FIMITIC Delegates' Conference and ZDIS International Employability Conference

FIMITIC and the Federation of Disabled Workers of Slovenia ZDIS held events from 17 to 19 September in Spa Topolšica in Slovenia. The international conference the venue and the technical conditions were organized by the ZDIS. The administrative part official documents such as invitation, preliminary agenda, call for registration, statutory matters etc. was done by the FIMITIC Secretariat. 

The FIMITIC Board meeting took place on the first day on 17 September. During the meeting the Board revised the minutes of the last Board meeting which was held in Madrid and they discussed the issues. They agreed on the fact that re-registration of FIMITIC is not prepared well and on the other hand the FIMITIC should be registered in a country where there are less administrative obligations. So the issue of re-registration and the revision of the Articles of Association were postponed and the Delegates’ Conference did not deal with them. The Board reviewed the agenda of the Delegates’ Conference and discussed the documents submitted to the Delegates. During the day, the Board visited the Major of Velenje. There was a reception at the Local Government's office. They saw a good example of the disabled-friendly municipality. 

The international conference was held on 18 September. It was organized on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of ZDIS. The theme of the conference was the

 “EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRAXIS AND INNOVATIVE MEASURES TO MAINTAN EMPLOYMENT OF DISABLED WORKERS IN THE PRESENT ECONOMIC CRISIS”

The participants of the conference was greeted by Drago Novak, President of the Federation of Disabled Workers of Slovenia, then dr Ivan Svetlik, Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs made his address. On behalf of FIMITIC Marija Stiglic, Honorary President gave the FIMITIC gold medal to Cveto Ursic, General Director of Directorate for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of labour, Family and Social Affairs of Slovenia, in recognition of his extraordinary personal contribution for promotion of civil rights of persons with disabilities and of continuous efforts to integrate persons with disabilities in work, vocational training and society on national and international level as well as for it fight for improvements in the legislation of the socio-political field. After the addresses Cveto Ursic spoke about the Slovene state of employment and Drago Lombar as well. Then the expert speakers from the FIMITIC member associations made their presentations about the state of employment and good practices of employment for people with disabilities in their countries. The speakers told their experiences Hedi Schnitzer from Austria, Mary Mulryan from Ireland, Adrienne Vécsey from Hungary, Monika Vrablova from Slovakia, Maria Tussy from Spain and Malgorzata Koter-Mórgowska from Poland. The papers will be available soon. 

The FIMITIC Delegates’ Conference was held on 19 September. There were 15 official delegates from the member associations that were able to afford it to cover the travel costs. There was quorum at the conference regarding the number of participants. The membership fee was paid by the associations whose delegates took part and voted at the conference in line with the Articles of Association. There were new member associations at the conference: the Union of Paraplegics and Persons with Infantile Paralysis of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Czech National Disability Council.. After the opening address of the President of Disabled Workers in Slovenia Drago Novak the delegates elected the vote counters Mr Drago Novak and Ms Mary Mulryan. Then the delegates approved the minutes of the Delegates’ Conference held in Dublin on 15 September 2007. After that the participants discussed the biannual activity report of the Vice President and the Secretariat and listened to the complement. Everybody was delighted to hear that Miguel Angel Garcia Oca became a member of the EDF Board and Marica Miric became a Board member of DPI Europe and DPI World. Walter Kälin, Treasurer reported on the finances of the last 2 years of FIMITIC, the balance sheets and presented the reports of the Auditors. The payment of the FIMITIC membership fee was highlighted during the Delegates’ Conference. Everybody agreed on the fact that the only income of FIMITIC is from the membership fees. This shows a decreasing tendency. Some part of the cost of the Secretariat is supported by the Association of Persons with Physical Disability in the Central Hungarian Region MKMORE. The finances are not enough to pay the travel cost of the FIMITIC representatives who take part in international events from the FIMITIC budget. However, the respect, reputation and honour of FIMITIC need the participation in every event. 

The member associations can help FIMITIC with events from fund raising beyond the membership fee. They shall organize Board meetings, Delegates’ Conferences and other meetings, which are in line with the work programme of FIMITIC as associated events of their celebrations and meeting. The next point of the agenda was the biannual work program for the years of 2010 and 2011. This document will be available soon. It was completed with one issue. The delegates’ conference decided that a survey would be done with a questionnaire among the member associations about the influences of the economic crisis on the situation of people with disabilities and their organizations. They determined one priority issue is giving information about the UN Convention on the right of people with disability widely in every member country and the follow up, influencing the employment of people with disability. 

The biannual work program was elaborated and presented by Miguel Angel Garcia Oca. The following point of the agenda was the election of board members. The election was chaired by Marija Stiglic. There was no election committee, preparing for the elections therefore the nominations were collected by the Secretariat and forwarded to Marija Stiglic, who undertook to introduce the nominees to the delegates. The delegates decided to reduce the number of the Board from 9 to 7 members on the basis of the Board’s proposal in line with the Articles of Association. The members will be the President, two Vice-president, the Treasurer and three ordinary members. Then the chair of the election introduced the rules of the procedure, the nominees. A call for possible additional candidates or functions was launched. Mary Mulryan, Ireland, stands for a Board position. She introduced herself. According to the rules the Board members were elected by a simple majority in writing. 

The vote counters collected the ballots, and then they counted the votes in another hall. The election was done in a secret ballot. There were five nominees for the ordinary board members position. After the counting of the votes Marija Stiglic announced the result of the election. Miguel Angel Garcia Oca was elected as president with 15 votes in favour. For the position of the two Vice presidents Dr. Csaba Chikán was elected with 14 votes in favour and Chrysis I. Michaelides with 14 votes as well. Walter Kälin was elected as the Treasurer with 15 votes in favour. The ordinary board members will be Jan Hutar with 11 votes, Dr Klaus Voget with 7 votes and Malgorzata Koter Morgowska with 6 votes cast. 

The auditor company with the former Board’s proposal was adopted by the delegates with 15 votes in favour. The motions for exclusion of two member associations, who did not fulfil their membership fee obligation for at least 2 years and remain inactive, were presented by the Chair:The Belarusian Society of the Handicapped – BSH, and the National Federation of Mobility Impaired People – N. F.M.I.P., Greece.

Both, BSH and N.F.M.I.P. had been given opportunity to appeal the Board in right time prior the Delegates’ Conference. The exclusion was unanimously voted with 15 votes in favour.

Before the decision the Treasurer informed the delegates about that the associations got several calls and opportunities for reduction, but they did not answer. 

The next point of the agenda was the conclusion of the international employability conference. It was done by Drago Novak 

The venue and the time of the next Delegates’ Conference were not determined by the delegates, because of several uncertainties in the situations of the member associations. At the end of the Delegates’ Conference the newly elected president Miguel Angel Garcia Oca said thank to the trust he get from the delegates. He assured that he will work to strengthen FIMITIC so that the EU developments can be influenced, on the other hand the disability policy in the member countries with the help of the member associations in the interest of people with disability. The cost of the accommodation and meals of the three-day events were covered by the host association ZDIS.

That is why we are grateful and herewith we would like to say thank you again for these events on behalf of all the participants.

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