Dear All
It is three months since my last message to you as we continue to suffer the fallout of this global pandemic which has caused so much disruption.
We also remain disturbed and concerned about the racism and disparities that persist in all systems, including health care, and we seek to advocate for racial justice and equity.
Although we continue to experience a difficult time at work and at home, there have been some positive outcomes including new ways of working. At a practical level the lockdown has allowed for virtual meetings to take place more often with greater availability of Board members, and so your new Working Parties have hit the ground running.
Foremost amongst these is the Working Party on revision of our Statutes. This marathon piece of work which seeks to clarify and simplify both the Statutes and Bylaws was only convened less than six months ago and has managed to complete its task. A draft has been discussed at Board level and the final touches should be complete by the end of June. The draft will then be distributed to all National Societies and Individual Members for a three-month period of consultation before a final electronic vote and hopeful endorsement. Special thanks go to Gabriele Tridenti who has bravely chaired this Group and to Irene Dingeldein, Deborah Laufer and Marisa Labovsky who have supported Gabriele in this task. The new Statutes and Bylaws allow for distant voting at future General Assemblies subject to prior payment of your FIGIJ dues which we are trying to encourage you to pay for the three years between Congresses as one full payment. This will then freeze the subscription for you over the three year period. We have also introduced the concept of established regional representation on the Board and a guarantee that at least one member of the Board will be from each of the six continents, Antarctica still to figure in our world of PAG! The Statutes are also intended to clarify financial issues and introduce new flexibility while ensuring financial security and probity for the organisation. There is much more for you to consider and I would urge you to look at the proposals closely and feed back to us either via the website or directly to Gabriele whose e mail address is [email protected].
Anna Torres continues to lay the groundwork for the new Education and Resources Working Party and to this end I am delighted that she has managed to recruit volunteers from the greater FIGIJ family to help us. Prominent among their tasks is reviewing all the educational material on the website but also the introduction of webinars which can be multilingual and multiregional. We hope for a new initiative with ALOGIA in the first instance.
Evelien Roos and Judy Simms-Cendan are heading up an Advocacy and Strategy Working Party and are also recruiting from outside the Board. Please let me know if you can help any of our Groups in any way.
I am very pleased and thrilled to advise you that we can now announce the venue and date for the next FIGIJ World Congress, our 20th. This will be held under the expert guidance of Zoran Stankovic in Central Europe – Belgrade, Serbia to be precise – and the provisional dates have been set for March 2023. WC PAG 2023 Belgrade Bid for your edification and I am confident that Zoran and his team will orchestrate a Congress to remember, full of warmth, enthusiasm and inclusivity and with a high scientific content. Moreover we are actively looking to create a hybrid Congress so that those of you who cannot travel will be able to join us remotely. Nevertheless the human contact that makes us what we are means that your physical presence will be a greater one.
1591786922-EV-230300-C.0100.UB216 final proof_, a recruitment drive is planned for the Autumn and the FIGO meeting in Rwanda has been delayed to December as have other Congresses in which we hoped to showcase PAG. In addition and as current President of EURAPAG I also hope to be able to share with you a new Pan-European Curriculum for Subspecialty PAG Training later this year. This has been created in collaboration with the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology as a result of the new European Curriculum for Obstetrics and Gynaecology and is therefore modelled on this approach. I hope this will serve as a lever for the gradual acceptance of PAG as a formal subspecialty within the world of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
I should add that we have had a “FIGIJ first” with our first ever successful remote virtual oral examination for the International Fellowship Examination in Pediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology (IFEPAG) – hopefully the first of many others! Special thanks to Symphorosa Chan for all her hard work and commitment. Examining proves to be a good opportunity to ensure quality control within our PAG training centres. Please do try and promote the IFEPAG examination among your peers as PAG continues to expand.
I cannot end this message without referring to our global stance as an organisation against racism and sexism in any shape or form, either affecting our youth or our colleagues. We stand together to resolve to counter these influences and appreciate that this is an ongoing battle to which your Board is fully committed. Our Board is in full support and agreement of the statement NASPAG published in response to the recent police killings of George Floyd and many others and the persistent systemic racism we seek to eliminate.
Finally please keep up with our website. There is a lot of new activity being uploaded on line and we would like to share this with you.
Enjoy your summer in the Northern hemisphere and hope you winter is not harsh in the Southern. I plan to make contact with you all soon with the draft Statutes and wish to propose that having had the most recent World Congress in Australia followed by Europe that the Americas seek to host the next! Food for thought.
With my very best wishes
Paul Wood
President FIGIJ