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By-Laws

These By-Laws specify the detailed application of the Statutes and establish the Rules of Procedure of the Federation

I. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS

1. Applications for Full Membership and for Associate Membership Status must be addressed to the Secretary-General.

2. Applications must be accompanied by a copy of the constituting documents of the organization, including a statement of its objectives, a description of its programmes and the size and sources of its budget. The Secretary-General shall ensure that each application is complete and may request further information from the applicant.

3. More than one national organization from a particular country and more than one regional organization from a particular region may be admitted as Full or Associate Members.

4. a) Applications for Observer shall be accepted or rejected by the Executive Board and reported to the General Assembly, which shall also have power when in session.
b) The President with the consent of the Executive Board may invite Special Guests to meeting of the General Assembly and Executive Board.

II. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

A. CONSTITUTION
5. The President of the Federation shall preside at sessions of the General Assembly. In case of absence, the First Vice-president shall preside.

6. The date and place of the next ordinary session of the General Assembly shall be communicated to the Members at least six (6) months in advance.

7. The working languages of the General Assembly shall be English or French.

B. AGENDA
8. Items proposed for inclusion in the Agenda must be received by the Secretary-General at least four (4) months before the fixed date for an ordinary session of the General Assembly.

9. The Agenda of the General Assembly shall be sent by the Executive Secretary to all Members and Associate Members at least three (3) months before the first day of the session. Items may be added at the time of the session only with the consent of two thirds of the Members present and taking part in the vote.

10. As a rule, the following order of business shall be observed on the Agenda:
a. Consideration of Agenda
b. Study of Reports
i. Executive Board
ii. Secretary-General
iii. Treasurer
iv. Other;
c. Budget and Membership Fee Schedule;
d. Future Programme and New Projects;
e. Elections:
i. Officers
ii. Executive Board;
f. Other Business

C. PROCEDURE
11. At the request of the President, the Secretary-General or the Treasurer may report to the General Assembly on any question on the Agenda.

12. Draft resolutions, motions and amendments to be submitted to the General Assembly shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary-General.

D. VOTING
13. Voting shall normally be by show of hands.

14. A roll call vote is obligatory when requested by at least five (5) delegates or decided upon by the President.

15. Voting by secret ballot may take place at the request of at least five (5) delegates.

16. Decisions shall be made by a majority of delegates present and taking part on the vote. An abstention shall not be considered a vote for the purpose of determining the majority.

17. In the event of an equality of votes for and against a motion, the President shall have a casting vote.

E. POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITES
18. The General Assembly shall have, in particular, the following powers and responsibilities:
a. Elect the Officers of the Federation;
b. Elect the individual members of the Federation;
c. Examine, on the proposal of the Executive Board, each application for membership of the Federation, and accept or reject it;
d. On the proposal of the Executive Board, decide the rate of annual dues to be paid by the Members;
e. Cancel, on proposal of the Executive Board, the membership of any Member who has failed to meet its obligations;
f. Examine and approve the accounts for the period since the previous ordinary session of the General Assembly and discharge the officers of liability;
g. Examine and approve the report of the Executive Board on the activities of the Federation since the previous ordinary session of the General Assembly;
h. Approve the programme and budget of the Federation for the next two years, on the proposal of the Executive Board;
i. Deal with any other item of concern to it.

III. EXECUTIVE BOARD

A. ELECTIONS
19. The President, First Vice-president, Second Vice-president shall be eligible for re-election for two additional terms.

20. The Secretary-General and the Treasurer shall be eligible for re-election at the end of each term.

21. The other Ordinary Members of the Executive Board shall be eligible for re-election for three additional terms.

22. The pattern of representation of regions shall be established for the officers and other members of the Executive Board.

B. MEETING
23. The Executive Board shall meet as often as necessary, but at least twice between the General Assembly meetings and shall decide the date and place of its own meetings. The President may convene a meeting of the Executive Board in case of urgency, provided fifteen (15) days written notice is given.

24. The Secretary-General shall draw up Minutes of each meeting of the Executive Board and circulate these to Members for their approval within one (1) month after the meeting. The final Minutes of the previous meeting shall be sent to Members with the Agenda of the next meeting.

25. The Executive Board shall follow the same procedure in its discussions and voting as the General Assembly.

C. POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
26. Under its general mandate by Statutes, the Executive Board shall have the following powers and responsibilities:
a. Organize, carry out and direct the programme of the Federation as approved by the General Assembly;
b. Plan the programme of activities of the Federation and submit proposals for consideration by the General Assembly;
c. In case of urgency, undertake such initiatives as it considers appropriate, subject to the availability of funds and to the ratification of the next session of the General Assembly;
d. Prepare the Agenda and approve all necessary arrangements for the sessions of the General Assembly;
e. Propose a budget of the Federation for consideration by the General Assembly;
f. Propose the rate of annual membership fees for consideration by the General Assembly;
g. Oversee the accounts of the Federation and submit a financial report to the General Assembly;
h. Determine arrangements for the Secretariat of the Federation and appoint the chief staff officer;
i. Deal with such matters as may be referred to it by the General Assembly or requested by Members;
j. Exercise all such powers as are not in the Statutes explicitly required to be exercised by the General Assembly of the Officers.

IV. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE TREASURER

27. The Secretary-General shall be responsible for the activities of the Executive Secretary and the Secretariat namely for:
a. All correspondence with Members and maintaining a list of Members correspondents; all correspondence with the Federation shall be addressed to the Secretariat;
b. Notices of Meeting, preparation and distribution of Agendas, arrangements for the Meetings, attending all Meetings of the General Assembly and Executive Board and keeping and distribution of Minutes of these meetings;
c. Communicating all draft resolutions, motions or amendments submitted to him to the Executive Board and the General Assembly, and to all Members when the General Assembly is not in session;
d. Keeping the Statutes and By-Laws up-to-date by circulating revised and dated copies to all Members after each General Assembly Meeting at which they were amended;
e. Keeping Members informed of the important proposals, decisions and actions of the Executive Board and other Committees;
f. Preparation of an annual report on the work of the Federation which shall be distributed to all Members no later than February 28 of the following year;
g. Performing such other duties as assigned in these By-Laws or may be assigned by the Executive Board.

28. The Treasurer shall:
a. Keep full, detailed accounts of the revenues and expenditures of the Federation;
b. Submit financial statements to the Executive Board at each of its Meetings and an audited annual statement of accounts to the Executive Board and the General Assembly;
c. Collect annual membership fees from Members and report to the Executive Board thereon, including any non-payments;
d. Make disbursements for expenses in accordance with the approved budget of the Federation;
e. Be responsible for all other financial matters that may arise or may be referred to him/her by the Executive Board.

V. SECRETARIAT

29. The Secretariat shall assist the Officers in carrying out their duties as defined in these By-Laws.

30. The Executive Secretary shall be responsible for preparation and distribution of such publications as the Federation may publish.

31. The Executive Board shall determine the location of the Secretariat and ensure that it is equipped to administer the work of the Federation efficiently.