Unity Committee Report

for the

Quarterly Combined Board Committee Meeting

December 2, 2023

 

WhatsApp A.A. groups in Brazil

● Gathered experience and knowledge about how the A.A. WhatsApp Groups

function in Brazil. This with the objective of being able in the future, to list

these types of groups an those in similar platforms, in the OIAA meeting list.

PAC has been involved in this ongoing work.

● There are groups in this platform that adhere and practice all the Traditions of

A.A. to the best of their abilities. They start their meetings with A.A. readings,

and they are followed by shares by group members that are taped, after they

raise their hands, and the moderator asks them to share. There are no

discussions allowed, participants are very respectful of each other. Anonymity

is preserved either by having a first and last name and a phone number

associated or just the phone number. Participation in these groups is by

invitation only and existing members will ask the administrators of the groups

to add new members or newcomers to the roster of the group.

● They collect 7th Tradition contributions and since they have no expenses

contribute regularly to the Local Office of their choice and to the GSO of

Brazil.

● They average between 100 and 150 members, and they meet daily. Posts of

images, videos, links and or other controversial issues are not allowed and are

immediately deleted by the administrators. Any offensive behavior leads to the

member being removed from that What’sApp group.

● There are other groups of this nature that are open to all 12 Step Fellowships,

most common among those are a handful of groups that allow participation of

NA members and allow their videos and literature. These do not collect

contributions and their daily meetings have members of A.A. and NA

participating. So, we do not suggest listing them has they do not consider

themselves A.A. groups.

● We were supposed to have a member of one of these A.A. groups to come and

share ESH in our Unity Meeting, but that did not happen because of last minute

changes in his working schedule. We have intentions of inviting them again to

one of our meetings next year.

Contact with Russian A.A. members in Moscow and A.A. members from the

International Assembly of Russian-speaking Groups of A.A.

● We have scheduled two meetings with A.A. members of Russian-speaking

groups to answer their inquiries about OIAA. December 3, we will meet both

contingents. We have adapted the meeting to the Moscow time zone, and an

interpreter will be present. They have sent us a general list of questions, many

of which pertain to GSO. We will not give advice or enter into GSO politics as

we speak as OIAA Unity Committee members. If they need help finding

information on the aa.org site we will gladly guide them. Carlos will also share

his personal experience in Portugal, and Beth will share her personal

experience in France.

● December 7, our committee will welcome several Russian International

Assembly members as part of our 1st Thursday meeting agenda. Again, we

will stay outside of GSO politics. They have also asked about collecting 7th

Tradition donations. We do not think it wise to give financial advice or to make

suggestions as each country has its own laws and financial regulations. We

will share only that OIAA uses PayPal, and Carlos and Beth will share what is

done in Portugal and France, as we live in these countries, and are familiar with

their respective laws.

A.A. members in the Philippines

● We are currently preparing a presentation to support and provide basic

information to several A.A. members in the Philippines.

We would like to thank Mark, Jan BB and Mary for providing us with current statistics of

OIAA groups and IGRs, as well as Jennifer and Lesliee for finding a Russian interpreter !

2547 groups and 7638 meetings

651 registered groups and 651 IGRs

Yours in service,

Carlos, Unity Committee Chair

Beth A., Unity Committee Alt Chair

December 1, 2023