The Union of International Associations (UIA) has been in existence for 110 years but I only found out about it a few years ago when it requested our organization, the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), to be listed in its directory of international associations around the world.
The Brussels-based UIA is a research institute and documentation center founded in 1907 by Henri La Fontaine, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Paul Otlet, the founding father of information science. UIA is not-for-profit, apolitical, independent and non-governmental organization (NGO) and has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges.
One of UIA’s enduring services to the association world is its yearbook of international organizations with detailed information on over 37,000 active and 32,000 dormant international organizations from 300 countries and territories, including intergovernmental and international NG. It also lists over 20,000 associations and other membership organizations worldwide. Available both in print and online versions, the printed version that consists of seven sets of thick, hardbound volumes find its way to libraries in the US and other countries.
ADFIAP is honored to be admitted as a member in active status with the UIA two years ago. This led to an invitation in September last year to be a speaker on association governance and management at UIA’s Associations Roundtable Asia Pacific in Busan, South Korea, attended by over 100 delegates from 80 organizations in 20 countries. This learning and networking program that UIA runs annually in the region is a must-attend event for association professionals, aiming to further their knowledge and contacts. This year the Asia-Pacific Roundtable will be in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on September 21 and 22.
I had the fortunate opportunity to visit the UIA Brussels headquarters recently after attending an ADFIAP coorganized sustainable finance conference in Karlsruhe, Germany. There, I met with the UIA management and brainstormed on potential cooperation and was later hosted to meet some of its member-association executives whom I am now in contact with for possible collaborative projects.
The reason I am featuring UIA in this column is because of its unique work and advocacy for and in behalf of the global association community in terms of information and educational value. Associations here in the Philippines can learn from the various resources that UIA has produced over the years and know that opportunities and challenges of associations around the world are similar in many aspects. Associations here can also understand that one of the keys to success is that of knowing what’s out there in terms of content, experience and partnership possibilities. After all, associations need not reinvent the wheel, so to speak, to achieve their purpose and further their mission.
This article was published by the Business Mirror on August 3, 2017 and may not be reproduced without prior consent from the author and Business Mirror.
Association Man 