Year
1997
FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM
de Poort, The Netherlands, 25-26 October 1997
In the evening of 25 October 1997, the first General Annual Assembly of the International Environment Forum was opened. After prayers, votes were cast for the IEF Board. Then the revised IEF Statutes were adopted (see First Conference Report Appendix 2), pending further negotiation of the legal details. It was also decided to hold open the Annual General Assembly until the end of the Conference to allow the means and activities (to be discussed on Sunday morning) to be included. The Assembly was adjourned until Sunday at 9 am.
On Sunday morning 26 October, Michael Richards chaired the meeting which opened with prayers including a moving prayer sung in three part harmony.
The result of the election of the interim board of the International Environment Forum was presented by the tellers. There were 20 votes cast of which four were absentee votes via email. The members elected were:
Arthur Dahl
Sylvia Karlsson
Irma Allen
Les Gornall
Michael Richards
Consultation on the activities of the IEF in its first year of existence followed. It was initially recognised that valuable guidance for the consultations was given in the letter from the Office of Social and Economic Development dated 30 September to the working group for the IEF and from the purpose stated in the Statutes.
The consultation brought forward a lot of ideas for consideration by the Board on issues such as communications, furthering knowledge, development projects, conferences and seminars, membership and fees, relationship with other Baha'i institutions and agencies, and youth. For a summary of suggestions and other comments see First Conference Report Appendix 3.
In the closing session the message to the Universal House of Justice was read. With the addition of the information that we have 9 countries represented in the room and including the email group 23 countries, it was accepted.