July 20, 2010

Dear Colleagues

This, my last message to you as your president, will of necessity be a bit longer than normal. The length has nothing to do with the fact that this will be my last, but rather because I want to use this opportunity to not only thank you for your support over the last decade but to explain the unintended consequences of the cancellation of the 13th World Conference and General Assembly.

The civil unrest in Thailand forced us to make the very difficult decision to cancel the 13th World Conference and General Assembly scheduled for Jomtien August 9-13. This decision was particularly hard given the wonderful work that had already been undertaken by the Host Committee chaired by Pecharat Techavachara, Thai Union of the Blind and the Program Committee, so ably chaired by our 1st Vice President, Dr. Jill Keeffe. However, throughout late April and into the month of May we were receiving more and more messages indicating that people who had intended to participate had changed their plans. By early June we regretfully concluded that the conference and general assembly were not viable and thus our decision on June 3 to cancel.

Well, my friends that was just the beginning of the story. The implications of this decision had many ripple effects.

First we needed to inform hundreds of our members, who had already been notified that their papers had been accepted for presentation of our decision. Then there was the matter of setting in place mechanisms to return registration fees and hotel deposits to those persons and organizations who had preregistered and paid. All of this went reasonably smoothly thanks to the excellent work of the Host Committee, our Secretary General and our Treasurer. During this period the Principal Officers met on a weekly conference call to be sure we had this phase under control.

Next, we faced the more difficult task of addressing the question "What now?" As active members of ICEVI will know our organization's General Assembly follows the World Conference and is the meeting where the formal business of the organization is conducted. Without a General Assembly how would we elect new Principal Officers or make any needed changes in our Articles of Association? For a short while I was feeling like one of those dictators who proclaim themselves "president for life".

However, the Principal Officers continued to meet to discuss a sensible way forward and after careful review of the Articles of Association and consultation with the full Executive Committee we have arrived at a solution. While none of the solutions we discussed was ideal, what we arrived at meets the legal requirements of our Articles of Association and will allow us to conduct the business of ICEVI before the end of the calendar year and do so in a fiscally responsible manner.

The formal business of ICEVI is generally taken up by 109 official delegates composed of the 25 members of the current Executive Committee plus 12 additional delegates from each of our 7 regions.

Our Articles of Association state that a quorum of one-third is required for a General Assembly. This means that at least 36 persons be present to constitute a General Assembly.

Our next challenge was to find a way to bring a minimum of 36 delegates together at the earliest possible date to hold an ICEVI General Assembly. This proved to be quite a logistical challenge but one that we have finally overcome. Through the gracious invitation of the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) the General Assembly and related meetings will be held in London on December 2, 3 and 4.

I would like to take this opportunity to express special thanks to Ms. Lesley-Anne Alexander, CEO of RNIB for her willingness to host these meetings and to Lord Low of Dalston for the arrangements he is making for a reception at the House of Lords for all participants.

In addition to the 25 members of the Executive Committee we will be joined by 2 additional representatives from each of our seven regions giving us a total of 39 delegates.

In order that we make the best possible use of the time and resources required to convene such a General Assembly we have arrived at the following sequence of events during this three day period:
    - one day devoted to the 2010 Executive Committee meeting,
    - one half-day devoted to our General Assembly where we will elect new principal officers and deal with any needed changes in our Articles of Association and Bye-Laws and

[Note: Those suggested changes are included in this copy of The Educator to provide our membership the requisite 3 month advance notice called for in our Articles of Association.]

    -one and half days will be devoted to a "Strategic Review" of our organization and its programs led by a professional facilitator.

To assure that all regional committees have an opportunity to review the proposed slate of new principal officers well before the meeting in December I have asked Bhushan Punani, Chair of the Nominations Committee to have the work of his committee completed by October 1 so that the proposed slate can be circulated to all regional committees and posted on our website.

I do apologize for this rather long explanation of our current situation. However, I have always tried to conduct the business of ICEVI in the most transparent manner possible and therefore I wanted all of you to be aware of how your Principal Officers and Executive Committee are handling the unexpected outcomes caused by the cancellation of the planned General Assembly scheduled for Thailand in August.

For the past decade it has been my great pleasure to lead ICEVI. All of you have been so supportive during this decade that I hope I have justified your faith in me and that you feel that together we have been able to move ICEVI forward in a positive direction.

As you will read elsewhere in this issue of The Educator, the Global Campaign that we launched at our 12th World Conference in 2006 has made some good progress in bringing to school more than 30,000 children with visual impairment.

While we still have a long road ahead to achieve our goal of universal access, I am stepping down as your president feeling that the momentum is building and that these numbers will dramatically improve in the decade ahead. My recent participation in a planning meeting on the West Bank, Palestine is the most recent confirmation that this optimism is not misplaced.

There are literally hundreds of persons that I would like to thank personally, in this, my final message as your president. However, I will not do that for fear that there will be someone I will overlook.

By the time the December issue of The Educator goes to press ICEVI will have new leadership and I hope that you will provide these persons with the same kindness and support you have given to me and my fellow Principal Officers. A change in leadership will, I am sure, bring new ideas and new energy to ICEVI.

Once again my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you who have provided me with the vital support needed over the past ten years. Now, with a bit more time available for personal travel and other pursuits I will not say farewell but will close with the hope that our paths will cross again many times in the years ahead.

Sincerely,
Larry Campbell
President