We, Parliamentarians from Africa and Arab States, interested in population and development issues assembled in Cape Town, from the 1^st May to 4^th May 1997, and at the Second General Conference, convened at the Jordanian capital, Amman, 24-26 January 2001,

 PREAMBLE 

BEARING in mind the fact that the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action highlights the important role of Parliamentarians on the implementation and follow-up of the objectives goals of the ICPD in general and in particular, the emphasis that is placed on the role of Parliamentarians implicitly or explicitly to spearhead national action on gender equality, equity and empowerment of women ; the family, its roles, rights composition and structure; reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health; population, development and education ; and national action and follow-up to the Conference;  

RECOGNISING the fact that the task of urging Governments to enact or change laws or raise public awareness about the different topics of the Programme of Action is ideally suited for Parliamentarians to perform;

 RECALLING the pledges contained in the International Conference of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (ICPPD) Cairo Declaration passed in Cairo, Egypt from 3 - 4 September 1994, to the effect that Parliamentarians everywhere will establish mechanisms to monitor and evaluate laws, policies and programmes on population and development; and in particular, to establish and/or strengthen, at sub-national, national, regional, and global levels, parliamentary committees on population and development in our national legislatures;

 HEREBY RESOLVE to constitute ourselves into a permanent Forum of African and Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development of the International Conference of Parliamentarians for Population and Development;

 ACCORDINGLY, adopt the present Constitution and the amendments made at the Amman General Conference.

 ARTICLE I : NAME

 1.1  The name of our Forum shall be called the FORUM OF AFRICAN AND ARAB PARLIAMENTARIANS ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT, hereinafter referred to as "the Forum". The acronym of the Forum shall be FAAPPD.

 ARTICLE II : DEFINITIONS

 2.1  In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires or an exception is specifically stated :

(a)   Parliamentarians means any persons or group of persons who are elected or nominated members of a national legislative body, such as a National Parliament, Congress, Senate Federal Chamber, Assembly or other national legislative body

 

(b)   "African" shall refer to Parliamentarians who come from the main continent of Africa, including the Indian Ocean Islands of Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros and the Atlantic Ocean Islands of St. Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, and Cape Verde ;

 

(c)    "Arab" shall refer to Parliamentarians who come from Arab States ;

 

(d)   "Member", unless otherwise indicated, shall mean a National Parliamentary group/committee in relation of the Forum or an individual member of Parliament in respect of a National Parliamentary group/committee.

 

 

ARTICLE III : HEADQUARTERS AND LOCATION OF OFFICES OF THE FORUM

 

 3.1  The Headquarters Office of the Forum shall be located in such country and place as shall be decided by the Conference. In the case of an emergency, the Executive Committee may decide to relocate the Head Office but that decision must be ratified by the next Conference.

 

 3.2  The Executive Committee may invite National Parliamentary groups/committee to offer their countries to host the Headquarters Offices of the Forum based on criteria which shall be agreed upon by the Conference.

 

ARTICLE IV : EMBLEM AND SEAL

 

 4.1  The Forum shall have an official emblem and/or logo type, and an official seal, as will be decided by the Executive Committee and ratified by the Conference.

  

ARTICLE V : OBJECTIVES GOAL

 

 5.1  The main objectives of the Forum shall be to identify, promote and facilitate the formulation and implementation of population and development policies and programmes designed to bring about sustainable development in Africa and the Arab States ; as well as the initiation of parliamentary activities and initiatives aimed at implementing the provisions of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action ; the World Summit on Social Development Declaration and Programme of Action : the Agenda 21 ; the Declaration and platform of Action of the Fourth United Nation Conference on Women and Development : the Dakar/Ngor and Amman Declarations and other declarations of international and regional meetings related to population and development.

 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

 5.2  More specifically, the activities of the Forum may include the following :

 (a)    To encourage and promote the formation of National Groups/Committees of Parliamentarians on population and development in those countries of Africa and the Arab States in which National Groups/Committees have not yet been formed, and to support such National Groups/Committees so as :

 (i)                  To increase awareness and promote the understanding among Parliamentarians of the interrelationships between Gender and Development (GAD) approach, methodology and objectives that have been endorsed by concerned countries (International Conferences, more specifically ICPD - Cairo and International Conference for Women) and UNDP evaluation system Human Development Annual Report and development

(ii)                To support the efforts of Parliamentarians to help increase the awareness and understanding of gender and development issues among the grassroots organizations and in the civil society, as to help them organize appropriate activities ;

(iii)               To promote a continuing dialogue between Parliamentarians on the one hand, and social, economic and population planners and implementors at the local, national, regional and global levels, on the other ; and

(iv)              To initiate the review of existing legislation, where appropriate to give legislative back-up to the delivery of reproductive health including family planning and sexual health information, education and services to all couples and individuals requiring such services, taking into account gender and life cycle approaches.

