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General Assembly, Bukina Faso-1st October 2004
MEMBERSHIP
Resolutions adopted at the GA of II, Acapulco, Mexico, 11 Nov 2006
HONOURARY MEMBERSHIP
MINUTES 2006 GA,-ACAPULCO, MEXICO
GUIDELINES FOR ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS WORKING WITH INCLUSION INTERNATIONAL
II POLICY 'A RIGHT TO LIFE'
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About Us
HONOURARY MEMBERSHIP
[Last updated Monday, January 15, 2007]
The Honourary Life Members is a way to publicly acknowledge the contributions of some of our key leaders. It is also a way to keep the history of Inclusion International alive and to tell the members about those who have worked so hard to build the strength and credibility of Inclusion International.
GERARD DONALD WILLS QSO Don and his wife Maureen are parents of two children, son Michael and daughter Patricia who is Intellectually Disabled.
Because of Patricia’s disability they became involved with IHC in New Zealand in 1963 and Don volunteered and served on local committees and became President of the Auckland Branch and then a New Zealand councillor and finally on that council’s Executive committee, with a responsibility for promoting advocacy for the disabled, and assistance in setting up Parent organisations in the Asia/Pacific region. This sub committee became known as the ‘Asian and Pacific Action Committee’, APAC ..
During this time he was also involved with his commercial career as the chief executive of a large textile and manufacturing conglomerate with worldwide interests. The extensive travelling required, enabled him to attend many gatherings of disability organisations and in 1978 his attendance at the ILSMH world congress in Vienna, became the first of many ILSMH and AFMR congresses, regional and international meetings he attended, many of which he represented IHC and presented papers.
Don was appointed to be a Companion of the Queens Service Order (QSO)
By Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in her birthday honours June 1994 and in 1995 was made a Life Member of IHC New Zealand. He was commended by the New Zealand Government for his contribution toward assisting developing countries with a certificate marking the UN international year of the Volunteer, 2001.
During the Presidency of Victor Wahlstrom, Don was appointed and became chair of the South Pacific Australia and New Zealand regional committee of ILSMH and continued in this role during the early presidency of Walter Eigner. In 1994 he was elected to the council of ILSMH which was to become Inclusion International and was made Third vice president with responsibility for the Membership and Nominating committees.
In 1996 he was elected President-Elect and became President at the Hague general assembly in 1998. He completed his term of office in 2002 and then served as immediate past president till 2004.
During his presidency the administration center was transferred to Ferney-Voltaire near Geneva from Brussels and the much loved and long serving Paule Renoir retired. He visited many of Inclusion members and found this to be a very rewarding part of his duties.As a result of the mandate from the UN given to Bengt Lindquist and his panel of experts at a meeting in South Africa, a group known as the International Disability Presidents Alliance IDPA, was established. The structure was enlarged to cater for a wider number of disability groups and it became IDA as it is known today. During his turn to chair the IDA meetings he was very proud to be part of the initial discussions to advance the process in the UN which culminated in the adoption of the Convention in 2006. When he retired he was able to have Robert Martin take his seat on the IDA council and in so doing ensured that our disability was not only recognised but embraced completely by the other parties in IDA.
WALTER EIGNER
Positions held:
1975 - 1978: Chairman of the Organizing Committe for the 7th World Congress of ILSMH,held in Vienna, Austria in September 1978. 1978 - 1990: Council Member and Treasurer of ILSMH 1992 - 1994: President-Elect of ILSMH 1994 - 1998: President of Inclusion International (formerly ILSMH)
Summary of Contributions:
As Treasurer he stabilized the fragile financial situation and built up a body of reserves. During the years 1990-1993 he established - in cooperation with the Canadian Association of Community Living (CACL) - the so-called "ILSMH Open Discussion Forum on New Bio-Ethical Issues", which resulted in the publication of three "Working Papers", namely
"Food for Thought on Genetic Counselling, Prenatal Diagnosis, Selective Abortion(June 1991)"
"Food for Thought on Withholding Treatment (Februaury 1992)"
"Food for Thought on Gene Technology and Bio-Ethics (June 1993)" The end-result was then a special publication by the Roeher Institute (Canada) together with ILSMH, called "JUST TECHNOLOGY"
In trying to solicit and include input from membership organizations, he replaced the former "committee structure" by so-called "Open Project Groups" (OPGs) where everybody who was willing could contribute to ten different topics and issues (e.g. Abuse, Inclusive Education and Employment,Quality Assurance, De-Institutionalization, Aging,Ethical Monitoring, Family Support, Parent Empowerment, Discrimination by Love).
He initiated the "name change" from ILSMH (International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap) to "INCLUSION INTERNATIONAL" and then motivated membership to approve it.
In order to clarify the identity of our organization, he developped the four main Policy Directions: INCLUSION, SELF-DETERMINATION, FULL CITIZENSHIP, FAMILY SUPPORT.
The main focus during his Presidency was on "Inclusive Education". He managed to develop a clear position of Inclusion International on this important human rights issue and established Inclusion International as a strong advocate for including ALL pupils with intellectual disabilities into the regular school systems. Final outcome of this effort was - in cooperation with UNESCO - the publication of the brochure "THE JOURNEY TO INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS" (in English, Spanish, French and German; meanwhile further translations have been made by members, namely into Arabic). This publication will be a valid message for a long time to go.
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