Information Bulletin on the 10th General Assembly

No. 3, 2002

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Contents:

Editorial Note

Proposals for Amendment to the CODESRIA Charter

The CODESRIA Web Site

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Editorial Note:

This Information Bulletin is an innovation which has been adopted by CODESRIA to keep all members of the African social research community informed of every aspect, and the different stages of the Council’s preparation for the upcoming General Assembly scheduled for 10 – 12 December, 2002 in Kampala. In doing so, the Bulletin is also designed to serve as a mobilisation tool as the countdown begins in earnest to an event which promises to be the biggest gathering of scholars on the African continent this year and a true festival of ideas and debate. As frequently as the need arises, the CODESRIA Secretariat will issue this Information Bulletin right up to the first week of December 2002. It is hoped that you will find the Bulletin informative and usef

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Proposals for Amendments to the CODESRIA Charter:

Date: 07 September, 2002
Ref.: BSE/162/2002

In accordance with the requirements of the CODESRIA Charter, all proposals for the amendment of the document must be notified to the President of the Executive Committee at least six months ahead of a General Assembly. The proposed amendments must also be circulated to the members of CODESRIA at least three months before the General Assembly.

During the 9th General Assembly held in Dakar, a resolution was passed by the delegates setting up a Governance Reform Committee (GRC) mandated to carry out a thorough review of the CODESRIA Charter with a view to proposing amendments for reform to the next General Assembly. The Executive Committee gave effect to the General Assembly’s decision by constituting a five-member GRC under the leadership of Professor Issa Shivji, a foundation member of the Council with a high standing in the African social science community. Out of the work of the GRC has emanated proposals for the reform of the Charter which are now being circulated to the members of the social research community for their early information and attention. Those wishing to make comments on the proposals of the

GRC should feel free to do so and the Executive Secretariat will be sure to forward these to the Chair of the GRC for the consideration of its members. Such comments could be sent to: Professor Issa Shivji, Chair of the GRC, c/o The Executive Secretary, CODESRIA, BP 3304, Dakar, Senegal. Below are the proposals for Charter amendment as formulated by the GRC:
Governance Reform Committee

Proposed Amendments to the CODESRIA Charter, 1995.

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  1. Preamble:

Delete and replace the last two paragraphs with the following paragraphs:

Recognising the need for a Pan-African Research Organisation which will –

    1. have a critical orientation;

    2. enjoy autonomy of thought and action;

    3. be committed to democratic decision-making and accountability;

    4. promote relevant methodological and theoretical perspectives for research on

      5. Africa;

    5. provide a framework for scientific co-operation among African scholars and

      6. institutions; and

    6. serve as an intellectual home to the African social science community.

HEREBY agree to establish a non-governmental research organisation, which shall be called the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, CODESRIA.

  1. Title IV: Members

Delete and replace Article 6 with the following:

The Council is composed of the following categories of membership:

  1. Full institutional members;

  2. Full individual members;

  3. Associate institutional members;

  4. Associate individual members,

Delete and replace Article 7 with the following:

Full institutional membership of the Council shall be open to such African universities and not-for-profit organisations, as are engaged in social science research and training

Delete and replace Article 8 with the following:

Full individual membership shall be open to such African scholars, as are engaged in social science research and training

Delete and replace Article 9 with the following:

Associate institutional and individual membership shall be open to foreign institutions and individuals engaged in social science research and training

Delete and replace Article 10 with the following:

Membership shall be open to any individual scholar or institution who or which accept the Charter, participate actively in the activities of the Council, and pay the requisite membership fees.

Delete and replace Article 11 with the following:

Only full institutional and individual members shall have a right to vote in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter.

Delete and replace article 12 with the following.

Membership fees will be used to defray part of the costs of the participation of members in the General Assembly.

Delete and replace Title VII with the following:

Title VII: General Assembly and Regional Assemblies

Article 15

  1. General Assembly

 

  1. The General Assembly shall be the supreme body of CODESRIA.

  2. The business of the General Assembly shall be conducted in two sections: Governance Section, and Scientific Section. The Governance Section shall be composed of delegates and the Scientific Section shall be composed of all Full Members. Full members may attend the meetings of the Governance Section, except when it is sitting as an Electoral College, and participate in its deliberations but shall have no right to vote. Full members may attend the Governance Section sitting as an electoral college only as observers.

  3. The Governance section will have 50 delegates, elected by Regional Assemblies, and institutional delegates on the basis of one delegate per institutional member.

