|
You are invited to respond to the President at: president@ifcw.org
Click to return to President's
Report Archive
INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR CHILD WELFARE
PRESIDENT'S UPDATE
January 2009
It is both my privilege and my pleasure to be elected to serve
as IFCW’s new President. I congratulate the recent appointees
to the new Executive Committee (EC) whose expertise is drawn from
across the world. We will be working closely together over the next
years to further the work of IFCW. For details of the Executive
please see the website www.ifcw.org. I would like to take this opportunity
to thank the outgoing EC for their support. In particular I would
like to thank Bruce Rivers the outgoing President who has shown
such enthusiasm and leadership during his term. I would also like
to thank Sharon Osborne for all her hard work in acting as Treasurer
and galvanising interest in membership.
I am thrilled that they will both remain on the IFCW EC as deputy
presidents. Sadly Mauri Upanne has now finished his term in the
Executive. I would like to thank him sincerely for all the support
and commitment he has given IFCW. I should probably tell you a little
about myself, and my background. I am Chief Executive of Children
in Wales which is the National Umbrella agency for organisations
from all disciplines and sectors, working with and for children
and young people in Wales (UK) as well as peer led organisations.
I have worked in the children’s field all my working life
as a Social Worker, Lecturer, Researcher and Manager of Children’s
Services. Internationally, I am President of Eurochild (www.eurochild.org)
which aims to combat child poverty and social exclusion across Europe.
IFCW has begun its 20th year and making the rights of children a
reality remains the fundamental reason for IFCW’s existence.
We will continue to advocate for children all over the world. This
is something we cannot do alone and I would like to thank all our
members for the ongoing support you have given us over the last
years.
There is still much work to be done. It is impossible to ignore
the impact of the economic downturn but we will continue to advocate
nationally and internationally for the Millennium goals to be met
and for our Governments to fully implement the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which is also entering its twentieth
year. It is through education, public awareness and research that
we can make a difference, which is why IFCW holds a WorldForum each
year. This year the WorldForum will be held from 20-23 October in
Bali, Indonesia co-hosted by the Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation.
The theme of the conference will be “Toward a safer and better
world by realizing the rights of the child”. A special conference
rate will be provided to IFCW members, and a call for papers will
be made shortly. Please see the website www.ifcw.org for updates.I
was delighted to see so many of you at the 19thWorldForum in Wales,
UK. We were pleased to haveinternational keynote speakers and many
likemindedcolleagues from across the children’s sector traveling
to Wales to share their expertise. It was a wonderful opportunity
for around 300 participants from over 30 countries across the globe
to exchange ideas on a wide range of highly relevant topics and
to develop further (in)formal networks. The participation of children
and young people has been identified as a key issue by the United
Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child so we were particularly
pleased to see young people from five European countries come and
give their views at WorldForum 2008.At the end of the conference
we were also able to develop a declaration which calls on state
governments to Fully commit to the UNCRC Place children and young
people at the heart of society Develop services appropriate to children
and young people Prevent all forms of violence against children
and young people Ensure equality of opportunity for all children
and young people The declaration can be downloaded from the website
www.worldforum2008.org.
The conference report and presentations from WorldForum 2008 are
also available to download.You will soon be receiving an in voice
for IFCW membership fees.The infrastructure of IFCW is supported
primarily through the resources of its members and the annual fees
help to offset some administrative costs of maintaining a web site,
the production of materials as well as IFCW participation in the
UN and other international forums. Please do encourage child welfare
organizations in your country to join IFCW. If you need materials
for this purpose, just send me a note.Finally please do keep in
touch.I would be glad to receive any suggestions regarding the content
of the website or e-newsletter that you might wish to share with
us.
Further information about the dates the enewsletter is published
is on the website. The fact that we do have a website is due, in
no small part, to the hard work of our Vice President T.K. Mathew,
Chief Executive of Deepalaya, Delhi, India.On behalf of IFCW I would
like to thank TK for his efforts, support and time devoted to making
the web siteande newsletter a reality.You can contact me at president@ifcw.org.
Lucy Akhtar a member of my staff at Children in Wales will also
be working with me on IFCW activity and you can contact her at lucy.akhtar@childreninwales.org.uk.
Yours faithfully
Catriona Williams
President IFCW
Click to return to President's
Report Archive
|
