Message from the President Archive
2003 has been a very exciting year for the World Federation with many projects coming to fruition and many more planned and in progress. Occupational therapy in the words of Anne Wilcock is about .."doing, being and becoming". Well, the World Federation is doing lots, being active and becoming a world-class organization in the true occupational therapy tradition.
First and foremost, our WFOT 2006 Congress will be held from 23 to 28 July, 2006 in Sydney, Australia, a very accessible city which has only recently hosted the Olympics. The scientific programme will offer many opportunities to explore the diversity of practice that makes up our world of occupational therapy. Preparations are now well under way. We will be releasing regular updates regarding progress and you will soon be receiving more information via your national association as well as via this website.
We welcomed you to our new website at the end of 2002. Its usage has increased exponentially-from 2000 hits per month a year ago to over 500,000 per month now from every corner of the globe. We have increased the number of pages and resources and we already have plans for more in 2004. Registration with OTION continues to increase and the OTION discussion forums continue to be well supported. Do register and join the forums.
The Federation has continued to pursue its strategic goal of developing and promoting the profession worldwide with 3 new members to be admitted in 2004 and ongoing discussions regarding establishing the profession and education programmes in China and Egypt and other countries around the globe.
Meetings with the President of WCPT, COTEC, ENOTHE and other organizations over the year have contributed to international understanding and collaboration.
WFOT prepared a position paper for the WHO consultancy on community based rehabilitation (CBR), held in Helsinki, Finland in May of this year. The development of this paper has been an excellent example of international cooperation and global communication. We have had the input of occupational therapists working in CBR in virtually every part of the world. We will soon be enlarging this into a major project, but in the meantime, please send us your comments on this significant paper before March 1, 2004.
This year saw the printing and distribution of the Minimum Standards of Education for Occupational Therapists 2002. It has already been translated into German. French, Spanish and Chinese translations are forthcoming. The Draft Guidelines for the Implementation of the Standards can be found on the home page of the website and again we invite your comments before March 1, 2004. To support understanding of the Minimum Standards, the WFOT has recently released and distributed a CD-rom presentation - An Introduction to the Minimum Standards of Education for Occupational Therapists 2002. All existing occupational therapy education programmes will receive a complimentary copy and extra copies are available for purchase.
Our International Advisory Groups (IAG's) continue to allow us to make relevant and informed comments on a number of international issues. Our many projects flourish under our Programme Coordinators and will be discussed in more detail again at our Council Meeting to be held in April, 2004.
Our thanks to all of you who are presently contributing and an invitation for you to contribute to projects groups by emailing our Programme Coordinators listed on the website. As always we appreciate receiving your feedback and suggestions.
As this active year draws to a close, I wish you my very best for Peace --and for caring and sharing--in the coming year.