Photograph – left to right: Natalie Kensley, The Conference Company; HΓ©lΓ¨ne Queyrane, IFUW Programme Officer; Aneshree Pillay, The Conference Company, Catherine Bell, IFUW President ; Lorraine Mangwiro, IFUW Administrative Assistant; DaniΓ¨le Castle, IFUW Executive Director; Nina Freysen-Pretorius, The Conference Company
The Conference Company has been appointed as Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) of the 32nd triennial Conference of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), based in Geneva, Switzerland, which will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 21 to 27 August 2016.
Nina Freysen-Pretorius, Chief Executive Officer of The Conference Company, says she and her team are very honoured by this appointment.Β βThis is not only a major achievement for us, but as an all-women team we believe we are perfectly suited for the job.Β It is important for a PCO to not only deliver a seamless event, but to understand the dynamics and the content thereof.β
She says The Conference Company, which has offices in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, has been researching the IFUW and its conference for over four years and eventually participated in the PCO election process that was managed by Wesgro, the destination marketing, investment and trade promotion agency for the Western Cape.
βThis international conference will bring together opinion leaders and grassroots community leaders on the theme of education, looking at topical subjects ranging from current challenges in education to new technologies, access to education and human rights education,β says IFUW President Catherine Bell.
The IFUW conference is expected to draw approximately 800 delegates from the federationβs affiliates in 62 countries and individual members in more than 40 others.
Founded in 1919, the IFUW is the leading girlsβ and womenβs global organisation advocating for womenβs rights, equality and empowerment through access to quality education and training up to the highest levels.Β The federation is in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is maintaining official relations with the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The Conference Company specialises in the association market.Β Major conferences managed by the company include the COP17 climate change conference held in Durban in 2011, the International Confederation of Midwives in the same year and the Zambian leg of the UN World Tourism Organisationβs world congress at the Victoria Falls in 2013.