 

(b)   To promote collaboration and networking amongst Parliamentarians outside their countries, Government and national and international Non-Governmental Organizations for utilization an sharing o data, information, research findings, and experience pertaining to gender and development and to initiate, promote and support Inter-Parliamentary visits and exchange programmes amongst Parliamentarians in Africa and the Arab States and Parliamentarians in other regions and countries to encourage new and effective ideas and approaches to population and development issues.

 

(c)    To facilitate the dissemination and utilization of information resources to promote researched solution to the problem of gender population and development ;

 (d)   To facilitate, support, sponsor and organize meetings and conferences of Parliamentarians as well as expert seminars, workshops and training programmes in gender population and development.

 (e)    To facilitate, support and sponsor new and continuing research toward a better understanding of and solutions the challenges caused by population and development, especially as they apply to Africa and the Arab States ;

 (f)     To facilitate, support, sponsor, produce, disseminate and circulate documentation, transactions, publications, scientific and research findings, newsletters and promotional materials relating to population and development ;

 (g)    To establish and augment the financial resources needed to render the Forum capable to fulfilling its functions and responsibilities ;

 (h)    To formulate and implement appropriate projects and programmers and to serve as an channel of communication and collaboration between and amongst Parliamentarians, and

 (i)      To perform such other lawful acts as are appropriate, conductive or necessary to the attainment of the above stated objectives.

 ARTICLE VI : MEMBERSHIP

 6.1  Members of the Forum shall consist of National Parliamentary Groups/Committees of Parliamentarians for population and development or such other Parliamentarian Group/Committees dealing in general with population and development issues upon being accepted by the Forum to be admitted as a member ;

 6.2  There shall be only one National Parliamentary Group/Committee from one country admitted to the membership of the Forum and efforts shall be made to ensure that the composition of National Parliamentary Group/Committees includes Parliamentarians representing all the political parties represented in parliament, taking into account gender considerations ;

 6.3.1        National Groups/Committees of Parliamentarians for population and development wishing to become members of the Forum shall apply in writing to the Secretary-General of the Forum who shall, without delay, place the application before the next meeting of the Executive Committee for consideration. Membership shall be granted upon payment of the prescribed joining fee following a decision of the Executive Committee to approve the application for membership ;

 6.3.2        The Secretary-General shall maintain a Membership Register of National Groups/Committee admitted to the membership of the Forum and shall keep the Forum informed of the current membership of the Forum.

 ARTICLE VII : CONFERENCE, COMPOSITION

THE FORUM

 7.1  The Forum shall consist of all members on the Register of the Forum ;

 7.2  Membership shall be entitled to send two representatives to meetings of the General Conference;

 FUNCTIONS

 7.3  The Conference shall be held once every three years for the following purposes :

 (a)    To elect officers to the Executive Committee, taking into account equitable geographical and gender representation ;

(b)   To receive and approve the audited accounts ;

 (c)    To receive the report of the Executive Committee and any other ad hoc Committees the Conference may have appointed ;

 (d)   To consider questions on population and development, exchange experiences and make suggestions for action ;

 (e)    To approve a Three Year Programme of Work on the recommendation of the Executive Committee based on sub-missions from National Group/Committees ;

 (f)     To determine joining fees and annual subscriptions to be paid by members based on the recommendations of the Executive Committee ;

 (g)    To receive reports from National Groups/Committees ; and

 (h)    To transact any other business, as appropriate.

 7.4  The quorum of the Conference to transact valid business shall be one-third of the membership of the Forum at the Conference ;

 7.5  The Conference shall make its decisions on the basis of a majority of the members present and voting.

 7.6  The Chairperson of the Executive Committee shall preside a meetings of the Conference. In his or her absence, one of the Vice Chairpersons shall preside ;

 7.7  An extraordinary Conference may be convened by the Executive Committee, or at the written request of not less than one-quarter of the members of the Forum

 ARTICLE VIII : THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

8.1  Taking into account the requirement resulting from the increase in the number of national Parliamentary Committees on population and development, the Executive Committee of the Forum shall be expanded by two rather than one member per region. This expansion shall be based on the principle of parity (one woman, one man).

8.2  The Executive Committee shall consist of  (9 Member Bureau) :

 (a)    Chairperson ;

(b)   Four (4) Vice Chairpersons ;

(c)    Secretary-General ;

(d)   Deputy Secretary-General ;

(e)    Treasurer ;

(f)     Deputy Treasurer ;

(g)    and 7 Ordinary Members.

