77th CISM General Assembly and Congress – Lima (PER) – Day 4

LIMA (PER) – The Congress of the 77th CISM General Assembly & Congress started yesterday in the facilities of the Sheraton Hotel in Lima, Peru.

The first day of the CISM Congress started with the welcoming speech of Brigadier-General Hervé Piccirillo, CISM President, who thanked the Peruvian Delegation to CISM for the wonderful organization of this event as well as the Chiefs of Delegation and Delegates of the Member Nations for their presence in Lima. The opening session of the Congress continued with the speech of the Chief of Delegation of Peru, Major-General Francisco J. Costa Gallegos, and the review of the program of activities.

Three key-note speakers then took to the microphone to address a major topic of the CISM policy, the injured and para-athletes. First, Major José Luis Casa Carrión, retired Peruvian Army Officer, Member of the Special Forces Command, Paralympic athlete, and founder of the 'No Limits' Paralympic Sports Centre, presented the history of the Peruvian Paralympic Movement to the representatives of the sixty-five participating countries.

Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Luetzkendorf, Chief of Delegation of Germany to CISM, also presented the Paralympic sport movement within the German Armed Forces and its development in recent years.

The last presentation of the session dedicated to CISM's institutional partners was made by Sergeant-Chef Mickael Renchin, a war wounded member of the National Sports Defense Center, who explained to the delegates his journey and the importance of sport in his rehabilitation and return to a normal life.

It was then the turn of the CISM President, Brigadier-General Hervé Piccirillo, and the CISM Secretary General, Colonel Dorah Mamby Koita, to present their respective reports.

The Vice-Presidents of the four CISM continents also took advantage of this first day of the Congress to present their respective reports, namely Major-General Maikano Abdullahi for Africa, Colonel Leonardo Perdigão De Oliveira for the Americas, Colonel Wang Yijang for Asia, and Colonel Dirk Schwede for Europe. From these reports, we can note the election of Lieutenant-Colonel Nathalie Birgentzlen (CAN) as BoD Member Americas and the election of Major Jan-Henrik Back (SWE) and Lieutenant-Colonel Jure Velepec (SLO) as BoD Member Europe.

After a break and a well-deserved lunch for our delegates, the Congress resumed with a presentation of Mr. Klaus Schormann, the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) President. Mr. Klaus Schormann explained that CISM and UIPM were intricately linked and that he hoped that this collaboration would develop further in the years to come. The UIPM President also presented a gift to the CISM President as a token of his appreciation!

The following report on the current situation of the Budgets and Accounts of CISM was addressed by Brigadier-General Aboubacar Biro Condé, Acting Treasurer General, who among other things, presented the new candidate for the position of Treasurer General as well as the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Budgets.

The last presentations of the day were those of the different CISM Commissions: the report of the Working Group on the Promotion of Gender Equality by Lieutenant-Commander Florentia Skafianou, member of the Women's in CISM Commission; the report of the CISM Regulations Commission by the President of the Commission Colonel Steven Rosso; as well as the presentation of CISM's new strategic and business plans by the President of the Commission Colonel Dirk Schwede.

The day concluded with the signing of the contract for the organization of the BoD 2022/3 meeting which will take place from October 10 to 15 in Larnaca, Cyprus, and with the Closing Address of the CISM President.

See you tomorrow for the second and final day of the CISM Congress.

(Source: CISM Media and Communication Department)