With the 12th Congress of the World Association for Infant Mental Health rapidly approaching, now is an opportune time to reiterate what is going to make this Congress a particularly important one in terms of the new vision WAIMH has for affiliates.
The restructuring of the WAIMH board that took place in 2009 finally gave substance to the long cited aim of WAIMH to give the affiliates a more meaningful and regular role in the governance of WAIMH. As you all know, according to the new bylaws two directors shall be elected to the WAIMH Board of Directors by the Affiliate Council (consisting of all the Presidents of WAIMH affiliates) – namely the Chair of the Affiliate Council and another Affiliate Council representative. The election for these two positions will take place during the Congress in Leipzig. In anticipation of this election, WAIMH has introduced (for the first time) a process whereby Affiliate Presidents who are interested in becoming Chair of the Affiliate Council or the Affiliate Council representative are able to produce and distribute position papers to aid their election to the positions.
We have already had a number of position papers sent to the Central Office for people who wish to stand for election and the papers have been distributed to Affiliate Presidents. It would be fantastic if there were more position papers and there is still time. Having said this, if somebody does want to stand for election and cannot send a position prior to the Congress, or if somebody decides at the last moment to stand, this will still be possible – a position paper is not a pre-requisite. It will just mean that voting Affiliate Council members will have less information on which to judge credentials.
Earlier in the year, the central office sent out an email asking for countries (if more than one affiliate exists) to nominate a representative who would vote if the affiliate president is unable to attend the congress in Leipzig. If there is anyone who will be attending the congress in Leipzig and knows that they are the only person attending from their country (where there is at least one affiliate) and you know that your affiliate president is unable to attend, please ensure that you are given the right to vote on behalf of your president. This will ensure that whoever the people are that become Chair of the Presidents Council and the Affiliate Council representative have been duly elected by as many countries as possible. This will ensure proper representation of the affiliates on the WAIMH executive. Look forward to meeting the Presidents or representatives of WAIMH Affiliates in Leipzig at the following events: WAIMH Affiliate Presidents’ Reception on Wednesday, June 30 and Affiliate Council Meeting on Thursday, July 1, 2010.
Authors
Mark Tomlinson
Affiliate Representative of WAIMH
South Africa
