Ever since I became became active in IHEYO in 2003, we have spent much time on re-establishing IHEYO as an organisation. Formal things had to be in place, we had to recruit members and proved the usefulness of our existence.
This phase in the reactivation of IHEYO is now over. We have acquired the status as International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO), found our place in the world of organised humanism and built relations to other organisations and institutions in the international humanist movement.
But still, IHEYO has a long way to go. As I start my presidency, we have ambitious plans for 2007 and the coming years. In the coming period, I want to focus especially on two issues: increasing the number of members and communicating better with the members we have. If IHEYO is to fulfill our main aim, to be a platform for youth humanists worldwide, these two are essential.
After new year, IHEYO will start the work with establishing a new website, driven by content management system. This will enable easier updates to our site, from many sources. When this new tool is in place, I hope our members will use it well. Also, a there will be a campaign to reach new members. The 40 members we already have can very well be accompanied by organisations from more organisations in East- and South-Europe, Oceania, Asia, the Americas and vast parts of Africa. Do not hesitate to contact me if you know of organisations you think should be member of IHEYO.
I am particularly glad to chair a organisation with a broad and friendly outlook. Our General Assembly just made part of our By-Laws that we aim to have as a diverse Executive Committee as possible. Though half of our executives are Europeans, the other half consists of Asians and Africans. I find this important, if IHEYO is to be an truly international organisation. I have seen other “international” organisations whose boards consist of white westerns only. I find that sad, and am glad that IHEYO stands out as different. Though this can still be absolutely better, it is the best composition in the recent history of IHEYO. Also, one can add, almost half of our full members are currently from Europe
You can find a short and a longer version of our action plan for 2007 at our website: http://iheyo.org/iheyo/activity.htm If you want to contribute, or just tell me something, please do contact me, for instance in our forum: www.iheyo.org/forum . I always listen, though time won’t always allow me to reply as soon as I should.
Lastly, I hope you can wish me and my team of volunteers good luck with the tasks ahead.
Lars-Petter Helgestad
President of IHEYO