|
Article 1. Incorporation, duration, nature and legal
address
The Lima Agreement is a Network of Latin American and
Caribbean Civic Groups established on September 15, 2000 in
the city of Lima, Peru, by a group of civil society
organizations committed to transparency, legitimacy, legality
and equality of electoral processes and of public
administration. It is an international, non-governmental, non-partisan,
secular, pacifist and non-profit organization. Its mission,
purpose and goals are aimed at strengthening democracy in the
region.
The organization is established for an indefinite term and by
common consent of all the founding members. The legal address
of the Lima Agreement shall be that of the organization acting
as the Executive Secretariat.
Article 2. Purpose
The Lima Agreement is a coordinating body of civic
organizations with the following goals:
a. Promote citizen participation in public affairs, as a means
to exercise constitutional and democratic rights.
b. Exchange successful experiences and methodologies with a
view to strengthen democratic processes in the region.
c. Observe and monitor electoral processes through civil
society based on the free and fair elections international
standards.
d. Promote monitoring and lobbying on strategic issues to
ensure democratic governance.
The organization will design programs and projects to achieve
its goals
Article 3. Capital
The Lima Agreement’s capital is composed of its members’
contributions and of the resources it may obtain for program
and project execution.
Article 4. Members of the Lima Agreement
Non-profit, non-partisan civil society organizations,
dedicated to citizen participation, electoral observation and
monitoring of government practices at all levels, and whose
objectives are compatible to those of the Lima Agreement, may
become members of the Lima Agreement.
Organizations wishing to incorporate themselves to the Lima
Agreement must have been in operation for at least two years,
have experience in electoral observation and submit -in
writing to the Executive Secretariat - information including:
their background, articles of association and their respective
legal record, time of official existence, goals, ongoing
programs and projects, a letter stating the reason for their
incorporation, population they work with, members of their
steering board and operational team, funding sources, and
other documents requested by the Lima Agreement.
The incorporation of new members abiding by the requirements
set forth herein lies in the hands of the General Assembly, by
a simple majority.
Depending on their status, members can be:
a. Founding members. Civic organizations that participated in
the Lima Agreement creation and incorporation process and
appear in the founding charter. They have full voting rights
and also have the right to veto new member incorporation
requests. This veto must be duly supported.
b. Full members. Founding civic organizations as well as those
organizations which - after requesting incorporation and
acting as observers for one year - have complied with the
necessary requirements and have been accepted by the Assembly
to be fully incorporated into the Lima Agreement. These
members have full voting rights.
c. Observing members. Civil society organizations of the
region willing to be incorporated whose activities are related
to the Lima Agreement. They become observing members upon
request, after having complied with all requirements, and
after the approval of at least two full members and acceptance
of the General Assembly. They must maintain this status for at
least one year. They have a voice but no voting rights. Once
this term has elapsed, the observing members must express
their willingness to remain in the Lima Agreement or may ask
for (delete “their”) withdrawal. Should the member confirm its
wish to be incorporated, the General Assembly shall decide on
its incorporation as a full member.
d. Associate members. Organizations engaged in democracy
issues that technically, financially and administratively
support the operation of the Lima Agreement. They have voice
but no voting rights in decision making. To become an
associate member, the same process followed to become a full
member shall be applied.
Article 5. Honorary members
At the request of one third of the members, the General
Assembly may grant honorary member status to those people
having especially contributed to the operation and goals of
the Lima Agreement.
Article 6. Member rights and responsibilities
The members have the following rights and responsibilities:
e. Participate in the Lima Agreement meetings.
f. Become duly informed about and disseminate the activities
of the Lima Agreement and/or its members, within the scope of
activities of said Agreement.
g. Participate in the task forces that may be set up to
perform the Lima Agreement’s activities.
h. Respond, in a timely manner, to the consultations made by
the Executive Secretariat.
i. Send information to the Executive Secretariat regarding
their activities and/or articles of interest so as to include
them in the electronic newsletter, webpage and/or other
publications.
j. Contribute to the fulfillment of goals.
k. Help sustain the Lima Agreement.
Article 7. Membership termination
Members of the Lima Agreement may be terminated due to the
following reasons:
a. Request made by the member organization.
b. Disbanding of the member organization.
c. Deflection or change of the goals and objectives of the
member organization from those of the Lima Agreement.
d. Change in the institution’s profile to one typical of a
political, religious, or government party.
e. Expulsion from the organization due to an institutional
conduct different from the goals and objectives of the Lima
Agreement or whenever these are jeopardized.
Article 8. Breach
The following are considered to be serious breaches to the
goals and principles of the Lima Agreement:
a. Conduction of, participation in, or explicit or implicit
support to coups, affronts to the legitimacy of a
democratically elected government, action against the legal
order, including those committing terrorist attacks,
violations against human rights, and alike.
b. Having submitted false documents for the incorporation into
the Lima Agreement.
Membership termination shall be dealt with through the
Assembly and shall require the majority of two thirds of the
attending members. The affected member may present the case
for its defense before voting takes place.
Article 9. General Assembly
It is the highest body of the Lima Agreement and is made up by
(delete “the”) representatives of each full member.
Its duties are:
a. Set forth and propose the policies and activities that will
be part of the work plan.
b. Approve the Lima Agreement’s work plan (programs and
projects).
c. Explore funding sources for the projects to be developed by
the Lima Agreement.
d. Appoint the member that will be in charge of the Executive
Secretariat.
e. Modify the bylaws.
f. Agree upon member incorporation to or exclusion from the
Lima Agreement.
g. Make statements with regard to queries posed by the members
of the Lima Agreement.
h. Agree upon the dissolution of the Lima Agreement.
The General Assembly may rely on a Support Team to fully
comply with its duties.
The General Assembly shall meet at least once every two years.
The attending representatives of the member organizations
shall be empowered to make decisions on all the subjects
addressed. The representatives shall only postpone their
decisions or votes whenever the topics are not part of the
current session’s agenda. In this case, the member’s decision
must be briefed to the Executive Secretariat within ten days
after the session has taken place.
Any of the full members may submit proposals to the
consideration of the Lima Agreement, by means of the Executive
Secretariat, including when the Assembly is not in session.
These proposals must be answered through the same means in
which they were presented. In those cases where ten days have
passed from the moment the consultation was submitted and no
answer presented, the proposal shall be considered accepted.
The decisions of the General Assembly are made by simple
majority of its full members, except for the provisions set
forth in articles 8 and 12.
Article 10. Executive Secretariat
The full member appointed by the General Assembly as the
Executive Secretariat for a two-year term must fulfill the
following duties:
a. Coordinate and administer the activities and resources of
the Lima Agreement.
b. Prepare a report on the activities of the Lima Agreement.
c. Summon all the meetings of the Lima Agreement.
d. Perform virtual queries on topics, decisions and/or
participation of the Lima Agreement in different spaces.
e. Propose the work agenda for the Lima Agreement’s meetings.
f. Prepare and manage Lima Agreement’s projects before
national and international bodies, in coordination with
support or work teams.
g. Prepare an internal and external communication strategy to
promote the objectives of the Lima Agreement.
h. Keep records of all members of the Lima Agreement.
i. Request to the interested parties and distribute among the
members of the Lima Agreement information of those
organizations wishing to incorporate into the Agreement.
j. Keep the Lima Agreement web site updated.
k. Request information from the members and distribute the
electronic newsletter of the Lima Agreement.
Article 11. The Support Team
The Executive Secretariat shall be assisted by a support team
made up by two full members who shall fulfill this role for
two months. There will be a single, complete and unrepeated
list of full members available that will be used for the
renewal of this support team.
Article 12. Disbanding
The Lima Agreement shall be disbanded by the vote of two
thirds of the full members to the Agreement.
July 12, 2004
|
