Last October 19, 2026, the IOA Coordination Committee gathered via an online meeting for the election of a new chairman for the IOA. The members were the presidents from the three regions plus the additional member making up a quorum of 6 participants.
The presiding officer for the election was Ken Aukett utilizing the Robert’s Rules of Order pertaining to addressing motions and making a vote. This is very significant for the coordination committee because historically all the significant decisions and motions have to pass through the House of Delegates consisting of 75 countries from the IOA membership.
Having adopted the new format, the coordination committee election was opened with Ken formally nominating Jon Thorkellson of Iceland as Chair while no other nominations and candidates were put forward, Ken asks Jon if he will accept to which he says “I accept and am very grateful.” He will be stepping down as EOA President by 2028 and his term of office for IOA president is from 2026 – to 2028 which is the next World Ostomy Day; and 2028 to 2031. He will carry on working for the African Region that needs a lot of support for people living with an ostomy.
The next nomination was for the position of treasurer where Allen Nash of Australia was nominated. Given that there were no other candidates, he was unanimously elected as treasurer. The account will remain in Iceland where the main responsibility of Allen will be to review all bank statements and check reimbursements for approval. Ken has explained that the 3 regions contribute to the IOA funds with a 40-30-30 set up with the biggest chunk from EOA who has a lot of members. Allen gladly accepted the position and the responsibility.
By virtue of having a secretary, Jon appointed Maria Jose Buoey of Canada as the IOA secretary to which she gladly accepted too.
The meeting began 8:30 Manila time and ended by 9:00 pm.
The list of officers will soon be updated in the IOA site and we extend our Congratulations to all.
