PRESIDENT'S REPORT

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INTERNATIONAL FORUM FOR CHILD WELFARE

Dear Colleagues:

Executive Committee Meeting.

As mentioned in my previous letter, the EC met in New York City, the 20, 21 and 22 of February.  One and a half days were devoted to the Strategic Planning Exercise and the other one and a half days were used to go over the agenda of the Executive Committee meeting which, in this instance, was quite full.

As regards the Strategic Planning Exercise, I wish, first of all, to thank Al Rodrigues for the organization and conduct of the event.  It was agreed to create several task groups to deal with specific aspects of immediate and long-term interest and to report by the end of the month of June.  I do not think that there was one aspect of interest that was not discussed: the agenda for children, fund raising, branding, membership, communications, etc.  I have great expectations about the results of this exercise and will be reporting back to you as matters begin to take shape in the near future.

The Executive Committee approved several measures that will allow for the coordinated operation of IFCW's administrative duties in the absence of the Brussels office and of the services of the Honorary Development Officer, Mrs. Sarah Williams, who ends her duties at the end of this month and to whom I wish to express our greatest appreciation for her invaluable services and full support at all times.

It also confirmed the dates of October 19 to 24 for the convening of WorldForum 2003 and the Executive Institute in Cape Town, South Africa.  DO NOT FORGET to mark these dates in your personal agenda.  In due time you will be receiving further information about travel, accommodations, fees, themes, etc.

Cooperating Organization of the Second World Congress on Family Violence.

The Executive Committee studied and approved a request to join other organizations, such as UNESCO, the Council of Europe, UNICEF and UNIFEM, as a Cooperating Institution of this event that will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, June 21-26, 2003.  The theme of the Congress is of direct interest to many of our members that work with children, youth and families subjected to various forms of violence.  Mrs. Patti J. Lyons, Deputy President of IFCW, will represent us on the International Steering Committee of the Congress, at not cost to IFCW.

New Booklet

Enclosed with this letter you will find a copy of the booklet Ò10 Reasons why your organizations should become a member of IFCW.  This is yet another tool for use by all of us in the common task of increasing our membership.  Should you need additional copies, please let me know and we will forward them to you.  Spanish and French translations will be available within the next few weeks. (Those of you that receive this letter by electronic mail will receive a copy of the booklet by regular mail.)

Related to this matter, let me tell you that the Executive Committee approved the application for membership of four new members.

Website

Perhaps some of you noticed that our website, www: ifcw.org was "off-line" for a few days at the end of last month.  The problem that created this situation was rapidly solved and we are now on line again.  With the authorization of the Executive Committee, the website is being transferred to a server in the United States, instead of Australia. This will give us greater possibilities for evaluation and monitoring and to update its contents.  The fact that we do have a website is due, in no small part, to the  perseverance and hard work of Dr. George Tippett, CEO of  ForCHILDREN, Australia.  On behalf of IFCW I wish to thank George for his efforts, support and time devoted to making the website a reality.

I will be glad to receive any suggestions regarding contents or design of the website that you might wish to share with us.

Sincerely,

Rolando Quiros 

President 

P.O. Box 393-2010, San Jose, Costa Rica

Telephone: (506) 228 6601  Fax: (506) 228 0945<.   Electronic mail: feilat@racsa.co.cr

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