Message from the IPRA President: A moment to express gratitude November 2024

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1 week ago

Dear friends and colleagues,

November is well known for Thanksgiving in the USA. But did you know the same idea is celebrated by at least 11 countries including Canada, Japan, Brazil, Germany, Liberia, the Australian territory of Norfolk Island and parts of the Netherlands? It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and is thus celebrated at different times of the year.

In IPRA we have a golden harvest too and a harvest supper. We celebrated winners and the achievements of our profession at the Golden World Awards for Excellence Gala held last month in Belgrade, Serbia. The celebrations spread to more than 26 countries where GWA trophies are now proudly displayed.

A world of thanks

I would like to take a moment and express my gratitude to all GWA winners, who did an excellent job and deserve their prestigious awards; to all GWA finalists, who did a great job, and deserve our full support for future success; and to all GWA entrants, who took their first step to tell the world what they have done.

My gratitude also goes to the Jury members, more than 40 dedicated professionals from all around the world, who invested their knowledge, time, and resources both when judging online and in-person. And finally, I thank the members of the Board, who carry a burden of responsibility for the 70-year-old IPRA legacy as well as for the IPRA vision of the future.

And the future is challenging

Our societies are changing, and new global agreements will be needed. Institutions will need our support. This was the reason we took a moment during the Gala to express gratitude to UN Women Serbia, for their efforts in combating gender-based violence and their assistance at a charity event to support a safe house in Serbia. This support reflected IPRA's long-standing consultative status with a number of United Nations agencies.

Join us and let’s see what we can achieve together

If you are not a member I invite you to start an IPRA journey right now. Click here and sign up on-line. And then we can talk about the next steps as a GWA entrant 2025 or a judge or a participant in one of our Chapters. And with those achievements done might that be something to give thanks for?

Kind regards,

Nataša Pavlović Bujas

IPRA President 2024

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