Guídelines on Registration, Credentials, Candidacies, and Elections for IUCN s Members in Central America, México, and the Caribbean

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1 Guídelines on Registration, Credentials, Candidacies, and Elections for IUCN s Members in Central America, México, and the Caribbean VIII Mesoamerican Regional Forum I Caribbean Regional Forum Regional Forum Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Octubre 2011 Arrival, registration, and credentials of the participants In the international airport of the city of Santo Domingo, on Wednesday the 5 th of October, transportation means will be available for all the participants, according with the schedules of arrival, for their transfer to the Hotel Santo Domingo Sur, Its address can be found in the regional forum website. Likewise the participants transfer to the airport will be arranged for Saturday, the 8 th of October. Upon their arrival to the hotel and after their registration, they are advised to start their process of registration and accreditation in the Regional Forum. Governance of the Regional Forum according to the IUCN s By-laws According to article 68 of the IUCN s By-laws, Between sessions of the World Congress, a Regional Forum of Members may be held for each Region, or part of a Region, inter alia, to enable Members to participate in the preparation and evaluation of the programme and strategies of IUCN and to prepare for the next session of the World Congress. Either the Members, or the Council, may convene a Forum. All Members of IUCN in the Region have the right to be invited to and participate in a Forum. A Forum may determine its own organization. The Rules of Procedure of the World Congress shall apply mutatis mutandis to such Regional Fora. Additionally, the Mesoamerican Committee has available a By-laws document and also Regulations for the celebration of Regional Fora of IUCN Mesoamerica revised in The Regional Committee of the Caribbean Members has its own By-laws, approved by the Council in Accreditation: According to article 12 (a.ii) of the IUCN By-laws, the IUCN members, have the right to participate in the regional fora. Nevertheless, a member s right, as far as the elections, the vote and the motions are concerned, will be ipso facto suspended when the payment of fees is one year behind.. If the member s delay as to the payment of fees reaches two years, the case will be submitted to the World Congress, that has the power to cancel the member s remaining rights. The cancellation will be based on the terms established by the World Congress. 1 Summary of the agrreement to the Regulations for the celebration of regional fora of IUCN--Mesoamérica oct-1999 and the By-laws and Regulations of the IUCN. 1

2 NOTE:All the members attending the Regional Forum in the Dominican Republic with the IUCN financial support have their annual fees up-to-date, at least up to the The members participating without such support must be aware that if they are not up-to-date in their payments according to the By-laws, they will not be able to use their rights. Registration: On Wednesday the 5th of October, once the participants are registered in the Hotel Santo Domingo, the process of registration and accreditation of all the participants will start whereby they will receive their identification badge and their voting credentials according to their membership level, the documents related to the forum and their pre-registration for the groups work during the Forum. As far as the Mesoamerican Committee is concerned, according to articles 7 and 10 of the Regulations of the Forum of the Mesoamerican Committee, the responsibility for this task will be in the hands of the current Secretary of the Mesoamerican Committee presided by the Forum Credentials Committee (Nicaraguan Committee) and the Secretary of the Forum Hosting Committee (Dominican Committee) with the support of the Membership Unit. NOTE: It is requested that all the Central American, Mexico and Caribbean members register and accredit before the forum officially starts. Voting and Members: Article 12b of the IUCN s By-laws establishes the following rights, among others: (i) to present to the Council candidates for the positions of President, Treasurer and Chairpersons of Commissions, to be elected during the World Congress.; (ii) to present candidates to President directly to the World Congress; to present to the World Congress candidates to the positions of Regional Counselors;; (iv) to present motions to the World Congress: and (v) to vote during the period of sessions of the World Congress or by mail. In the specific case of the Mesoamerican Committee within the Regional Forum, the following positions are elected: -All the positions of the Mesoamerican Committee -Support to the Regional Counselor to present his/her World candidacy. Article 19 of the Regulations for the celebration of Mesoamerican Regional Fora says to this respect that: All the members accredited in the Regional Forum can be candidates and all the nominations will be carried out as follows: -. President of the Mesoamerican Committee, this position is of a personal naturety and any nominated members by an organization, before or during the Forum, can participate.. 2

