REPORT OF 28^TH TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE, IFUW (SUMMARY)

Perth, Australia, August 4-10, 2004

Submitted by Bonnie M. Lincoln, International Relations Chair

I attended the 28^th Triennial Conference of IFUW as a participant in the Interdisciplinary Seminar on the theme, “A Culture of Peace”.  The Conference was held in Perth, Australia; despite the relatively small size of the Western Australian Association, the arrangements provided were outstanding, and our Australian colleagues, along with members from the New Zealand and Japanese Federations who assisted with programming, are to be congratulated for the smooth functioning of the Conference.

Shortly before I left for Australia, I received e-mailed correspondence informing me that because of severe budgetary constraints, the AAUW Board had not included its dues assessment for IFUW in its 2005 budget. The United States contribution accounts for more than a third of the IFUW budget; the Conference took two steps to deal with the resulting budget crisis for IFUW:  first, it passed an increase in the basic dues assessment of 6 Swiss francs per member, and second, it established a task force to examine the issues raised by the AAUW decision.

AAUW President Nancy Rustad held two meetings, to which all US participants were invited, at which she explained the Board’s decision, which led to a lively discussion.  Some points made by members included:

-         While the Association Board had the authority to take the decision it did as a budgetary matter, the consequences are such that the membership should have been consulted. 

-         Some members present were not informed of the decision prior to their arrival in Perth, and were embarrassed to be accosted by participants from other countries on a major issue about which they were ignorant.

-         The members of AAUW’s International Relations Committee felt aggrieved because they had not been consulted prior to the decision or its communication to IFUW.  Since Perth, the Chair of that Committee, Naseem Ahmed, has submitted her resignation, citing the lack of consultation and her inability to support the Board’s decision as the main reasons.

-         All members present expressed their support for continued membership in IFUW.

From my informal contacts with delegates from other countries, it was clear that they want the United States to continue to support the organization.  Kathleen Laurila of Minnesota was reelected to a second term as a member of the IFUW Board, an indication that other members wants AAUW to be part of the solution to the crisis.