Message no. 66 Editorial

Message no. 66 Editorial

Dear retired colleagues,

Many of you attended the events organized by the ILO Administration and the Section of Former ILO Officials in 2019 to celebrate the ILO Centenary. The afternoon of 28 May, to which the Section invited you, was a great success due both to its content and participation. Similarly, the luncheon on 11 July held at the invitation of Guy Ryder, Director General, allowed many retirees and their spouses to meet. In this issue 66 of Message you will find various articles recounting these events. In addition, for those who could not attend and for those who live far away from Geneva, the historical videos included in the 28 May programme are available on our website on the Centenary page (http://www.anciens-bit-ilo.org/en/ilo-centenary-1919-2019/). The site also includes most of your contributions to the ILO Centenary.

Ivan Elsmark, editor of Message for more than two decades, and who has spent much time and energy in the service of the Section of Former Officials and indeed all retirees, will leave the Section at the end of the year. The same is true of Marianne Stämpfli, office secretary and assistant to Mr Elsmark, who will also end her commitment to the Section after 19 years of faithful and regular service. I have had the opportunity to work with both of them for 10 years, especially on Tuesday mornings, and it has always been in a good atmosphere and humour despite the diverse and sometimes complex tasks that awaited us. I thank them on behalf of you all because, in conjunction with the members of the Bureau of the Section, over this time we have been able to achieve greater recognition of the Section by the ILO.

As this Centenary year ends, I have one wish: that even if you have been retired for many years you would join the Section, as our action depends on it. The Bureau of the Section of Former ILO Officials welcomed the success of its involvement in the Centennial events. We sent the invitation of 28 May to all ILO retirees, even those who are not members of the Section. The same is true of Message, which is widely distributed and our website is open to everyone. We do not discriminate but we would like to have financial support from more of you, and I am referring to those who are not yet members of the Section. Many of you joined and paid your dues on May 28 to support us. Until recently, we were able to finance our services with the member contributions we collected plus bank interest, but unfortunately this has not the case for 3 years and we are now drawing on our reserves. Please join the Section and support us, even if you have been retired for many years (see the membership form in this issue). You can e-mail us (anciens@ilo.org) and make an appointment, call us on a Tuesday morning between 10am and 12am (00 41 22 799 64 23), or visit our office (6-006). We will be happy to welcome you and inform you about our activities.

Indeed, new challenges await the new Bureau of the Section, which will be elected at the end of 2019, including the continued publication of Message, the development of our website and the organization of the secretarial work. The Section’s Bureau is determined to continue its commitment to you and to meeting your expectations, representing you to the Administration and defending your interests on all social protection and pension issues. Thank you for supporting us.