Dear National Centres and Representatives, dear friends,
I send my warmest greetings, best wishes, and joy to all our fellow members around the world during this Holiday Season!
As UNIMA members, we have so many special occasions to celebrate. As you may have read on 18 December, our dear member from UNIMA Bulgaria, Svetlomira Stoyanova, was elected Chairperson of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee. This is truly an exciting moment! Her election to this two-year position is not only well-deserved but also deeply meaningful.
As President, I am proud to have supported her candidacy. It is vital that highly competent, charismatic, courageous, and dedicated younger women are recognized for their expertise and given opportunities to assume leadership roles. Svetlomira’s election is a powerful statement about the increasing influence of women in key leadership positions.
This election also further underscores the vital importance of our arts and culture, and UNIMA is recognized as a relevant and influential organization! This recognition highlights UNIMA’s standing among the 425+ NGOs affiliated with UNESCO.
We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Mr. Nick Newland, the outgoing Chairperson of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee, for his dedication and service.
As we approach 2025, we look forward to reading about the amazing achievements of all our National Centres in the upcoming reports, so that we can celebrate together the thriving of puppetry art globally as we move toward the 24th UNIMA Congress in Chuncheon, Republic of Korea.
However, it’s equally important to continue celebrating each other and the “Good Work and Good Puppetry” we create, perform, and share. Through our shared love for puppetry and our place in this unique union, we lay the foundation for a strong sense of community, fellowship, and family.
This is what makes UNIMA so precious—the family of friends we’ve built through our common respect and passion for puppetry.
May 2025 bring comfort and joy to the world, a cessation of conflict, and healing of divisions. As members of the UNIMA family, this is our sincere wish and prayer for the world.
Joy to each of you, to your families, and to the world!
Cheers,
Karen Smith
President of UNIMA International