The ENOHE International Relations Committee (IRC) held its very first (online) meeting mid-April 2024.
Originally set up by an ENOHE Board decision in fall 2023 the IRC is part of the association’s new governance structure.
This new committee, among several other committees, will support the ENOHE leadership in its endeavors to promote the idea and concept of the Ombuds service through a variety of activities.
Committee members joined the meeting electronically across 16 time zones, from as far as Southern Australia via Europe to as far as Central Mexico. Hence this meant late evenings and early mornings for the participants.
The chair of the new committee, ENOHE’s former president and now presidential advisor Josef Leidenfrost, expressed his gratitude that the members of this committee from ten different countries have joined this group and will contribute to the development of ENOHE’s international goals with their personal experiences in transcontinental networking.
During the first meeting the IRC discussed and approved a mission statement for the committee, investigated potential international topics for the first ENOHE Yearbook of 2024 to be published in late spring and input for coming ENOHE webinars, investigated procedures for successfully applying for externally funded projects and searching for future conference sites and topics. It also agreed to help prepare internationally related focal points for the ENOHE 2024 Annual Conference in Covilhã, Portugal, mid-June.
The IRC will be supporting the Presidency and Board in their tasks to fulfill the aims of the association as laid out in the statutes, the annual work plans and in the coming Strategic Plan 2026-2030.
IRC will have its next and then first in-person meeting during the Covilhã conference.