I agree that these pledges are ambitious but having travelled worldwide, I feel they are necessary for the progress of the community. We must work hard and do our level best to achieve them inshAllah.

I feel these can be acheived in three years by:

a) stronger relationships with the regions - Alhamdullilah we have strong and established regional federations around the world. What we need to do is make sure that they are fully supported by the World Federation: I plan to work in partnership with the regional federations on those pledges which help their members locally.

For example: on the worldwide census, I will make sure the questions are tailored to the needs of each region and are given the resources to drive this project in partnership with their Jamaats.

b) more effective Secretariat - I feel the Secretariat needs to be better resourced and equipped; whilst being focused around these pledges. I appreciate the current Assistant Secretary General ("ASG") System, This system came in 3 years ago and replaced the system of boards and desks which were led by a chairman. In the current system an ASG leads a department such as Islamic Education or Health or Education but I feel significant improvements can be made to that structure.

For example the Assistant Secretary General or Secretariat heads (whatever their title) need to be given individual budgets, greater authority in day-to-day matters and must travel to the regions more widely. This is something that I am keen to do as it will increase their effectiveness and mean that much more can then be delivered.
It is the staff and volunteers of the Secretariat who will lead the delivery of the 99 pledges, and we must fully support them in doing so.

c) recruiting more volunteers, particularly the young professionals of our community - We need to increase the number of volunteers. I also strongly feel that these volunteers must come from around the world, not just the UK.

The volunteers are the lifeblood of our community institutions: the institutions would not run without them. In particular, we need to attract young professional volunteers and retirees, who can contribute so much. If we do this, we have more manpower and can deliver much more for the community.

In addition, we need to recruit specialist volunteers for specialist areas such as for the International Economic Advisory Council, NGO, Ulama Council etc.

These individuals must have the right experience and calibre. They exist in our communtiy and we will need regions and Jamaats to help identify them.