New role for former ICM secretary general.

• Auteur: Hoope-Bender, Petra ten
• Tenlastelegging: Institute for Complementary Medicine

Petra ten Hoope-Bender writes:

Dear colleagues and friends,

Thank you very much for the kind words of farewell and good wishes published in the last issue of IM. I was very touched by your messages and the various aspects of me, my character and my work that you addressed.

It has been both an immense pleasure and an honour to have been the Secretary General of ICM and to work with and get to know you. I have had a unique opportunity to grow and to develop new skills and capacities. Thank you all for your contributions to that.

You have also been of great comfort and support during a very difficult time in my life and I am very grateful for the wisdom and insight with which you stood by me and by the Confederation. The members of the ICM Board of Management in its various constellations--Joyce, Judi, Ruth, Caroline, Margaret, Franka, Maria, Alice and Karlene--and the ICM staff--Sylvia, Elizabeth, Bernadette, Nester, Salua, Maria, Anne, Jessica and Jenny--I wish to thank especially. Working with you has been a great source of pleasure and pride.

I would like to let you all know that I have recently been appointed to the role of Executive Officer of the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health. This Partnership joins together many national and international agencies that are active in the field of Safe Motherhood and is co-chaired by the World Bank and ICM.

It aims to advocate for increased political will and for the strengthening of commitment to quality of care in, and improved access to, maternal and newborn health. It will also focus on mobilising increased resources at global and national levels and, in addition, documenting and disseminating the...