Dear readers of the EBU newsletter,
As we are starting into a new Year, I wish all of you first and foremost a very happy, healthy and successful 2024! With only few weeks to go until our 12th General Assembly, it is obvious that this year will bring quite a number of changes: A new leadership taking us further in our organisational development, based on the foundations laid by the current and previous leaders. And we can look at this process of change with optimism: The number of candidates willing to devote their time, expertise and energy to the common home of EBU show real interest in building a solid future! But the renewal is not only happening at the level of the leadership. The General Assembly will also determine the course of action for many years to come; The key priorities for our advocacy, communications, project work, as well as for the overall direction of travel of EBU will be discussed and agreed upon. This future course of action shall also be based on the learnings from the immediate past. In that respect, I am taking advantage of this introduction to share with you the annual evaluation report, prepared by our external evaluator, Dominique Danau, and thanks to your inputs!
No doubt, both the General Assembly as such, and the subsequent implementation of the agreed actions, will rely on an active membership, a committed leadership and a well-functioning secretariat. So, the spirit of collaboration and togetherness must guide us through this year.
At the same time as gearing-up for the future, EBU will also be celebrating its past achievements this year. 40 years of commitment, of fighting for equal rights at all levels of society, of bringing the movement closer together across borders, and of milestone achievements changing the daily life of so many blind and partially sighted people in Europe are all good reasons for celebration. The motto of our General Assembly nicely reflects what I wish for EBU this year and beyond: Engagement, balance, unity. May this new year help us to realise this motto even more in practice.
Lars Bosselmann, EBU Executive Director