Welcome text by the new President, Mechthild Neises Rudolf

The beginning was a very emotional moment, the handing over of the it-piece – the gavel – with its long tradition of successful presidencies. I would like to take this opportunity to express my special thanks to Leroy Edozien, who handed over the insignia to me. Since October 2019, he has led ISPOG through times of pandemic, with all its limitations and restrictions with calm prudence, always seeking balance and compromise. These qualities have shaped the cooperation on the Board and impressed me – so it was a chance to get to know ISPOG from the inside during the three years as President-elect. It has been confirmed that I fit into this society, which represents the issues that have been close to my heart since the 1980s. The work of the newly elected or confirmed Board continues, with the new President Elect Chulmin Lee the fascinating task of bringing continents and their people together until the highlight in 2025, the planned ISPOG Congress in Seoul, Korea.

The impressions of the 20th ISPOG Congress in Vienna are still lingering. This conference was a successful attempt to bring together two traditions: the three-country conference (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) which brings together their national societies of psychosomatic gynaecology and obstetrics every three years in this cooperation and the special one in 2022 in combination with the ISPOG congress. I would like to thank in particular the German Society, DGPFG and its President Dr Wolf Lütje for their reliable and goal-oriented cooperation and also for assuming financial responsibility, as well as Mr Hellfried Böhme for the organisation in the preparatory phase and on site in Vienna, and all this in a language that many of us only learned in our school days – thank you for this effort. I would like to thank the three German-speaking congress presidents, this thanks goes to Univ.-Prof. DDr. Barbara Maier, Austria, Professor Martina Rauchfuß, Germany and Dr. Dorothea Hefti, Switzerland. All of them have contributed very interesting topics and speakers and thus contributed to the success of our joint congress, and we owe Barbara Maier the contact to the Sigmund Freud University in Vienna, a very special location, modern and perfectly equipped technically. For ISPOG, the basis of success is that all members in the Executive Committee and individual researchers were committed to the high quality of the contributions – so we had a lively exchange with enriching encounters with about 250 participants from 22 nations. At this point I can also say that the ISPOG family members were happy to be able to meet each other again in presence – we do not want to do without this in the future.

All main sessions were recorded, so there is still the possibility to listen to important topics. The Project ISPOG book on the Congress “Pandemic World – Influence on Woman and their families in their societies” as working title.

Part of our congress motto and picture is the story that we started with Nicolina, 12 years old when she submitted the picture. Her picture was chosen for the flyer and the programme, complemented with a little musical congress introduction. We finished with the picture of Hinari Koizumi, 10 years old when she drew it.

Your image unites us in the thought of “One World” and the call for peace has not been so urgent for a long time. Now we, the Board and the Congress team, after a slight post-Congress blues, say goodbye to a well-deserved summer break and wish you all, the Congress visitors and readers of our newsletters, a relaxing summer, with goals as you wish them and much optimism for everything in the future, stay healthy and faithful to us.