By-Laws of Education International Region Africa

1. NAME The regional group of Education International in Africa is known as: Education International Region Africa (EIRAF). 2. AIMS The aims of the EIRAF are: • To advise the Executive Board on policies and activities to be undertaken by Education International and on the coordination of programmes and other activities of EI at the regional level. • To promote the aims and principles of EI in the Region. • To further regional cooperation with a view to protecting and advancing the rights and interests of education employees in the African Region. 3. REGIONAL CONFERENCE A. There shall be a Regional Conference which shall be the main advisory body of the EIRAF. B. An ordinary regional conference shall meet at least once in three years, preferably six to nine months prior to the EI World Congress, in order to:- (i) adopt its rules of procedure and agenda; (ii) elect the Regional Committee members; (iii) advise on policies, principles of action and programmes of EI; (iv) examine and adopt the regional report, including the financial statement and the proposed budget; (v) amend the by-laws and rules of procedure subject to the approval of the EI Executive Board. C. Composition (i) The Regional Conference shall comprise delegates representing the member organisations, as well as Regional Committee members. (ii) Each member organisation shall be entitled to at least one delegate; additional delegates shall be allocated to each member organisation whose membership dues to EI have been paid in full prior to the Regional Conference, in accordance with the following scale:- • up to 10.000 members - 1 delegate • Organisations with more than 10.000 members, 1 additional delegate for every 10,000 members or part thereof (iii) The maximum number of delegates allocated to any organisation shall not exceed twenty-five. D. Voting rights (i) The right to vote shall be allocated to each member organisation which has paid full membership dues prior to the Regional Conference. (ii) The number of votes allocated to an organisation shall be determined in accordance with the following scale:- • up to 5.000 members - 1 vote • over 5.000 members - 1 additional vote per 10.000 members or part thereof (iii) Member organisations shall receive provisional notification by the General Secretary of EI of the number of delegates and votes to which they are entitled. (iv) A Credentials Committee, to be appointed by the Regional Committee, shall verify the powers of each member organisation and calculate the number of delegates and votes to which it is entitled. No roll call voting shall take place until the Regional Conference has adopted the report of the Credentials Committee. (v) Voting in the Regional Conference shall be done by show of hands except otherwise decided by the Conference. (vi) A fully paid up organisation may vote by proxy provided it has given advance notice in writing to the General Secretary of EI. E. Agenda (i) The venue, date and provisional agenda of the Conference shall be determined by the Regional Committee in consultation with the General Secretary of EI. (ii) Member organisations shall receive notification to attend the ordinary Conference at least eight (8) months before the set date. F. Supplementary membership dues Subject to approval by the Executive Board, the Conference may establish supplementary membership dues to be paid by member organisations in the African Region. (See item 11 FINANCES) 4. EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN REGIONAL COMMITTEE (EIARC) A. Composition The EIARC shall be composed as follows: (i) One Chairperson; (ii) One Vice-Chairperson; (iii) All members of the Executive Board of EI from the African Region; (iv) Two elected members from each zone in Africa, one of whom shall be a woman; (v) The General Secretary of EI or his/her representative (ex-officio). B. Definition of Region (i) The concept of the Education International Region Africa (EIRAF) shall include, in addition to the African Continent, Madagascar, Mauritius, Cap Vert, Sao Tome and Principe. (ii) For the purpose of representation, the Region shall be sub-divided into the following zones: • Zone 1 • Zone 2 • Zone 3 • Zone 4 • Zone 5 • Zone 6 (iii) Countries included in the various zones shall be indicated in the by-laws. C. Functions of the EIARC (i) The EIARC shall advise the Executive Board, through the General Secretary, regarding priority activities of EI at the African level, as well as regarding any other matters of general concern to the members of the Region. (ii) The Committee shall: (a) draft the agenda of the Regional Conference; (b) monitor the implementation of resolutions and decisions of the Regional Conference; (c) examine and comment on the reports from the EI Executive Board on matters specific to the Region; (d) report to the Conference and make proposals for future activities to be undertaken in Africa; (e) cooperate with the All Africa Teachers Organisation (AATO) , the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), the African Regional Office of ICFTU (AFRO), the Federation of Arab Teachers (FAT), the International Arab Trade Union Confederation (IATUC), the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), as well as with other sub-regional organisations in Africa in promoting Education and the unity of teachers and other workers in Africa; (f) examine and adopt the financial statements, and submit the budget to the Regional Conference, in consultation with the General Secretary of EI. D. Terms of Office of the Members of the EIARC (i) The EIARC shall be elected every three years at the Regional Conference. (ii) The term of office of each member shall expire: (a) at the end of each Regional Conference; (b) at such time as the organisation of which he/she is a member is no longer affiliated to EI; (c) at such time as he/she is no longer a member of his/her organisation; (d) at such time as he/she is suspended from his/her organisation; (e) at such time as he/she is physically or mentally disabled; (f) if he/she holds a position outside EI, which is in conflict with his/her independent responsibility towards EI; It is to be noted that in cases d), e) and f) the organisation to which this member is affiliated has the responsibility to inform the Regional Committee of the change in the member's situation. (iii) All Committee members can be re-elected for two consecutive terms at the most; (iv) In the event of a vacancy, the EIARC may appoint a replacement:- (a) If the position of Chairperson is vacant, the Vice-Chairperson shall act as temporary Chairperson until the next Conference; (b) If the position of Vice-Chairperson is vacant, the EIARC shall appoint one of its members to replace him/her until the next Conference; (c) For other vacancies, the substitute member from the zone concerned shall be appointed until the next Conference. 5. ELECTIONS TO THE EIARC A. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall be elected by the Regional Conference. B. (i) For each zone, there shall be elected one male representative and one female representative. In addition, two substitutes, one male and one female, shall be elected. (ii) For each of the two positions in a zone, there shall be at least two nominated candidates who shall be resident in the zone concerned. The candidate who gets the highest number of votes shall be declared as the elected representative of the zone and the candidate ranking second shall be declared as substitute. C. (i) The election of the EIARC Members shall be by secret ballot. (ii) Delegates from each zone shall meet and elect their representatives to the EIARC. This election shall be subject to approval by the Regional Conference. (iii) Each member shall be entitled to one vote only. (iv) No country shall have more than one voting member on the EIARC. (v) The General Secretary of EI or his/her representative shall not be entitled to vote. 6. FUNCTIONS OF THE CHAIRPERSON A. The Chairperson shall preside over the work of the Regional Conference and of the EIARC. B. He/she shall liaise with the General Secretary of EI through the Regional Office. C. In case the Chairperson is not available or absent, his/her functions shall be taken on by the Vice-chairperson. D. In case the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson are not available or absent, the Committee shall appoint a Chairperson from among its membership. 7. MEETINGS OF THE EIARC A. The EIARC shall meet at least once a year. B. If necessary, the Chairperson can convene an extraordinary meeting, after consultation with the General Secretary of EI. 8. APPOINTMENT OF EIARC STANDING COMMITTEE A. The EIARC shall appoint a Standing Committee of not more than six members. All members of the Standing Committee shall be full members of the EIARC. The General Secretary or his/her representative shall be an ex-officio member of the Committee. B. The Standing Committee shall act on behalf of the EIARC and meet in between the meetings of EIARC. It shall meet at least once in every calendar year. 9. QUORUM APPLICABLE TO THE REGIONAL CONFERENCES AND EIARC MEETINGS A. Forty percent of accredited delegates representing thirty percent of member organisations shall constitute the quorum at the Regional Conference. B. For the meetings of the EIARC, the quorum shall be set at fifty percent plus one. 10. REGIONAL SECRETARIAT A. The Regional Secretariat of Education International established in Africa shall be in charge of the implementation of regional activities, on the basis of proposals made by the EIARC subject to approval by the General Secretary of EI. B. The staff of the Regional Secretariat shall be appointed on full/part time basis by the General Secretary of EI. 11. FINANCES A. Regional activities shall be financed by: (i) subventions from EI; (ii) grants; (iii) contributions arising from supplementary sources approved by the Executive Board or, if not possible, by the General Secretary of EI. B. Supplementary membership dues applicable to all member organisations in the region and computed per capita can be determined by the Regional Conference, in accordance with article 20 of the EI by-laws. Article 20 of the EI by-laws stipulates: "Subject to approval by the Executive Board, a regional structure may establish supplementary membership dues to be paid by member organisations in the concerned region. The supplementary membership fee shall be: (i) a percentage in addition to the membership dues of the Education International up to a maximum of 25%; (ii) collected by the Education International." C. Supplementary membership dues shall be paid to EI by June 30 of each year at the latest and shall be computed on the membership reported as of December 31 of the preceding year. D. Financial rules of EI shall apply to regional structures. 12. AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS A. The Regional Conference shall have the authority to amend the by-laws subject to the approval of the Executive Board. B. Proposals for amending the by-laws shall be submitted to the Regional Secretariat no later than 6 months prior to the opening of the Regional Conference. The General Secretary shall circulate the proposed amendments to member organisations no later than a month prior to the opening of the Conference. C. Any amendment to the by-laws shall be valid only if it obtains a two-third majority of votes cast and if it is approved by the Executive Board. 13. COUNTRIES ALLOCATED TO THE VARIOUS ZONES IN AFRICA Zone I ALGERIA, CHAD, EGYPT, LIBYA*, MALI, MAURITANIA*, MOROCCO, NIGER, TUNISIA, SUDAN* Zone II CAPE VERDE, GAMBIA, GUINEA, GUINEA BISSAU, LIBERIA, SENEGAL, SIERRA LEONE Zone III BENIN, BURKINA FASO, CÔTE D'IVOIRE, EQUATORIAL GUINEA*, GHANA, NIGERIA, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, TOGO Zone IV BURUNDI, CAMEROON, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, CONGO BRAZZAVILLE, CONGO (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF), GABON, RWANDA Zone V COMOROS*, DJIBOUTI, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, KENYA, MADAGASCAR*, MALAWI, MAURITIUS, SEYCHELLES*, SOMALIA*, TANZANIA, UGANDA, Zone VI ANGOLA, BOTSWANA, LESOTHO, MOZAMBIQUE, NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SWAZILAND, ZAMBIA, ZIMBABWE

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