Review, Renew Democratize!

Elections and the future direction of IAWRT

The IAWRT board is urgently seeking member input about improving election procedures for the international board and for views on the organization’s work.

The issue has been a big part of recent member meetings, in New Delhi, India in 2016 and in Johannesburg, South Africa, 2017.Member input on how we can modernize the election process in the best and fairest manner is now being collated. The deadline to submit your views is 28 February 2017. Members may make any election suggestions to [email protected] reply to ELECTION PROCESS- YOUR VIEWS NEEDED or use that as the title for your email.

Suggested points to address (this is not exhaustive): How can we enable more member voting?  Currently about 10 per cent of paid up members who physically attend Biennial conferences can vote: Nomination process – Should we continue new nominations from the floor? (how could online voting or voting by email then work?);The role of the nomination committee? Should they just present nominated candidates or propose candidates for positions?; Is a new election procedure so important that the board should recommend waiving rules for changing statutes, to allow a new election process in 2017?

Members are also being asked to participate in a survey which is part of an external evaluation of IAWRT being funded by the IAWRT’s key funder, FOKUS Norway. Its main aim is to identify and assess our structure and capacity in light of our organizational and programmatic goals.

IAWRT President Gunilla Ivarsson (pictured above with Cambodian Chapter Vice-President: Ms Kim Thidakallianey) says the resulting report will be ready well before the 2017 Biennial conference and will provide an excellent tool for organizational development. It will be discussed at a workshop during the biennial members meeting.

It will take a small amount of time to fill in the survey, in order to influence the direction of IAWRT and contribute to building IAWRT for the future. If you have not received a link via email, contact [email protected]. An alternative Word version of the survey is available here, and may be filled in and sent to [email protected] before March 9th!

Members may make any election suggestions to [email protected]. Reply to the email; ‘Election Process- Your Views Needed’ or use that as the title for your email.