3 .- Regional Counselor, this position has to do with personal capacity and any nominated members by an organization before or during the Forum can participate..- Vicepresident, Secretary, Treasurer and 4 members of the Mesoamerican Committee, this positions are representative and only the National Mesoamerican Committees can be nominated. How to vote for those elective positions of the Mesoamerican Committee: According to articles 34 and 35 of the IUCN s By-laws, the number of votes entitled to, contingent on membership category, are as follows: : States: 3 votes, Government Agencies: 1 vote, Nacional ONGs: 1 vote, Internacional ONGs: 2 votes, Affiliates: no vote, but with a right to say. To this end, it is necessary to submit, in agreement with article 12 of the Procedural Regulations of the World Conservation Congress, a Letter of Accreditation in letterheaded stationary and/or an inked seal of the organization, as a credential of the representation of the organization; some of these have already been forwarded to the IUCN file. All the delegates must submit them so that they can have a right to vote and say during the Forum. In agreement with the Regulations for the holding of Mesoamerican regional fora, these documents must be reviewed by the Credentials Committee, chaired by the Secretary of the Mesoamerican Committee (currently the Nicaraguan Committee), in order to crosscheck and establish the pertinent category of participation in the Forum, in accordance with its Regulations., These categories of participation are the following, according to articles 14 and 15 of the Regulations of the Mesoamerican Forum and in agreement with articles 5 to 10 of the Regulations of the IUCN Congress: 1. Delegates, Members with the right to vote and say. Identified with a green badge. One main delegate accredited by member organization. 2. Observers, with only a right to say. Identified with a yellow badge for the members of the IUCN Secretariat and other special guests. CANDIDATES in the Regional Forum: IUCN s Regional Counselor According to the IUCN s Regulations, articles 38 and 39: 3

4 The candidates to Regional Counselors in a given will be presented by a ten percent of the total members with a right to vote in that region, or by five of them, whatever be the lower number, assuming that they come from more than one State. As far as the effects of the presentation are concerned, a non governmental international organization with constituents in more than one region, must be considered as located in the region where it has its main office. The candidacies must be supported by a brief curriculum vitae, that the candidate will provide. Each candidate must show in writing his/her willingness to fulfill the position if elected. The Council will decide in each case the deadline for the presentation of candidates. The candidates to Regional Counselors must be citizens of a State in the respective region and residents in the same. NOTE: Alter the Regional Forum, this candidacy is registered in the Congress official system and the General Assembly of Members in Jeju, Korea, September 2012, ratifies the selettion the Regional Forum made. The prerequisites to be a candidate are those established in the IUCN By-laws in accordance with the official communication of the current year: IUCN Invitation to nominations to be elected for the Council that will take place in the 2012 Congress. The candidates must submit the following documents: - Backing letter from his/her organization, signed by its legal representative - A candidate form duly filled and signed.. ( consejeros_regionales_es.doc) - Form to commit to the fulfilment of a Counselor s functions duly signed. 1. NOTE: Any person who fulfills the prerequisites established by the IUCN can be a candidate to the position of a Counselor during the World Conservation Congress. This position is adequate for a candidate that the Regional Forum selects to submit his/her nomination to the IUCN World Conservation Congress Jeju 2012, where the IUCN s Members General Assembly will gather. This Assembly is the instance to elect the Council Members. The Mesoamerican Committee, in accordance with the Regulation for holding the Regional Fora, presents for voting this position for the Mesoamerican region, so that the candidate gets all the support possible from the membership, following the IUCN s official procedure for the presentation of that nomination in accordance with the previously quoted Council Manual.. Governance Issues of the Mesoamerican Committee -- VIII Regional Forum Mentioned in the Manual of the Council and evaluation tools, August 2011 Prepared by the gcvernance task force, approved by the 58th Meeting of the IUCN Council, June the 4th, Amended by the Council the 14th of February, 2005, the 4th of February, 2009 (72nd meeting), the 25 th of November, 2009 (73 rd meeting), the 20 th of November, 2010 (75 th meeting) and the 25 th of May, 2011 (76 th meeting). 4

5 The following section applies only to the Mesoamerican Committee in accordance with its By-laws and the regulation for the Forum.. President of the Mesoamerican Committee This position as established in the By-laws of the Mesoamerican Committee is of a personal nature, and requires that the nomination be submitted by the IUCN s Member Organization to which the person belongs. In this way the Member Organization commits itself to make available all the time necessary and the appropriate logistics for that person so that he/she can fulfill this function, of a voluntary nature and without financial remuneration.. The nominations for this position can be forwarded previously to the IUCN Regional Office so that they can be included in the IUCN-Mesoamerica Forum website in accordance with the instruction that they be received with the required testimonials. Or submitted to the Electoral Committee during the Regional Forum. The candidates must submit the following documents:: - Endorsement letter from his/her Member Organization, signed by its legal representative. - Nomination form duly filled and signed.(similar to the Counselor s form: consejeros_regionales_es.doc The announcement of these nominations remains open before the Forum and the registration of nominations, in the hands of the Forum Electoral Committee, closes Thursday the 6 th of October, ahead of the Panel of Presentation of the Nominees. The ballot box opens early on Friday the 7 th of October and closes at 5 pm this same day. The vote counting by the Electoral Committee starts immediately after the closure, and they will announce the results at 6 pm. The preliminary nominations can be forwarded to the electronic mail address of the Membership Unit: anaisabel.estrada@iucn.org Panel of Presentation of Candidates As in previous occasions, once the period of registration of nominations closes, the Forum has a space on Thursday the 6 th of October for a Panel of Presentation of the Candidates in support of the candidates to the Regional Counselor positions and to the Presidency of the Mesoamerican committee. This 30 minute space is chaired by the Forum Electoral Committee and the candidates have the opportunity to present to the members their motivations and projections related to the position to be elected, in accordance with the format they are previously provided once their nominations have been registered. Members of the Mesoamerican Committee As established in the By-laws of the Mesoamerican Committee, the members of this Committee are the Presidents of the National Committees, and their appointment to the positions within the Mesoamerican Committee is decided in an election by the members during the Forum, as the highest authority of the membership in the region. 5

6 The positions in the Mesoamerican Committee to be elected are: one Vice-president, a Secretary, a Treasurer and the remaining as board members. The election willl also take place in the same period of the other Forum nominations. Members of the Group of Strategic and Corporate Development of the Mesoamerican Committee (GRUDESCO, in Spanish). The Mesoamerican Committee determined that, in order to provide a more effective follow up to the implementation of the IUCN s Mesoamerican Program, the creation of a more operational group, GRUDESCO, was needed. This group currently comprises: - The Presidency of the IUCN s Mesoamerican Committee and of the Caribbean. - One Representative of the Commissions, Member of the Mesoamerican Committee - The Regional Counselors of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. - The IUCN Regional Director. - The Membership Unit of the Regional Office, acting as a secretary The GRUDESCO as a working group of the Regional Committee for the period, is made up in the Plenary of the Regional Forum, taking into account the new composition of the Regional Committee resulting from the Forum. As a result of the nature of the GRUDESCO functions, in order to participate in the same, it is required that its members have an adequate knowledge of administration, planning, monitoring, and evaluation, as well as availability of voluntary time.. Forum Working Committees Article 6of the Regulations of the Forum estipulates that the Forum, in addition to what they deem pertinent, will establish at least the following Working Committees : Organizing Committee (already operating within the current GRUDESCO). Credentials Committee (chaired by the Secretary of the Mesoamerican Committee Nicaraguan Committee and two members selected by the Forum). In charge of the participants registration, revision of their credentials and their evidences. Resolutions Committee (already operating within the current GRUDESCO).In charge of coordinating and following up the motions for the World Congress. Electoral Committee (three members to be appointed in the Forum) In charge of the accreditation of the nominations in the Forum. The Working Committees will be selected or ratified, as needed, first thing on Thursday the 6th of October. Nevertheless, the current President of the Mesoamerican Committee, who chairs the Regional Forum (Juan Mario Dary-Guatemala), the president of the Organizing Committee Hosting Committee- and secretary of the Forum (Dominican Committee) and the Secretary of the Mesoamerican Committee who chairs the Credentials Committee of the Forum (Nicaraguan Committee) will be operating since the Forum opening on Wednesday the 5 th of October, with the support of the Membership Unit. 6

7 Governance Issues of the Caribbean Committee The Caribbean Regional Committee, officially acknowledged by the IUCN Council in 2010 to exercise its governance, counts on the document entitled: By-laws of the IUCN Regional Forum and Committee of Members in the Caribbean also approved by the Council to regulate both the Regional Committee and its Forum. According to the By laws Members are enabled to participate in the preparation and evaluation of IUCN Programmes and strategies and to prepare for each World Conservation Congress; The IUCN Members of the Caribbean have decided to establish an IUCN Regional Forum and Committee of Members, as authorized under Part VII of the Statutes of IUCN, including the Annex of which lists the States of the Caribbean region as, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. Members hereby agree to operate the Regional Forum and Committee in accordance with these By-Laws. A majority of the Members of the Caribbean region, shall establish a Members Forum (hereinafter the Forum ). The Forum shall always have the active participation of a majority of the IUCN Members in the Caribbean. In its 1st meeting of members, the Forum shall establish and constitute the IUCN Regional Committee of Members (hereinafter the Regional Committee) in accordance with the By-Laws established herein. The Forum shall elect the members of the first Regional Committee, its Chair and officers. All nominees shall be supported by at least two active IUCN members in good financial standing. 7