The 2024 financial accounts and the final 2025 budget of the World YMCA were approved at the 89th Executive Committee meeting of 9-11 April 2025. The meeting was held in New Delhi, India, at the invitation of the National Council of YMCAs of India.
The meeting is likely the last time the Committee will meet in person before the 2026 World Council in July 2026 in Toronto, Canada. ‘The road to Toronto’ was a constant theme [see box below].
The 2026 YMCA World Council budget was approved, with Peter Dinsdale, CEO of YMCA Canada, underscoring the commitment of YMCA Canada and YMCA of Greater Toronto to welcome and host the global Movement, while addressing the core challenges of costs, and potentially of visas. World YMCA Global Events Coordinator Kerry Reilly confirmed that the registration fee to be announced at end-April is already subsidised. It was also confirmed that candidacies for elections for the 2026-2030 Officers and Executive Committee members could be submitted between May and September 2025.
Debates were held with World YMCA and Global Staff Team staff to discuss Communications, Resource Development and Partnerships, and the ‘One Movement’ initiative to ensure a ‘fit-for-purpose’ 21st Century YMCA global architecture, ensuring alignment and coordination.
Other Committee discussions covered issues such as the World YMCA risk registry and the role of the volunteers of the Executive Committee in representing World YMCA within the global Movement and beyond.
The Committee also heard updates on recent processes of institutional reflection – for instance, on the conduct of elections, and on launching a Movement-wide conversation on YMCA’s 21st Century Christian identity.
‘We have been fabulously hosted by our Indian colleagues’ said President Soheila Hayek. ‘The warmth of this welcome has been unforgettable. And our discussions in the face of deep global uncertainty have been acts of real stewardship as we take what is special about this YMCA Movement and preserve it for generations to come. In hard times we fight harder.’ She quoted an Indian proverb that ‘A tree with strong roots laughs at storms’.
On the final afternoon of the meeting, the group visited a community development and resettlement centre (Karpoori Thakur) run by YMCA New Delhi, and a multi-sports complex in Faridabad run by the National Council of YMCAs of India, where the Haryana Wheelchair Cricket Association played an inspiring match alongside a lively kabaddi game.
