Chairperson of IFL Seychelles elected onto International IFL Committee   |30 September 2023

The Seychelles delegation during a presentation

Chairperson of the International Friendship League (IFL) Seychelles, Marie-Nella Azemia, has been elected as the vice-chairperson of the International IFL Committee.  

This was on the second day of the Annual Assembly held in St John’s Canada, from September 14 to 21. 

Mrs Azemia was in the past elected to the committee, but was unable to take up the position due to other civil society commitments in Seychelles at the time.

“I feel that this election is very important. Reviewing the structure of the organisation and the direction in which we are heading, I feel that it is important that the committee comprises experienced members, and that it is truly international,” Mrs Azemia remarked.

Mrs Azemia added that she intends to maintain the position for three years, where her primary focus will be to work closely with IFL groups on the African mainland, as they are relatively young groups and lack certain resources.

“I would like to work with them to assist and support them through projects, to secure resources which will enable them to implement yet more projects for the benefit of their communities,” Mrs Azemia added.

With her vast experience, Mrs Azemia will also be assisting the newly elected chairperson in discharging functions relevant to the organisation.

The newly elected committee comprises members from Europe, Canada, Africa and the Indian Ocean (Seychelles).

The Annual Assembly was organised by the International IFL Committee, in collaboration with the Avalon IFL Group in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

The Seychelles delegation was headed by Mrs Azemia, and members Margaret Louise (secretary) and Yvonne Azemia (member).

Besides the normal issues such as adoption of Standing Orders, matters arising from the minutes, Financial Reports and Annual Group Reports and Projects implemented by the different groups, the Assembly viewed a special video made up of project submissions submitted by the different IFL groups which depicted their work done on their local grounds. This gave the attendees a good view of what was going on around the globe.

In addition, the Assembly officially recognised and welcomed three new groups to its family namely, St John’s, Montenegro, and the Salem group in India.

Other interesting events included the announcement of the three winners of the Peace Writing Competition 2023 by youths aged 14 to 16 years from Malawi, Senegal and Uganda, and historic tours in New Foundland, the Heritage tour at the Lighthouse, the Governor’s House.

Additionally, attendees had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Avalon, the IFL Clarke’s Beach Group and also the Avalon Group, where members learned a lot on the work that the two groups are engaged in.

Also included in the programme were cultural activities where the Seychelles group exhibited local items and artifacts as well as colourful posters and booklets about Seychelles, produced by the Tourist Information Office. The delegation also delivered a short presentation on the domestic tourism industry.

In view that IFL provides opportunities for people of different cultures, race and social background to meet with each other with the aim of promoting peace and friendship, delegates are sometimes given the opportunities to live with local hosts for one or a few days. This time round, the Seychelles delegation was hosted by a member of ‘Port De Grave’ in the Newfoundland group, whose residence is surrounded by colourful flowers and located in a nice secluded spot overlooking the ocean.

The last Assembly was held in 2019 in Spain after which it stopped as a result of the Covid pandemic. For the past 3 years, the assembly was conducted via zoom despite not always getting the appropriate number of delegates to attend it as expected, sometimes due to problem of connectivity for certain countries on the African continent.

The 2024 International Assembly will be held in Malawi during the month of May.   

IFL is a voluntary, non-commercial and non-sectarian organisation, whose objective is to promote a spirit of friendship and mutual respect among the people of the world with a view to peaceful co-operation in international affairs and better world-wide understanding.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the Seychelles delegation’s participation in the event.

Text & photos contributed