ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITY FROM THE FEDERATION: THE BOARD OF THE WFD MEETS IN ISTANBUL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ITS HISTORY

WFD, to which Turkish National Federation of the Deaf has become full member in 1963, is going to hold its Board Meeting for the first time in its history in Istanbul, Turkey on 22 – 28 March 2010. Turkish National Federation of the Deaf which has mobilized its financial and moral resources to win the bidding for the 17th World Congress of the WFD was seeking an unprecedented opportunity to introduce the deaf people and Turkey to the Board Members of the WFD.
This aim prompted Turkish National Federation of the Deaf to propose WFD to hold its next Board meeting in Istanbul, Turkey which was assumed to be held in Saudi Arabia prior to Istanbul’s candidacy. Turkish National Federation of the Deaf succeeded in its relentless lobby efforts to change the venue of the next WFD Board meeting to Istanbul. Ibrahim Toraman, the International Relations Coordinator of the Turkish National Federation of the Deaf, commented on the decision by indicating that, “This is a prestigious step for Turkey as well as the Federation. It should be regarded as a milestone preceding the 17th Congress of the WFD.”
According to the procedure of the statute of the WFD, the Board meetings are held twice a year in member federation countries. One board member from each continent and other authorized staff of the WFD participates in the Board meetings in which the activities of the WFD, the decisions for the following term and the problems of the deaf people all over the way and the ways of solving these problems are being handled.