Call for Congress

May 8 2020

Dear IAW members,

A pandemic has locked down the world, and it is very uncertain when it will again be safe and financially feasible to travel across borders and to meet in large groups.  The world has changed, and IAW must change with the times. The lockdown must not prevent us from continuing our work for women’s rights.

38th IAW Congress 2020

When the pandemic hit the world, preparations for Congress had already started, and the dates had been set for Congress in November, in Rabat, Morocco hosted by Samira Yassni, president of L’Observatoire Marocain des Droits de Femmes (OMDF). WE owe Samira Yassni many thanks for the work already done. Hopefully we shall be able to go to Rabat in 2021 or 2022.

Virtual Congress 2020

All around us, governments, NGOs, the UN and other international bodies, small and big organisations, have responded to the pandemic by having virtual meetings. If all these organisations can work that way, so can IAW.

So, after serious and thorough deliberations in the Extended Board and with experts outside IAW, it has now been decided to have a virtual IAW congress. We will meet virtually by means of modern technology.

This will be new to many of us, but we will make sure that everybody who wants to participate in Congress will be given the training needed.

An opportunity for IAW

Meeting in space will be an opportunity for IAW. Many more members will be able to participate. There will be no travel and hotel expenses and no visa difficulties. Of course, we shall miss seeing each other and visiting – in this case- beautiful Rabat, but instead we shall hopefully see many more faces and thus make new friends.

A taskforce

A taskforce has been established consisting of President Joanna Manganara, Secretary General Olufunmi Oluyede, Soon-Young Yoon, Alison Brown, Lene Pind, Lyda Verstegen, Marion Böker and Ursula Nakamura. The taskforce will look into all aspects of having virtual meetings: the kind of software/ platform we need, rules of participating, virtual voting, moderating, how to train participants etc.

Call for Congress

On behalf of the IAW Board I hereby call for the 38th Congress to take place within the time period between 24–28 November with Pre-Congress and Post-Congress Board Meetings to be called separately. It is uncertain at this time when exactly within those 4 days the business sessions of Congress will take place, but a precise schedule will of course be sent out later.

Congress papers will be sent in due course, including candidate’s lists, nomination forms, agenda, information about the eligibility of board members, registration form etc.

I look forward to a new and inspiring Congress

Best regards

Joanna Manganara
President


Papers pertaining to the preparation of Congress will be made available in Members Area. The password has been circulated to all members. If you have forgotten it, contact Lene Pind at lenepind@gmail.com