The Conference has begun
7 July 2008
The 33rd World Conference is underway! Participants gathered at the OR Tambo Hall in Johannesburg, South Africa for the first day, received a warm welcome from Chairman of the World Board Elspeth Henderson. From there the work and fun began.
The traditional ‘Roll Call’ warmed up the atmosphere even more. Member Organizations attending the Conference were called out by Chief Executive Mary Mc Phail. Each one raised their name boards and cheering and clapping could be heard around the Conference site.
Then it was time for voting. Delegates approved the report of the 32nd World Conference and the Triennial Finance Report but for nine Member Organizations the most special voting was the Membership one as they were accepted as Associate Members of WAGGGS (Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lithuania and Syria) and Full Members of WAGGGS (Burundi, Chad, Dominica, Hungary, Malawi and Russia).
Then Elspeth and Mary presented an overview of developments in the work of WAGGGS. They acknowledged success and challenges of the last three years and ask Member Organizations to learn from and engage with each other.
The traditional ‘Roll Call’ warmed up the atmosphere even more. Member Organizations attending the Conference were called out by Chief Executive Mary Mc Phail. Each one raised their name boards and cheering and clapping could be heard around the Conference site. Then it was time for voting. Delegates approved the report of the 32nd World Conference and the Triennial Finance Report but for nine Member Organizations the most special voting was the Membership one as they were accepted as Associate Members of WAGGGS (Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lithuania and Syria) and Full Members of WAGGGS (Burundi, Chad, Dominica, Hungary, Malawi and Russia).
Then Elspeth and Mary presented an overview of developments in the work of WAGGGS. They acknowledged success and challenges of the last three years and ask Member Organizations to learn from and engage with each other. After lunch, delegates were briefed about the candidates standing for election to the World Board. The voting for the World Board will take place on Thursday.