General Assembly 20 - 2016

1. Opening of the General Assembly
The 20th General Assembly was opened at 16:00 by IEF President Arthur Dahl, who welcomed IEF members and guests present.

2. Introduction of members present
IEF members present were Zulay Posada (Colombia), Victoria Thoresen (Norway), Javier Gonzales (Bolivia), Fabiana Mendez (Bolivia) and Arthur Dahl (Switzerland). Three guests were also present.

3. Selection of officers of the General Assembly
It was agreed that Arthur Dahl would preside at the General Assembly, and Javier Gonzales would serve as secretary.

4. Approval of the agenda
The agenda was approved with additions under item 8 proposed by Charles Boyle over email.

5. Election of the Governing Board
The election took place after prayers with 5 members present voting and 7 more by email. The Governing Board elected for 2016-2017 consists of Arthur Dahl, Victoria Thoresen, Emily Firth, Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen, Duncan Hanks, Wendi Momen and Ian Hamilton.

6. Presentation, consultation and approval of the annual report
The Annual Report March 2015-September 2016, which had previously been sent to all members, was summarized by the president and approved by the General Assembly, with appreciation for all that had been accomplished.

7. Approval of a proposed addition to the By-laws (Annex 1)
The addition to the by-laws was read and approved.

8. Consultation on activities and priorities for the coming year

- Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
The General Assembly suggested this continue to be a major issue for IEF, building on the results of the present conference

- Location and theme of the next IEF conference
The possibility of the next conference being held in Ottawa, Canada, was mentioned, with a theme of migration, integration and global citizenship. Members present hoped that another conference could be held in Latin America.

- IEF should develop guidelines and suggestions for communities and individuals to encourage and guide them in making sensible environmental planning decisions about their activities, and guidelines for the study, career and life choices that these might begin to define something of the character of Baha’i communities,

- What are the needs and exigencies about which we should be anxiously concerned and upon which we should center our deliberations?
The issue of migration and integration is a global priority on which the IEF should be able to make a useful contribution. Nur University is collaborating with the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK) on the positive transformation of environmental conflicts. This could contribute to the work of IEF and draw on the IEF network.

9. Other business
There was no other business

10. Closing of the General Assembly
The General Assembly was closed at 17:30 with appreciation for the contribution of all those present.

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ANNEX 1

Addition to the IEF by-laws proposed by the IEF Governing Board and approved by the General Assembly:

Present by-law:
E. MEETINGS OF THE GOVERNING BOARD
a) The Governing Board shall consist of 7 members elected annually from the membership. A change to the number of members of the Governing Board shall take effect at the next election after the confirmation of the By-laws as stipulated in Article 13.

Addition:
At its first meeting after the election, the Governing Board may determine if it will co-opt one or more members, provided that such co-option is not more than one third of the elected members. Co-opted members may be invited to a consultation with the Governing Board but do not have voting rights and cannot be considered for a quorum.

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