ITF Chair Ambassador Karel de Beer's Blog: New Post

Ambassador Karel de Beer, ITF Chair, has started a new blog to share the work and activities of the Chairmanship.  To read his second post, please click below.

14 April 2011

A fortnight ago at the Secretariat in Berlin I had a one-day meeting with the current and former Chairs of the Working Groups of the ITF. In March I already had a conversation with the Communications Working Group about strategies to increase the visibility of the ITF.  The main objective of the discussions with the Chairs of the Working Groups was to get them more closely involved with the Chairmanship. Their views on the future of the ITF in general and my White Paper in particular are important.  Additionally we discussed ways to improve the relationship between the WG's and the Plenary. We had a very good and intensive discussion and I am convinced that the expertise and commitment of the Chairs will contribute tremendously to the success of the ITF. I am looking forward to hear from the Chairs after they have consulted with their Working Group members. The Secretariat has drafted a report of the meeting.

At the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland I attended the Regional Forum on the prevention of genocide in Bern.  Since this was - after meetings in Argentina and Tanzania - a European Forum, many European countries and international organizations attended. I was asked to preside over the session dealing with the role of countries (next to the role of NGOs and international organizations) in genocide prevention. The added value of the Forum is that it creates a link between academics, experts and the day to day practice of top civil servants and international organizations.  It became clear to me that there is room for closer collaboration between the Forum and the ITF. I think it is worthwhile to explore this further and I will report on this later in the year.

The Forum in Bern was followed by a one-day trip to Zagreb, Croatia. Together with the Head of Delegation of Croatia, Mrs. Paravic, I visited Jasenovac, the site of a concentration camp where so many Serbs, Jews and Roma perished in the war. It was an impressive site, right on the border with present day Bosnia. Again - like in so many countries I have visited - you can see and feel the history of the Holocaust linked with more recent histories.  Over lunch at the Jasenovac museum we had a long discussion with the Croatian delegation about their views and ideas on and expectations of the ITF. Croatia is proud of the steps they have made in education and training in cooperation with ITF partners. We exchanged some views on ways to translate ITF's objectives to the national level. In the afternoon, as was the case during my visits to many other ITF member states, I visited NGOs and the Jewish community. Although the Jewish population in Croatia is quite small there are two vibrant Jewish communities. Currently, Croatia is the only ITF member in this European region, but several countries have expressed interest in joining, so I am sure I will be back in this part of Europe later this year.

I'm preparing myself for the last round of visits to ITF countries. I will be visiting Spain, Italy and Greece in the beginning of May.