The meeting was opened by Dr. Francisco George, Director-General, Department of Health, Portugal, who spoke about the Portuguese government’s comprehensive health care package.
Governing Council was also joined by the Vice President and Executive Director of the Portuguese Member Association, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007.
The chair of Governing Council thanked its Portuguese hosts for their marvellous efforts contributing to the introduction of new legislation on legal abortion by the Portuguese parliament in 2007.
On the first day Governing Council was also joined by parliamentarians for a lunchtime panel discussion. Topics discussed included IPPF’s priorities and also assistance to East Timor.
The Panel on Sexual Rights established in November 2006 presented a draft of the Bill of Sexual Rights which had been discussed at the Governing Council meeting in May 2007.
Governing Council was confident that this Bill will constitute a central piece of IPPF’s work in defending and promoting the sexual rights of all individuals around the globe.
Our Task Force on Governance and Volunteerism presented a Code of Good Governance which the Governing Council approved. This Code is part of an initiative to strengthen the capacity of the governing bodies of IPPF and our Member Associations.
The Task Force also proposed a new policy on volunteering which Governing Council approved. The policy lays down what volunteering for IPPF means and how Member Associations can encourage volunteers to join and support the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights movement.
The Governing Council also supported the Task Force proposal to establish an award for outstanding volunteers and individuals who have made significant contributions to the movement.
Governing Council reviewed and approved policies on:
- resource mobilization
- risk management
- emergency financial support
- purchase of contraceptives, condoms and reproductive health medicines
At the meeting, Governing Council also accredited 16 Member Associations, bringing the number of accredited full members to 73.
Governing Council also took the difficult decision to suspend the Member Associations in Zambia and South Africa from IPPF membership. This was done because of the failure of these Associations to satisfactorily address increasing financial difficulties and Governing Council will receive an update on the situation at its next meeting in May 2008.