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THE ART OF GOVERNANCE
approval by the Assembly but as some countries didn’t agree so the
President decided to postpone the decision – that was a pity. It is
almost impossible to get 100% of the votes.’
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It now fell on the shoulders of Dr Baldev Raj (India) to take
over the duties of IIW President for the subsequent three-year
period from 2011-2014, while Dilthey assumed the duties of
the Chair of the IAB. Raj was quite different to Dilthey in his
approach to his role. He viewed things from a more holistic
point of view and had a wonderful way in his elaboration of
the English language, whether spoken or by the written word.
Coming from a developing country and being the first President
of IIW from India, he was a fervent supporter of regional activities and IIW’s mission to
improve the global quality of life. His comments in his opening statement on becoming
President matched this belief. ‘In order for the planet Earth to remain a viable and blissful
habitat for humanity, there must be less disparity amongst her citizens in terms of quality of
life, stability of societies, and true sustainability must be realised.’
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Such vision equated to
IIW’s stated mission, ‘To act as the worldwide network for knowledge exchange of welding
technologies to improve the global quality of life’.
Whether or not this was meant to signal a more idyllic pace for IIW,
his words were quickly overtaken by an earthly passion to quicken the
pace of reform. It seems that Raj’s words were more an expression of the
consciousness of the human state and good karma to accompany the Institute
on its travels through a multitude of causes and objectives.
The Institute by now had developed a forward way of thinking and a new edition
of the Business Plan for the period 2013-2017, mentioned earlier, was subsequently
adopted by the General Assembly in September 2013. In concert with
the Business Plan, governance structure was reinforced to facilitate
maximum transparency for IIW and its stakeholders based on
sound principles, to act in good faith, with care and diligence, and
in the organisation’s best interest.
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The new IIW Constitution,
after being in place for one year, clearly defined Member
Societies as possessing the ultimate decision-making authority in
the IIW organisation. Raj was to reinforce this change in attitude
by saying that the new governance structure created effectiveness
through openness, transparency, accountability and integrity.
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Ultimately this was to lead to the publication of a brochure
on IIW’s website titled
IIW Values
detailing the ethos and
guiding principles of the International Institute of Welding.
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Baldev Raj
Gary Marquis