z ASIA-PACIFIC
IFATCA AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST 2021 REGIONAL MEETING
z by FATEH BEKHTI, IFATCA EVP AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST
IFATCA's Africa and Middle East region held its 32nd regional meeting on 16 and 17 December 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and its impact on travel in the region and worldwide, the meeting had to be held virtually for the second time in a row. Unfortunately, the slow vaccination campaign in the African region and the unbalance of the distribution of vaccines made the regional recovery very slow. IFATCA's Africa and Middle East region held its 32nd regional meeting on 16 and 17 December 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic and its impact on travel in the region and worldwide, the meeting had to be held virtually for the second time in a row. Unfortunately, the slow vaccination campaign in the African region and the unbalance of the distribution of vaccines made the regional recovery very slow. The theme of the meeting focused mainly on the AFM recovery plan and how our associations are dealing with day to day operations and also sharing the latest improvement on Safety Management and Fatigue Risk Management System implementations and on staffing issues in the region. The event was well attended, with participants representing twentythree IFATCA Member Associations (MAs). The FACAA (ASECNA) participated as an observer. During the opening address of IFATCA PCX Mr Duncan Auld and the deputy president, Ms Hellena Sjostrom, and EVP-AFM Mr Fateh Bekhti welcomed the participants. In his opening remarks, the EVP AFM expressed his gratitude to the organising committee for their professionalism in bringing this
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regional meeting and expressed his disappointment in being unable to hold a physical meeting for the second year. He also mentioned the issue of sponsoring that our MAs encounter in trying to organise those meetings on top of the travel restrictions and the unavailability of connections in the region. From his side, PCX thanked the organising committee for putting together the e-meeting. He talked about how the Federation sought continuity and reassured the attendees of its commitment to the professional development of Air Traffic Controllers through training and workshops. The Deputy President of the Federation, Ms Helena Sjöström, applauded the efficient organisation of the regional meeting, which looked similar to the annual conference, and thanked the OC for their organisation. She briefly presented the IFATCA Executive Board, representatives, task
forces and their work program. Needless to say, the work of the Federation and its Executive Board has been challenging in recent times.
To better prepare the Federation, Ms Sjöström highlighted the recent proposals submitted to the Member Association for a postal vote. She urged everyone to ensure they submitted their vote to the IFATCA office. Also discussed during the first day was the 2022 Annual Conference in Singapore. The Deputy President highlighted the current travel restrictions to Singapore and assured the Direc-
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