Constitution of UNYANET Alumni
I. Aim, Name and Methods
Article 1 UNYANET Alumni is an association set up under Art. 60 of the Swiss Civil Code and is seated in Geneva. It may perform its executive work from other duty stations as well.
Article 2 The association is political and ideologically independent.
Article 3 The aim of UNYANET Alumni is to
1 perform as an organisation for alumni of UNYANET;
2 enable an exchange between members of the association and the United Nations;
3 establish a network of experts that helps UNY(S)As, UNA Youth Sections, associations alike and the United Nations;
4 support UNYANET in its efforts, projects and achieving its goals.
Article 4 UNYANET Alumni has no commercial purpose and does not strive for gain. All organs are working on voluntary basis.
II. Membership
Article 5 UNYANET Alumni consists of
1 junior and senior members who have contributed to UNYANET
2 supportive members;
3 honorary members;
4 observer status available for legal established associations.
a) Junior Membership
Article 6 Junior membership is available for individuals with a BA degree who have contributed to UNYANET.
b) Senior Membership
Article 7 Senior membership is available upon application to junior members who have been junior members for at least one term.
Article 8 The one term requirement does not apply to:
1 former board members of UNYANET;
2 former official representatives of UNYANET member associations with full membership status who represented their association at the General Assembly of UNYANET.
Article 9 Junior members who by recognition of the board have shown special commitment to UNYANET Alumni can apply for senior membership within the first term of their membership at UNYANET Alumni.
Article 10 Senior members that become board members of UNYANET lose their status immediately and become junior members instead.
c) Supportive Membership
Article 11 Supportive membership is open for all individuals who support the aims of UNYANET Alumni.
d) Honorary Membership
Article 12 Honorary membership can only be awarded by the General Assembly and upon request of the board to individuals for their outstanding performance for the association. Honorary members can be senior members at the same time.
e) Observer Status
Article 13 Observer status is open for associations that support and promote the goals of the association.
f) Other Regulations
Article 14 Application for any kind of membership or observer status has to be sent to the board. It is up to the board to accept or deny an application. The board does not need to explain its decision to the applicant. The General Assembly can revise the decision of the board.
Article 15 The board can decide to expel a member or an observer if it violates the aim or reputation of the association. The member or observer can ask the General Assembly to revise the decision of the board. In this case, the membership or observer status remains suspended until the General Assembly has decided.
Article 16 A member or an observer has to announce that it wishes to leave the association. This must be communicated to the board at least three months before the next General Assembly. They will lose their status with the start of the General Assembly.
Article 17 Membership is automatically and immediately revoked for individuals upon death. Observer status is automatically and immediately revoked upon dissolution of the association.
III. Finance
Article 18 To achieve its aim and function, the association has the following financial resources available
1 membership fee;
2 income from own events;
3 subventions;
4 income from agreements of benefit;
5 donations and contributions of every kind.
Article 19 The fiscal year starts with the end of the General Assembly and ends with the following.
Article 20 The General Assembly sets the membership fee for senior members.
Article 21 Junior members and honorary members do not have to pay a membership fee.
Article 22: The board sets the membership fee for supporticevmembers and associations with observer status.
Article 23 The membership fee will not be reimbursed if a member leaves or gets excluded from the association during a fiscal year
Article 24 A member loses his membership automatically if he does not pay the membership fee for two years in a row. Any outstanding membership fee must be paid before a member is readmitted.
IV. Organs
Article 25 The General Assembly consists of all senior members of the association. It meets once a year.
Article 26 Junior and supportive, honorary members without senior membership and observers have the right to attend and speak but have no vote at the General Assembly.
Article 27 The General Assembly has to be officially announced at least three months before it takes place. Emails are allowed.
Article 28 The General Assembly can be held online upon decision of the board. The decision can be altered upon request of two-third of all the senior members. The board decides in this case upon the place and the time of the General Assembly while Article 23 still applies.
Article 29 The agenda of the General Assembly has to be made available at least one month before the start of the General Assembly.
Article 30 Amendments proposed to the agenda have to be sent to the board at least 14 days before the start of the General Assembly.
Article 31 Senior members unable to be present at the General Assembly have the right to submit their vote in writing in advance to the board. The vote must arrive before the start of the General Assembly. It can be transmitted electronically. Votes submitted in advance will be given to the vote counters in a sealed envelope after they were elected.
Article 32 Senior members unable to be present at the General Assembly can participate and vote online if admitted by senior members present in person at the General Assembly. The decision to admit online participation must be made at the beginning of the General Assembly and cannot be altered afterwards.
Article 33 The board or one-fifth of all senior members can request an extraordinary General Assembly including the reason of the meeting. The General Assembly has to take place within four weeks after the request has been placed and will deal with the reason of the meeting only. It is up to the requesting body or group if the General Assembly is being held online.
Article 34 The General Assembly has the following indefeasible authorities:
1. election of recording clerk and two vote counters for the General Assembly;
2. approval of the minutes of the last General Assembly;
3. approval of the report of the board;
4. acceptance of the auditor’s report and approval of the financial report;
5. election of the president of the association, the officer of finance, the board members and the auditor. Each board member can be elected separately;
6. determination of membership fee;
7. approval of the annual budget;
8. approval of amendments of the constitution;
9. approval of additional items requested by the board or senior members.
Article 35 The General Assembly is able to make decisions if at least the simple majority of the senior members are present or have submitted their vote in writing or electronically in advance.
Article 36 If the simple majority is not achieved at the first meeting of the General Assembly, a second meetings takes place within 24 hours without a quorom required.
Article 37 By default, all decisions require a simple majority of the votes submitted.
Article 38 Amendments of the constitution require a two-thirds majority of the votes submitted.
b) Board
Article 39 Only senior members can be members of the board.
Article 40 The board consists of the president of the association, the officer of finance and any other board member elected by the General Assembly.
Article 41 Each member of the board gets elected for two years. They can be re-elected.
Article 42 The board has full authority if not limited by the law or this constitution.
Article 43 The board meets as often as required but not necessarily in person. Any board member can request a meeting. The meetings are chaired by the president of the association. Minutes of these meetings are taken and must be made available to the senior members after approval by the board.
Article 44 The board operates on a voluntary basis, expenses related to this work can be reimbursed.
c) Auditor
Article 45 The auditor can be an individual or legal person.
Article 46 The auditor gets elected for two years. He can be re-elected.
Article 47 The auditor controls the accounting of the association and writes an annual report to the attention of the board and to be accepted by the General Assembly.
V. Other
Article 48 The association is authorised to sign by a member of the board if the board has granted this right beforehand.
Article 49 Members of any kind or observers are never to be held accountable for outstanding debts of the association. Only the asset of the association is held responsible.
VI. Dissolution
Article 50 To dissolve UNYANET Alumni, an extraordinary General Assembly with that specific agenda item is necessary. At this meeting, a two-thirds majority of all senior members have to vote in favour in order for this decision to be taken.
Article 51 In case the association is dissolved, the assets of the association are donated to a tax-exempted association that has the same or equivalent aims as UNYANET Alumni. The distribution of the assets to the members is not possible.