We are grateful to Ken Stuckey for the time and energy that he has put into the development of this publication. As ICEVI celebrates fifty years of service to blind and low vision children and those who educate them, it is important that we document for future generations the history of our organization.
This publication has centered on our quinquennial conferences which accurately reflect the “raison d’ętre” of ICEVI for the first three decades of our history. Our quinquennial conferences represented a unique opportunity for professionals to meet, exchange information and learn from each other. The value and the impact of those exchanges are well documented in this publication.
The exchanges are as important today as they were when ICEVI was founded in 1952; our approach to fostering such exchanges, however, will need to change to reflect the realities of the 21st century.
Over the past two decades opportunities for professional exchanges at the international level have exploded. Hardly a week passes without the announcement of a professional meeting on some aspect of our work. Add to this the powerful influence that the internet is having on the way we live, learn and work, and it is not surprising that for many educators the new challenge is dealing with “information overloads”.
Yet while we are witness to these very positive developments the “information age” is having on our professional lives, we are also witness to the inequities that still exist between educators in the developed and the developing world. There are many countries today where less than ten percent of children with visual impairment have access to any type of education, and there are still some where education of blind and low vision persons does not exist at all. Ironically, it is in these countries where access is so limited that we find the largest number of blind and low vision children.
The road ahead will present many challenges to ICEVI, not the least of which will be how, as the international organization of educators of blind and low vision persons we effectively meet the diverse needs of our members in both the developed and the developing world.
I believe that the answer to this challenge is emerging through a new philosophy which is reflected in the policy document adopted at our 10th World Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil (1997) and in our recently adopted strategic plan. At the core of this new philosophy is an effort to decentralize, strengthen and empower our regions.
I have had the privilege of participating in a number of ICEVI regional conferences over the past five years. These conferences and their outcomes confirm for me that this new emphasis on decentralization, strengthening and empowering our regions is clearly the right road ahead.
With the appointment of a full time Secretary General in July, 2002, ICEVI has, for the first time in its 50 year history, a small but dedicated full-time staff. This change is something we have worked hard to achieve and feel that it will make an enormous difference as we tackle the challenges that are ahead.
Advocacy, capacity building and exchange of best practices has become ICEVI’s new “raison d’ętre”. Our strength rests in our ability to serve as the collective voice of educators of blind and low vision persons throughout the world, a voice we must raise in a strong and responsible manner. As we move forward into the next half-century the greatest challenge we will face is in maintaining a unity of purpose and concern while respecting the diversity of needs and strengthening our capacities at the regional and national levels.