equipment/internet) and remote communities 
      • Worldly – online based service, automated 
      • Freelancers – Upworks
      • IWC
      • WS GSO 
      • Jen H attended the Special Online Forum for Deaf AA Members on Sat 18 Jan 2026 and is looking to follow up on contacts made there.

 

OIAA2026 Convention

  • Elect Convention Chair – no indication of interest as yet
  • The budget failed to go through the last assembly – reviewing all costs, specifically interpretation & Tech12 – do we run for two or three days, or reduce down to four rooms instead of five, etc. Preparing to meet with Finance Committee ahead of presenting revised budget to the Board, and then Assembly in March
  • Fully review the remit and objectives of the convention and how it can further our Charter
  • Marketing – logo development in process for OIAA2026
  • Timeline – need to start planning dates, theme, structure, group registration etc

 

Unity Liaison

  • Reestablish this branch of the committee
  • To connect with our existing fellowship and establish new connections with our International members, non-english speaking members and our AA Deaf community
    • Named Country Liaison Reps – research – AA structure – GSO/ Intergroups – 
    • Collaborating with other OIAA Committees to establish where membership reach is and how this can be developed.

 

Unity Committee Membership Reach

Whilst our Unity Committee membership is evolving, the last 12 months data shows that our members are from US, Canada, UK, France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Chile, Russia, Ireland, Angola, Iran and Mexico

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The OIAA Unity Committee Charter

Mission and Purpose:

The mission and purpose of the Unity Committee is to encourage the exchange of online A.A. group experiences among the vast online A.A. group community, which can help them in their shared goal of spreading the A.A. message to the alcoholic online who is still suffering.

We do this through:

  • Outreach to our OIAA groups and committees
  • Inviting groups to share their experiences carrying the message to the alcoholic online
  • Organizing an annual OIAA International Online Convention


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