Pre-nominations phase supports wider engagement in IFLA elections process

The first stage of IFLA’s nominations and elections process is complete – our pre-nominations phase. This has achieved its original goal of providing an opportunity for a more diverse range of candidates to engage.

A pre-nominations phase is an innovation for IFLA, designed to provide a way for people who might otherwise struggle to find a nominator to put their name. The goal was to help passionate potential volunteers who do not have access, as well as members who cannot register for all of the sections in which they are interested.

The results were very positive, with almost 350 people applying in total. Below are some key figures from the process!

A boost for regional diversity: There was a greater geographical diversity in the people who came forward for our pre-nominations process than is present in our current volunteer community. In particular, 29 people from 17 different countries which currently do not have any IFLA volunteers came forwards.

In the total number of people coming forwards for pre-nominations, there was also a higher share from Asia-Oceania, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa than are currently represented in our volunteer community. While Europe still represented the greatest share of candidates, Asia-Oceania was only marginally behind.

The graph shown sets out the percentage represented by each region of candidates for pre-nomination, our current volunteers and of our members. It helps to highlight the potential balancing effect that the pre-nominations process will have.

A wide range of interests: we can also see the breadth of interest in different parts of IFLA’s work. In total, there were candidates for 39 different IFLA Section Standing Committees (out of 42), as well as for each one of our six Regional Division Committees and five Advisory Committees. Candidates also came forwards for four different Review Groups.

In terms of the level of focus, 74% of candidates only expressed an interest in one type of committee, while 25% suggested that they might be interested in two different ones. IFLA recommends that potential volunteers focus on just one committee in order to be able to focus their effort on this.

Lessons and next steps

As is suggested by the name, this was just a preliminary step. The team at IFLA HQ and our elections platform partner, Mi-Voice, are currently hard at working setting up the formal nominations phase.

At this point, we will be welcoming potential volunteers to match up with nominators (IFLA members) for the full range of available positions on IFLA committees.

If you were thinking of taking part in our nominations and elections process, it’s therefore not too late! Look out for more information in early 2025, and you can already find out more on our IFLA Elections 2025 website.

Reminder: Deadline for IFLA Members and Affiliates to pay relevant membership fees in order to be able to nominate: 20 December 2024.

Contact [email protected] for more information.