  4. The General Assembly shall meet every three years,

  5. The triennial meetings of the General Assembly shall be preceded by the convocation of Regional Assemblies where delegates to the General Assembly will be elected.

  6. The quorum for the General assembly meeting shall be 1/3 of full members. Each full member shall have one vote.

  7. An extra-ordinary session of the General Assembly may be requisitioned by at least one third of all full members or two-thirds of the members of the Executive Committee.

  8. Proxy voting shall not be allowed in the General Assembly.

 

  1. Regional Assemblies

 

  1. The governance and activities of CODESRIA shall be structured around five regions as follows:

 

  1. Each of the regions shall have a Regional Assembly. Participation in the Regional Assemblies shall be open to all full institutional and individual members of the Council domiciled in the region concerned;

  2. The quorum for the Regional Assemblies shall be 1/3 of full members in the region concerned. Each member shall have one vote.

  3. The programming of the Regional Assemblies shall be managed by the CODESRIA Executive Secretariat with approval from the Executive Committee.

  4. The Executive Committee shall designate one of its members from each region who is not available for the next subsequent election to the Executive Committee to be the regional co-ordinator of the Regional Assembly who will also chair the meetings of the Regional Assembly.

  5. The Regional Assemblies shall nominate four persons each for consideration for election into the CODESRIA Executive Committee.

  6. The Regional Assemblies shall also nominate 10 delegates each to the Governance Section of the CODESRIA General Assembly, four of whom will be those who have been nominated for consideration for election into the Executive Committee.

Proxy voting shall not be allowed in the Regional Assemblies.

Title VIII

Delete and replace Article 16 with the following:

Composition and Structure

  1. The Executive Committee shall be composed of 13 elected members, 2 from each region and 3 representing institutional members. The Executive Secretary shall be an ex-officio member without the right to vote.

  2. Elected members of the Executive Committee shall serve for a term of three years and shall be eligible for re-election only once. In computing the term and or terms of the members on the Executive Committee, account shall be taken of the any period of time served as a substitute member and also of the period served prior to the date this provision comes into effect.

  1. The work of the Executive Committee shall be organised on the basis of individual and collective responsibility.

  2. The Executive Committee may form sub-committees, as it deems fit to structure its work.

  3. There shall be a sub-committee of the Executive Committee called the Programmes Committee.

Delete and replace Article 17 as follows:

Election

  1. Members of the Executive Committee shall be elected by the delegates to the Governance Section of the General Assembly sitting as an Electoral College.

  2. Each delegate shall have one vote and shall be entitled to vote in all the elections for members of the Executive Committee, as well as in the election for the President and Vice President of the Executive Committee.

  3. Institutional members of the Executive Committee will be elected from among six institutional delegates nominated by institutional delegates.

  4. Regional members of the Executive Committee shall be elected from the four delegates nominated by the Regional Assembly. The first two getting highest votes shall be considered elected to the membership of the Executive Committee and the third shall be kept in reserve to fill a vacancy occurring for any reason in between the meetings of the General Assembly.Not more than one elected member of the Executive Committee shall come from the same country.

  5. In electing members of the Executive Committee, consideration should be given, as far as practical, to balanced geographical, linguistic, gender and disciplinary representation.

  6. The President and Vice-President of the Committee shall be elected by the delegates to the Governance Section of the General Assembly from among the members already elected into the Executive Committee.

  7. Where there is more than one candidate for the post of President, the candidate with more than 50 per cent of valid votes shall be deemed to have been duly elected. Provided the second candidate scores not less than 20 per cent of the votes cast, s/he will be deemed to be automatically elected as Vice-President;

Add new title XA between Title IX and X.

Title XA

The Scientific Committee

  1. There shall be a Scientific Committee which will assist in the task of charting broad intellectual directions for the African Social science community in accordance with the goals of CODESRIA as set out in the relevant provisions of this Charter.

  2. The members of the Scientific Committee will be nominated by the Executive Committee and approved by the General Assembly.

  3. Nominees to the Scientific Committee shall not be serving members of any other committees of CODESRIA.

The Scientific Committee shall present a report on its work to the General Assembly

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The CODESRIA Web Site:

For those members of the research community who may not yet be aware, CODESRIA has a new web site which we would like to encourage you visit as up-to-date information on the different activities of the Council, including the upcoming General Assembly, are posted on the site. The web site address is: www.codesria.org