78th CISM General Assembly & Congress - Moscow (RUS) - Final Update

BRUSSELS (BEL) - The 78th CISM General Assembly and Congress concluded yesterday with the second session of the CISM 2023/2 Board of Directors Meeting.

Prior to this, delegates from member nations present in Brussels and Moscow were able to attend a dense program on April 26 and 27.

We noted the presence of many new Chiefs of Delegation whose list is established as follows:

• In Asia, Commodore Varun Singh (India), Major-General Htein Lin (Myanmar), Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Belhusa (United Arab Emirates), Colonel Mekahel Moussa (Lebanon), Group Captain Eranda Geeganage (Sri Lanka) and Brigadier Dong Yeol (Republic of Korea).
• In Africa, Colonel Shumba Muelus (Zimbabwe), Colonel Ibrahim Koivogui (Guinea), Air Vice-Marshal Aliyu Kabiru (Nigeria), Major-General Mahmoud Khedr (Egypt) and Navy Captain Robert Okoko (Republic of Congo).
• In Europe, attending in presence from Brussels, Colonel Elton Bregu (Albania), Colonel Louis Flynn (Ireland), Major Franck Sandberg (Norway), Lieutenant-Colonel Philippe Marchal (Belgium) and Colonel Alessandro Loiudice (Italy).
• Finally, in Americas, Colonel Jose Luiz Chavez from Venezuela was the only new CoD.

The day of April 26 was dedicated to the CISM Congress during which several presentations were made to the participants. A varied program that approached all the fields of competence of the different departments of CISM.

The day started with reports from the Acting President, the Secretary General and the four Vice Presidents, reports on the CISM budget and financial aspects by the CISM General Treasurer, contributions from the Commissions and Working Groups (Women in CISM, Regulations, Strategy and Solidarity), an overview of the global CISM sports policy by the Director of Sports, the President of the Sports Commission, the PCSC Representative and the presentation of the 1st Rugby 7 Military Challenge by the Russian Delegation to CISM.

The Brazilians Max Leal Dos Santos and Aila Alves Miranda also received their CISM 2022 Athletes of the Year trophies from Colonel Leonardo Perdigão de Oliveira, Vice-President Americas.

The rest of the Congress was dedicated to the presentations of the CISM Academic Department and the CISM Games Department, during which information was given about the organization of the CISM International Symposium 2023 in Tunisia, the 3rd CISM World Cadet Games 2022 and the 4th edition to be held in Venezuela in 2024, the 5th CISM World Winter Games, as well as the awarding of the CISM Solidarity Trophy to the German delegation!

The Congress concluded with the presentation and signing of the contract for the 79th CISM General Assembly and Congress to be held in 2024 in Tanzania, as well as the signing ceremony for the 4th World Cadet Games by the Venezuelan delegation.

Yesterday, the delegates took part in the General Assembly during which they had to vote on the different decision files and statutory elections.

It is without surprise that Colonel Nilton Gomes Rolim Filho (Brazil) was elected to the Presidency of CISM for a four-year term. For the elections to the other BoD positions, we note the following results:

• CISM Vice President Asia: Brigadier-General Rashid Mahboob Al-Dosari from Qatar
• CISM Vice President Americas: General Delio Rosario Colon from Dominican Republic
• BoD Member Africa : Colonel Djabou M'hammed Abdelhak from Algeria, Brigadier Elijah Ndegwa Gatere from Kenya and Colonel Sega Sissoko from Mali (co-opted)
• BoD Member Americas: Luiz Fernando Toledo Leal from Brazil
• BoD Member Asia: Senior Colonel Yijiang Wang from China (co-opted)

After the CISM Congress and General Assembly, the day of April 28 was dedicated to the second session of the CISM 2023-2 Board of Directors chaired by the new President, Colonel Nilton Gomes Rolim Filho, who opened the meeting and thanked the BoD members and delegations for their confidence.

Family photo of the attendees to the CISM GA & Congress in Brussels taken in the garden of the Belgian Royal Military Academy

After the farewell ceremony of the outgoing BoD members, Mr. David Vandenplas and Mr. Maxime Sempo took the floor to present the different updates related to their respective departments while several additional topics resulting from the first session and the General Assembly were also discussed during this session.

A delighted President addressed the BoD members to conclude this intense week of work and thank them for their support and involvement in our organization.

Thank you to Russia and Belgium for hosting and organizing this wonderful event and see you in 2024 in Tanzania, host country of the 79th CISM GA and Congress!

(Source: CISM Media & Communication Department)