annualreport2001

IIHFD

Annual Reports

2001

WORKING TOGETHER TO ESTABLISH THE IIHFD: THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S 2001 REPORT

The year 2001 has ended and I believe we all are happy about our personal and team accomplishments. In light of this, may I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your personal achievements and continuing contributions to the IIHFD. It is my hope that we would continue to contribute our invaluable input to the IIHFD.

It can hardly be denied that the terrorist act of September 11, 2001 proved beyond every reasonable doubt the true significance of the human factor (HF). This act revealed the seriousness and magnititude of the damage severe HF decay could cause to our communities. I am, however, convinced that we will fail to deal effectively with future acts of terrorism if we neglect to channel the requisite resources into developing the positive HF.

In light of this, few people would deny the centrality of the HF in our social, economic, and political lives. This is the message we at the IIHFD must pass on to the rest of the world—especially to everyone concerned with peace in our immediate communities in particular and the Global Village at large. The desire to do this is the primary motivation for every activity we engage in as members of an international development research institute.

This passing year, we engaged ourselves in running the Tutorial Service Program (TSP) in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. While Dr. Francis Adu-Febiri leads the TSP in Victoria, Mr. Salomon Agbenya gave leadership to the TSP in Vancouver. Recall from last year’s report that we designed and implemented the TSP for inner city children in these cities. Those in charge of the TSP assist inner city children with their academic work and needs. The leaders use volunteers to teach and encourage the children who attend the program of activities in certain academic subjects (i.e., Mathematics, English, French, Social Studies, and Personal Development). Our goal is to learn from these pilot programs and then extend the services to children in other cities where we have members who are able to set it up. When we are successful in this venture, it would be one of our primary contributions to practical community development in our various cities of residence.

We have also continued with the publication of our journal, Review of Human Factor Studies (RHFS). The RHFS is the primary vehicle we have through which we share our ideas, insights, and academic research. To the extent our own funds have permitted us, we have benn successful in producing the two issues for the year. The December 2001 issue is a special one and would be released either at the end of January or the beginning of February 2002. This first special issue of the journal focuses on Violence and Human Factor Development. Our guest editor is Dr. Kym A. Dawson.

Under the leadership of Dr. Benjamin Ofori-Amoah, we continued to work with our lawyers to gain charitable status for the US Chapter of the IIHFD. This process is still in motion and we believe that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will grant the IIHFD this status early in the New Year—2002. The attainent of this status in the US will open new doors and also offer tremendous opportunities to us. We plan to provide you with progress report as the process unfolds.

We also planned and successfully carried out an anti-racism education conference in Vancouver (March 23-24, 2001). The planning, promotion, and carrying out of the proceedings of this conference were under the able leadership of Ms. Line Guilbert-Wolff, Mr. Salomn Agbenya, and Dr. Joseph Mensah. The conference was funded by the British Columbia Ministry of Multiculturalism and Immigration. The conference made a great impact. It was part of our plan to get involved in practical community development education programs and projects. Dr. Adu-Febiri and Dr. Harold Harder also organized community-focused seminars to be held in Victoria and Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The guest of honor was to be Claude Mararike—Professor of Sociology from University of Zimabwe and the leader of the Zimbabwe Chapter of the IIHFD. Unfortunately, however, these activities did not take off because Claude could not make it to Canada as planned.

This year, we had one book published for us by the University Press of America. Its title is: Portraits of Human Behavior: The Human Factor in Action. I edited the book. I wish to express my appreciation to everyone who contributed to the development and publication of this book. I urge you to not only acquire a copy of this book for your own library, but also recommend it to your librarians—to acquire copies for your library. There is currently another book project on International Development in propress. We hope that this book too will bring a great honor to all of us when it is completed and published.

The year 2001, however, was not without tremendous challenges. First, though our finances were not great, we successfully published the first issue (June) of the journal, Review of Human Factor Studies (RHFS). The journal has always been financed through your annual membership dues. Without this source of funding, it would be extremely difficult to keep the journal running. Second, it was impossible to locate individuals to assist us with certain tasks on volunteer basis. Areas for which we need ongoing volunteer oversight include (1) Journal Promotion; (2) Journal Indexing; (3) Fund Raising; and (4) Running the Tutorial Service Program (TSP) in Vancouver. Each of these activities is crucial to our continuing survival and success as we move into the future.

REQUESTS
To successfully carry out our mission, we need unparalleled commitment from all of you beyond your ongoing financial contributions. As noted in the last paragraph, we need some dedicated volunteers to oversee each of the following areas:

1. Journal Promotion
2. Journal Indexing
3. Fund Raising

In light of these, if you are interested in helping us with any of these areas, please let us know. Once we have an individual in charge, that person would develop a team of people to work with.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
As we pursue our mission in 2002, we plan to engage in the following practical community development projects and research activities as funds become available:

1. Commence fund raising activities aimed at the establishment of the Human Factor Research Center—to serve as the physical location of the IIHFD. At this center, we would promote research, conferences, publishing, education, training, and so on.
2. Design and run HF development programs for the youth and community leaders. Work with community leaders and members to promote the development of the positive HF.
3. Hold local seminars and discussion group meetings on issues of significant interest to local people.
4. Engage in the writing of grant applications to generate adequate funds to (a) support research; (b) initiate monograph development and publication; and (c) establish community-based development education programs (i.e., TSP).
5. Redesign and improve the quality of our website [www.iihfd.com].
6. Locate and work with a group of committed people who would take the lead in developing a Chapter of the IIHFD in Ghana. If possible, I would be glad if we could begin a similar Chapter in Nigeria.

In conclusion, please permit me to express my thanks and appreciation to you for your significant contributions to the ongoing activities of the IIHFD. Together, we can make tremendous contributions to the success of the human endeavor as we look for workable solutions to our social, economic, and political problems. Have a great and successful year.