ICM Board meets in The Hague, looks forward to Trinidad and Brisbane: Joyce Thompson, director of the ICM Board of Management, reports on the January 2004 meeting, with positive news in a challenging environment.As I look out at the clear, glistening glis·tenintr.v. glis·tened, glis·ten·ing, glis·tens To shine by reflection with a sparkling luster. See Synonyms at flash. n. A sparkling, lustrous shine. snow covering my yard in Michigan, USA, I am reminded of the fresh, invigorating in·vig·or·ate tr.v. in·vig·or·at·ed, in·vig·or·at·ing, in·vig·or·ates To impart vigor, strength, or vitality to; animate: "A few whiffs of the raw, strong scent of phlox invigorated her" discussions that arose during the most recent ICM ICM Intercom ICM Integrated Crop Management ICM International Congress of Mathematicians ICM Information Classification and Management ICM Intelligent Contact Management (Cisco) ICM International Creative Management Board of Management meeting, held in January" 2004, in the headquarters office in The Hague. We warmly welcomed Kathy Herschderfer to her first meeting as Secretary General of ICM, and quickly initiated her into the multiple demands of the interface between board members and staff. Kathy is a wonderful person whose extensive research, management, organisational and midwifery midwifery (mĭd`wī'fərē), art of assisting at childbirth. The term midwife for centuries referred to a woman who was an overseer during the process of delivery. In ancient Greece and Rome, these women had some formal training. skills are already being put to good use within ICM. ICM budget The Board agenda was filled with many items and issues, beginning with the realisation that the projected budget deficit at the beginning of 2003 turned out to be much greater than originally anticipated. The major reasons for this deficit included: * unexpected expenses from the Vienna congress * the need to cover the costs of recruitment and handover n. 1. The act of relinquishing property or authority etc. to another; as, the handover of occupied territory to the original posssessors; the handover of power from the military back to the civilian authorities s>. for the Secretary General position * additional legal fees for review of the Constitution and By-Laws * a change in accounting practices. Board members are confident that the ICM is financially solvent, but acutely aware of the need vigorously to seek additional funds for projects, while curtailing representation and staff costs. The staff and board have worked hard to make sure 2004 will be financially healthy. The good news is that ICM has received an additional three years of core funding from the Dutch government; and, in addition, some of our partner agencies and member associations have pledged support for the Young Midwifery Leaders project, along with other sponsored activities planned for the mid-triennium meeting in Trinidad. Throughout these discussions, the Board and staff kept the core mission of ICM first and foremost in their decision making, along with maintaining service to our member associations. Future meetings: Trinidad and Brisbane A good portion of the Board agenda was focused on the detailed plans for the upcoming meetings: Trinidad, in April 2004; and Brisbane, in July 2005. In Trinidad, the executive committee will be finalising the draft Constitution and By-Laws for presentation at the International Council meeting in Brisbane, based on the comments received from member associations. The organising committee in Trinidad is working hard with the Regional Representatives to make this first-ever mid-triennium meeting in the Americas a resounding re·sound v. re·sound·ed, re·sound·ing, re·sounds v.intr. 1. To be filled with sound; reverberate: The schoolyard resounded with the laughter of children. 2. success. Likewise the Brisbane organising committee is working feverishly fe·ver·ish adj. 1. a. Of, relating to, or resembling a fever. b. Having a fever or symptoms characteristic of a fever. c. Causing or tending to cause fever. 2. to entice thousands of midwives from all over the world to the warmth of north-east Australia next year. The Call for Abstracts for the scientific programme will be out soon. See you there! Partnerships Our last day was spent in detailed discussions with our representative from WHO. It is satisfying to recognise how the importance of ICM as an organisation is viewed by the global community. We are heard as a strong voice for midwives and for Safe Motherhood. In fact, the ICM representative work carried out by Board members continued well after the close of the meeting when the Director flew to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. to resume the role of co-chair at the second meeting of the Steering Committee steer·ing committee n. A committee that sets agendas and schedules of business, as for a legislative body or other assemblage. steering committee Noun of the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn newborn /new·born/ (noo´born?) 1. recently born. 2. newborn infant. new·born adj. Very recently born. n. A neonate. Health; meanwhile the Deputy Director flew to Washington to provide midwifery input as a member of the Decision-making Committee of the White Ribbon Alliance. Summaries of those meetings will be puiblished in future issues of International Midwifery. Global demand for midwives and midwifery I close with the realisation that this is one of the most important times for midwives and midwifery in recent history. We are in demand, globally, for: * our professional midwifery education, based on core competencies A core competency is something that a firm can do well and that meets the following three conditions specified by Hamel and Prahalad (1990):
* the high quality standards we follow in practice * and ICM's leadership in the global health arena. Midwives are increasingly recognised by the major players in childbearing child·bear·ing n. Pregnancy and parturition. child  bear ing adj. services as key to the welfare of healthy women and
newborns.
Keep up the good work, midwives, and he proud of your profession, your national association and your global organisation! |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion