Re-establishing Round Table International was not a straightforward process. Waldo Thöle from South Africa, who served as the first International President of the reconstituted RTI (Comité RTI 1991-1992), wrote a short essay about the circumstances of the time. This report is based on his account of RTI’s rebirth.
Compte personnel
The rebirth of Round Table International was initiated at the WOCO meeting held in Quebec, Canada, in 1988. The motivation for re-chartering Round Table International as an umbrella body for all Round Table Associations throughout the world was that many members were unhappy with their membership of WOCO, and that they felt that the 40 year age limit was not being protected and eroded by the fact that other non Round Table WOCO members were trying to increase the age limit. There were already a number of Round Table Associations throughout the world that were planning to increase the age limit from 40 to 45. The Round Table Associations in general felt that this was a principle of Round Table and should not be changed, and therefore we should have our own International Body with its own rules and regulations protecting various essential elements of Round Table.
There was a move by various non-Round Table Associations to include women in membership, and this was also something which was of concern to Round Table and representatives from some of the other regions. The committee was established and communicated with member associations as to what they required in the constitution, and met on one or two occasions to finalise the draft constitution. This draft constitution was then presented at WOCO in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1990, at a special meeting of Round Table Associations, and was then discussed, amended and accepted. The decision was that the re-charter of Round Table International would take place at the WOCO meeting in Klagenfurt, Austria, on 16th September 1991.
The constitution of Round Table International set out the objects of Round Table International and dealt with the concerns of the various Round Table Associations throughout the world. The association was initially divided into two regions, namely:
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- The Africa Asia Pacific Region (including the Middle East, India, South-East Asia, New Zealand and Australia).
- The European Mediterranean and America’s Region.
The only two officers of Round Table International were the President and the Vice President. A General Secretary was also appointed, whose duty was to prepare and maintain the minutes of the meeting and perform general administrative duties. The President and Vice-President did not receive any remuneration, and the only travelling expenses that were budgeted for by Round Table International were limited and were as follows:
Les frais de voyage du président et de son partenaire pour se rendre à l’assemblée générale annuelle de Round Table International et en revenir, ainsi que ceux du vice-président et de son partenaire, et du secrétaire général. Tous les autres frais de voyage, par exemple, si des associations ou des régions souhaitent que le président ou le vice-président se rende sur place, ces frais doivent être pris en charge par les associations invitantes.
La raison de cette restriction des coûts est que de nombreux avis ont été exprimés au fil des ans, selon lesquels pour devenir président du WOCO, il fallait être riche et disposer d’un temps illimité pour voyager. Cela signifiait que seules quelques personnes pouvaient se présenter à la présidence du WOCO et que le budget des voyages augmentait les coûts de l’association, mais que les membres n’en retiraient que très peu d’avantages.
After the decision to re-charter Round Table International at the WOCO meeting in Austria, the proposal was made that Waldo Thöle (ARTSA) be the Charter President, and Cees Verweij (RT NETHERLANDS) Vice-President. It was proposed that David van Riel (RT BELGIUM) be appointed as General Secretary. When Round Table International’s first AGM was held in Klagenfurt on 16th September 1991, all Round Table International Associations that were present signed The Charter of Round Table International, and elected the aforementioned parties as their first officers and General Secretary.
This was a most exciting moment for Round Table International, and the culmination of two years of negotiations, discussions, meetings, and proposals, as well as bringing a new spirit into Round Table throughout the world. The Charter of Round Table International, which came about due to the concerns of Round Tablers to preserve our unique character and identity, and the Charter, reflected this commitment that we had as Round Tablers. It ensured that we would use the body to promote and foster friendship and fellowship throughout the world, as well as to promote and extend Round Table into countries that did not have associations.
One of the items that arose after the formation of Round Table International was the relationship between RTI and WOCO and the individual Round Table Associations in WOCO. At Klagenfurt it was the first time that we experienced a WOCO AGM as well as a Round Table International AGM taking place during the same week, and over the years, the relationship between Round Table International and WOCO was debated and experimented with and finally at WOCO AGM of 2005 in Costa Rica, a motion by Active 20-30 International, saw the closing of the old WOCO Umbrella Organisation and a formation of the WOCO Foundation. This meant that Round Table International would, from then on, have their own AGM every year, with the Foundation joining as a guest every 3 to 4 years to show what work they had achieved. The first year that it was only a Round Table International AGM was in Polokwane, South Africa, in 2006.
La nouvelle charte de Round Table International a conduit au fil des ans à la consolidation de Round Table ainsi qu’à la construction d’une organisation forte et viable, qui présente aujourd’hui beaucoup plus d’avantages qu’initialement prévu, et qui a continué à se développer de plus en plus. Les associations membres de Round Table International lors de la Charte étaient les suivantes :
Les associations et leur année de fondation
RTBI 1928
RT DENMARK 1936
RT SWEDEN 1943
RT NETHERLANDS 1946
RT BELGIUM 1950
RT FRANCE 1950
RT NORWAY 1947
ARTSA 1950
ARTCA 1953
RT GERMANY 1953
ARTEA 1954
RT SURINAME 1955
RT AUSTRIA 1956
RT SWITZERLAND 1957
WARTA 1960
RT NEW ZEALAND 1961
RT INDIA 1962
RT LUXEMBOURG 1963
RT ITALY 1964
RT HONG KONG 1965
RT ICELAND 1974
RT MALTA 1975
RT ISRAEL 1979
RT MAROCCO 1979
RT BERMUDA 1980
RT CYPRUS 1981
RT GREECE 1981
ARTAG 1982
RT TUNISIA 1983
RT GIBRALTAR 1984
ARTIO 1985
RT USA 1986
RT PORTUGAL 1987
RT ESTONIA 1990
RT HUNGARY 1990
RT LIECHTENSTEIN 1990
RT POLAND 1990Charter Signatories
Liste complète des signataires de la charte Round Table International :
Name Position Waldo Thöle South Africa RTI President Cees Verweij Netherlands RTI Vice President David van Riel Belgium RTI Secretary Gerard O’Herlihy RTBI RTI Charter Committee Dr. Martin Uitz Austria President Walter Max Schwendenwein Austria IRO Marc Picalausa Belguim President Jean de Brauwer Belguim IRO Andreas Tsovloftas Cyprus President Hans de Neergaard Danmark National President Poul Aalund Danmark IRO Nòlvak Leho Estonia National President Vaho Klaaman Estonia IRO Philippe Savioz European & Mediterranean Region Regional Secretary Kari “Lille” Lindroth Finland NVP Keijo Manner Finland National President Esa Anttonen Finland National IRO Francis Depauw France President Philippe Vandevoorde France National IRO Hans-Jûrgen Winter Germany President Michael (Mike) Knauth Germany National IRO Mike Price Hong Kong President Tama’s Halm Hungary President Bjarni Gudmundsson Iceland President Adaslteinn Arivason Iceland IRO Anand Gurdip Singh India President Yaron Hirshson Israel President Giuseppe Lorenzi Italy National President Marco Jacobbi Italy National IRO Parimal Hindocha Kenya National President Christopher Caruana Turner Malta President John Cooper Malta National IRO Cader Jaunbocus Mauritius Vice President John Reinerie Netherlands National President Larry Lepper New Zealand NVP and IRO Trygve Rossebo Norway President Ole Berg Norway National IRO Mark Taylor RTBI IRO Bruce Bennett RTBI National President Dave Frankish South Africa President Jo Neser South Africa IRO Anders Nilsson Sweden President Filip Gille Sweden IRO Felix Mauron Switzerland National President Lucien Métille Switzerland IRO Mohsen Khamassi Tunisia IRO Pete Jackson Zambia President Steve Dyson Zambia IRO / PRO Peter Edmeades Zimbabwe President
Écrit par Waldo Thöle
Sources: Personal Account
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