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Published: 10.03.2015

The IAPB Board of Trustees met in Singapore on 28-29 March for their first meeting of 2014. The meeting began with the formal approval of new members (listed below) and appointment of new trustees.IAPB BoT at SERI

Peter Ackland gave the CEO report, in which he highlighted the development of an infographic and short video to support advocacy for the Global Action Plan. He also talked about the proposals to the Qatari Government to fund pediatric eye care in South East Asia and trachoma elimination in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The theme and call to action for World Sight Day 2014, falling this year on 9 October, were also presented: the rolling theme of ‘Universal Eye Health’, in line with the focus of the new Global Action Plan, continued, with the call to action being ‘No more Avoidable Blindness’ – this would allow organisations to focus on disease areas relevant to them by customising the call to, for example, ‘No more Cataract’ or ‘No more Trachoma’.

A large part of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the ongoing membership and governance review. Richard Bennett, the consultant leading the review, reported on the results of the consultation in which members were asked about four different scenarios for IAPB’s membership and governance models. The responses pointed towards a desire for some degree of change, particularly to increase members’ engagement and ownership, and foster transparency of processes and decision-making. The board discussed at length a few key aspects such as the role of the board and its composition, ways to balance participation and engagement in governance with effective decision-making, the role of regional chairs and fee structures. Detailed feedback will soon be circulated to the members.

The dates for the 10th General Assembly (10GA) were also announced – the quadrennial key gathering for the eye health community will take place on 18-20 September 2016 in Durban, South Africa.

IAPB staff and board would like to thank the Singapore Eye Research Institute for hosting the meeting. Their work, support, contributions and warm welcome were instrumental to make this a successful, productive and enjoyable event.

(A more detailed version of the report is available here)

Welcome to our latest members: