Charter Revision on Membership

Passed in Stockholm, June 1st, 2001 23 in favor, 3 against, 3 abstentions; ratified online with 28 votes in favor, 5 opposed, 10 abstentions.

Membership

All NCDNHC member organizations are expected to pay annual membership fees. The fee for Small organizations is US$50 per year, with exceptions noted below. The fee for Large organizations is US$300 per year, with exceptions noted below.

Exceptions:

For small organizations in the countries with an annual Gross Domestic Product per capita below US$10,000 as of 2000 (source: CIA World Factbook), the annual membership fee will be US$25.

Large or small organizations may be exempted from paying the membership fee by applying to the Adcom. The application should explain why the membership fee constitutes an economic and administrative hardship, and should document the organization's budget. All Adcom members and the Membership officer will be empowered to vote on exemptions. Decisions will be based on majority rule. Adcom members who do not respond to votes within ten days need not be counted, except that at least three eligible parties must vote.

Membership administration

The Adcom will select, by majority vote, a membership officer. The membership officer may be, but is not required to be, an Adcom member. The membership officer shall

• maintain the official membership list
• inform the e-mail administrator of which organizations to add or remove from the email list used for voting and announcements.
• keep track of discussions and decisions regarding the eligibility of organizations that apply to join the constituency
• inform applicants for membership of the status of their application
• recommend to the adcom changes in membership policies and practices.

Membership shall be annual. The membership year will coincide with the Western calendar year. For existing member organizations, membership fees will be payable from Jan 1 to March 1. [Note: the charter should also be amended to have Adcom elections the second week in March.] Organizations that have not renewed their membership fees by that date will be stricken from the membership list and not permitted to vote in the Adcom elections or other elections held during the calendar year. If any votes are held between Jan 1 and March 1, organizations that have not paid their membership fee will not be allowed to vote.

New member organizations can pay their membership fee at any time after they have been informed of their acceptance by the membership officer, but they will not be added to the voting list until the fee is received. Organizations exempted from the membership fee will gain voting rights after the Adcom decision admitting them has been sent to the list.