 

8.3  The Officers shall hold office for a term of three (3) years from the end of the Conference which has elected them, and shall continue to hold office until their successors are duly elected ;

 8.4  The Executive Committee shall meet at least once a year to conduct the business of the Forum between Conferences at its meetings, the Executive Committee may take such actions as may be deemed necessary to carry out the decisions of the last Conference, as well as any emergency action that may be needed to ensure continuing operations of the Forum ;

 8.5  The Executive Committee shall make its decisions by a majority vote of members present constituting a quorum. In between the Executive Committee Meetings decisions may be taken by correspondence ;

 8.6  The Chairperson shall preside over meetings of the Executive Committee. The Chairperson shall be responsible for the proper conduct of the meetings and in his or her absence one of the Vice-Chairpersons shall preside;

 8.7  The Secretary-General or the Deputy Secretary-General, supported by the Executive Director, shall serve as Secretary for meetings of the Conference and the Executive Committee. The Secretary General or the Deputy Secretary-General shall ensure that the Conference's programmes and activities are planned and carried out in accordance with the policies and decisions of the Conference and Executive Committee ;

 8.8  The treasurer or the Deputy Treasurer shall be responsible for the finance of the Forum. The Treasurer or the Deputy Treasurer, under the authority of the Chairperson, shall cause proper books to be kept, and shall arrange for periodic audits of the accounts to be undertaken by an external auditor appointed by the Executive Committee and approved by the subsequent Conference. The Treasurer or the Deputy Treasurer shall report to the Conference and the Executive Committee on the finance of the Forum.

 ARTICLE IX : SUB-REGIONAL STRUCTURE

 9.1  The Africa and Arab States Region shall be divided into seven (7) Sub-regions as follows :

 (a)    North Africa

(b)   East Africa

(c)    Central Africa

(d)   West Africa

(e)    Southern Africa

(f)     Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean Islands ; and

(g)    Arab States

 

9.2  In electing the Executive Committee, Parliamentarians should ensure that all the sub-regions are represented.

 ARTICLE X : NATIONAL PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS/COMMITTEES ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT

 10.1          Each Parliament in each country of the Africa and Arab States Region which is a member of the United Nations and its specialized agencies is urged to form a National Parliamentary Group/Committee and Network on population and development and to seek membership of the Forum as appropriate ;

 10.2          National Parliamentary Groups/Committees may formulate their own national constitutions to guide in detail and in more appropriate ways the operations of their national activities ; provided that the objectives stated in this constitution are not derogated from.

 10.3          As agreed in 2001 in Amman Meeting, Parliamentarians must integrate in their bye-laws, internal rules and regulations and implement the measure concerning the parity in the participation, in the official meetings of the Forum, Seminars and Conferences at national, regional and international levels.

 ARTICLE XI : STAFF OF THE CONFERENCE

 11.1          The Executive Committee shall appoint an Executive Director and such other supporting staff of the Forum to implement the decisions of the Forum and the Executive Committee, as well as undertake such other work as the executive Committee shall assign the Executive director from time to time ;

 11.2          The Executive Director shall be the Chief Administrative Officer of the Forum and shall be answerable to the Executive Committee for the efficient management of the Forum and the implementation of its Work Programme and Budget ;

 11.3          The Executive Committee shall on the recommendations of the Executive Director, approve a permanent register of staff of the Forum, together with an organizational chart, job descriptions and qualifications ; general conditions of service for staff and a Staff Disciplinary Code.

 ARTICLE XII : FINANCES

 12.1          The finances of the Forum shall consist of dues from Member Groups/Committees ; grants from National Governments ; and voluntary contributions from United Nations Agencies, intergovernmental organizations, business houses and individuals ;

 12.2          The account of the Forum shall be maintained by the Treasurer and audited on an annual basis by an independent auditor to be appointed by the Executive Committee and to be approved by the subsequent Conference. The audited accounts shall be submitted to the Executive Committee and Conference for approval and appropriate action.

 ARTICLE XIII : COMPENSATION

 13.1          Parliamentarians shall serve the Forum without compensation and on a voluntary basis ;

 13.2          Staff members shall receive salaries and benefits as decided by the Executive Committee.

  ARTICLE XIV : AMENDMENTS

 14.1          Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed by any National Group/Committee or by the Executive Committee.

 14.2          Constitutional Amendment requires the approval of the conference or an Extraordinary Conference specifically convened for the purpose of considering amendments to the Constitution. At any such meeting of the Conference, the amendment must receive the approval of two-thirds of the members present and voting. The amendments should be circulated three months in advance.

 ADOPTION OF THIS CONSTITUTION

This Constitution was initially approved and adopted at Cape Town, the second day of May, 1997, by the representatives of the following National Groups/Committees[1]. The amendments to the same ( in italics) were adopted by the Second General Conference, Amman January 2001.