I am often impressed by what we can achieve with voluntary work in IFAJ. Congresses, webinars, press tours, boot camps, awards and lots of other activities. But all of this would be harder, if not even impossible, without the help and support from our Global Office.
During the almost three decades I have been involved in IFAJ the organisation has developed a lot. From the beginning there was not much more than a congress per year and a midterm meeting for the Executives in Berlin. Since then IFAJ has grown substantially and the activities are much more frequent.
It is a challenge in a global organisation to arrange meetings and other activities when some members are sleeping in one part of the world while at the same time others are busy working in another part. We have been spoilt with the support from the Global Office almost 24/7. Both Hugh and his global assistants, most recently Alexandra Hayden, have done more than we could have asked for. For example, getting up in the middle of the night to support us with Zoom meetings and other arrangements.
Hugh’s first IFAJ Congress was in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1990. His long-standing experience with IFAJ and his stability have also been a great security for newcomers in the Presidium. I was very grateful for that when I became president almost four years ago.
In the beginning of this year Hugh told us that he was planning to retire and we had to find another global office before the beginning of next year. We formed a Hiring Committee consisting of the Presidium, Kalle Buchanan, Australia, and Aghan Daniel from Kenya, which has been working on this during the autumn.
From February our global office will be passed over to a new crew. We had more than 20 applicants for the position and we have interviewed quite a few qualified persons. I’m sure the new Global Office will work fine, but we will still miss Hugh and Alexandra and their dedicated work.
So a big thank you to our current Global Office from me, the rest of the Presidium and all others in IFAJ. We have all really appreciated the support and work you have done for us. Hugh has promised to be available for advice even during next year, and I hope we haven’t seen him or Alexandra for the last time.
And as 2023 is on its way to turn into 2024, I wish you all a Happy New Year. Let’s hope for a brighter and more peaceful year with all kinds of productive and exiting activities in our network. And hopefully we will meet at the IFAJ Congress in Switzerland in August.