Last updated: 19 April 2000
Board Meeting, Mysore, India, April 2000 Brief Report from Ms Marilyn Wise, Vice President, South West Pacific Region
The South East Asian Regional Bureau hosted the meeting, which was followed by a one-day series of visits by Board members to local villages to meet people engaged in health promotion, and a one-day Regional Conference to which Board members also contributed.
This Report is a brief overview of the Board Meeting, the Village visits, and the Regional Conference. Where it is pertinent, I have included information and decisions that were made by the Executive Committee in Paris in November 1999.
The South West Pacific Region submitted a brief written report to the Global Inter-Regional Collaboration Committee. Despite the limited resources available, our Region has been active and was recognised by the meeting as having contributed very positively to the Union's membership drive, and to furthering the Union's advocacy agenda. In addition, our workshop following the National Health Promotion Conference in Perth was highly commended, as were our contributions to the development in health promotion in the Western Pacific Region - Health Promoting Schools Network, the Health Promotion Forum conference in Napier, New Zealand, etc. Over the period before the next Executive Committee meeting in November the President and Executive Director are to prepare a briefing document, an "Orientation Handbook", explaining the structure of the organization and the function of all the IUHPE Officers, roles and functions of the Board members, outlining expected roles for Regional Directors and Regional Offices, including guidelines covering the transfer of Regional Offices from one institution to another within Regions. This orientation package should also update the newly elected or appointed (depending on the case) members of the Board on current IUHPE projects and programmes.
The handbook will be divided into two parts: one section outlining the rules and regulations, as provided for in the Constitution and Bye-laws, and a second section giving the standard formats for reports, budgets, newsletters, etc.
As part of the organisation's initiatives to raise its profile and to increase membership, there has been significant effort to further develop the global website - and to harmonise links between the global and regional sites. This includes ensuring that both are updated regularly, use the same identity (including mission statement, goals, objectives) and that both use the IUHPE official colours.
Each Region has been invited to contribute a brief paragraph for inclusion on the global website, informing visitors about key aspects of the Union's role in that Region.
The Constitution is in the process of amendment (voting closes in mid-June). Pending the adoption of the modification of the Constitution, Headquarters will develop a framework for the content to be used for amending the Regional Bye-Laws. The framework will be sent to the Regions so that it may be incorporated into their existing bye-laws. Each region will then develop their bye-laws and these will all be put before the new Board of Trustees for ratification at the end of the World Conference in July 2001.
This will affect the Regional elections to be held in November 2000 and the Regional Director and Vice President will ensure that our procedures are fully in accord with the new by laws.
The World Conference organisation is proceeding smoothly. Each of the plenary sessions has, now, been planned and keynote speakers are being formally invited to contribute. As at recent conferences, every effort is being made to include a wide range of interactive sessions (in addition to proffered papers and plenaries).
The four plenary themes are: advocacy, ethics, evidence and partnership.
Production of the IUHPE official journal, Promotion & Education, is being streamlined, and the journal's presentation is being redesigned to update it. Considerable attention is being given to upgrading the peer review process, and to increase the timeliness and relevance of journal articles. The IUHPE has entered a formal agreement with the journal Health Education Research, with the journal becoming an 'official' journal of the Union.
The IUHPE has also decided to take over the Internet Journal of Health Promotion that is being 'published' through Monash University. Associate Professor Michel O'Neill will be the Editor of the new journal - to be called Review of Health Promotion and Education Online. This journal is intended to provide readers with up to date analysis of the best publications in health promotion at regular intervals.
The Effectiveness Project carried out for the European Commission has been extremely successful. Large numbers of the publications have been distributed and there are commitments from a range of countries to translate the materials. The Union presented to an interested group of European parliamentarians and interest is high in this work on effectiveness. A dissemination project is now being considered. While the main focus of this work will be Europe, other Regions are developing projects to disseminate the effectiveness publications, and, more importantly, to use the publications to increase commitment to health promotion across the world.
[Note: NSW Health has provided seed funding to the Australian Centre for Health Promotion and the SWPacific Region of IUHPE to make progress with this work in NSW and Australia.]
The Union has agreed to a process of policy development and advocacy in line with resolutions from the General Assembly in Puerto Rico in 1998. The Board has endorsed the Advocacy Working Group's proposals to further develop policies for and advocacy programs in relation to the WHO's Tobacco Initiative, and to the Poverty initiative. In relation to tobacco, IUHPE can play a significant role in supporting the wide range of actions being taken at global and national levels. In relation to the Poverty initiative, the specific role of the IUHPE is less clear.
In both cases the Advocacy Working Group (with specific Task Groups assigned to each of these initiatives) will prepare proposals to take to the General Assembly in Paris in 2001. Interested people should contact Ms M. Wise on marilynw@health.usyd.edu.au
Building on the paper given by Professor Ron Labonte at the IUHPE Regional Workshop held following the National Health Promotion Conference in Perth in 1999, Professor Labonte prepared a briefing paper on trade and health for distribution to a wide range of government and non-government agencies before the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle in November 1999. The paper was distributed widely in some countries and has resulted in the Canadian Minister for Health potentially taking the lead in developing an international response by health ministers to influence the decisions of the WTO in favour of health. In addition, Professor Labonte and Ms Marilyn Wise prepared a brief paper for publication by the European Public Health Alliance, leading to an invitation to participate in further meetings and workshops in Europe on the issues of wealth, trade, and health.
Work is continuing in this important area. Interested people should contact Ms M. Wise on marilynw@health.usyd.edu.au
The IUHPE Executive Committee voted to support the UNESCO Culture of Peace movement by signing a collaboration Charter. Regional Offices are encouraged to take up initiatives to support the range of special events that are being held internationally to further the Culture of Peace. The Manifesto 2000 for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence is available on request from UNESCO.
The Union has developed a systematic program for increasing membership, including upgraded membership packages and a much more systematic approach to inviting potential members to join. In addition, a more systematic approach is also being taken to fund raising, with a view to establishing a much stronger financial base for the Union and its work. |
