Statute

Based on the Article 11 of the Law of Associations („Narodne novine“ number 88/01 and 11/02), founding assembly of Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity, has adopted on the February 21st 2014

STATUTE OF CROATIAN PLATFORM FOR INTERNATIONAL CITIZEN SOLIDARITY

I.  Basic Provisions

Article 1

Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity (hereinafter: Platform) is a non- governmental and non-profit organization of civil society, which is active in the area of international development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

Article 2

This Statute regulates matters of name, seat, field of actions, representation, objectives, activities, membership, management, financing and other relevant issues for the work of the Platform in accordance with the Law of Associations.

Article 3

Members of the Platform, aware of the common needs for cooperation and improvement of interpersonal communication, as well as improving their own capacity, are joining together in order to achieve an impact on the shaping and implementing of the public policy of international development cooperation and humanitarian aid of the Republic of Croatia.

Basic values that Platform and its members nurture through their work are: freedom of asssembly, respecting the difference of opinion and beliefs, non-interference with the missions of its members and the recipients of development coordination and humanitarian aid, global solidarity, harmonization of common actions for development cooperation in a spirit of solidarity and mutual respect, taking into account needs of the recipients of development cooperation and humanitarian aid and respect of cultural, religious and other differences.

Platform and its other members work on the principles of a respect of human rights, peace building, non-violence, social justice, preservance of the environment, sustainable development, democracy, rule of law, secularity and support or advocate for rights of people or groups which are exposed to discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, skin color, sex, language, religion, political or other belief, national or social background, financial background, membership in the Union, education, position in the society, marital or family status, age, health condition, dissability, genetic heritage, gender identity, expression of the sex orientation or some other feature.

Article 4

The name of the association is: Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity. The short name is: CROSOL

The seat of the association is in Zagreb.

II.  Goals and activities of the association

Article 5

Goals of the Platform are:

  • building and strenghtening the capacities of civil society organizations (hereinafter: OCD) for providing international development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • if necessary, to be the link between the ministry that is responsible for international development cooperation and humanitarian aid, and the projects of international development cooperation and humanitarian aid of the OCD;
  • to participate and influence on the improvement, shaping, implementation and evaluation policies of the Republic of Croatia, the European Union and other international bodies like the United Nations and others, from the area of international development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • to deliberate and improve international development cooperation of the OCD inside and outside of Croatia about values, principles, methods and standards of actions;
  • to articulate and affirm activist initiatives and organizations of civil society from southeast Europe toward the EU in the area of development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • to promote education for development and international solidarity;
  • to promote international development cooperation and solidarity.

Article 6

Activities of the Platform are:

  • informing and empowering of the OCD for acting in the area of international development cooperation and humanitarian aid by gathering and sharing information about public policies, competitions, decisions, possibilities of networking with the international OCD’s etc.;
  • coordination of common activities and projects of the Platform;
  • cooperation with the responsible state bodies and EU bodies regarding the public policies connected with international development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • implementation of the research and analysis of public policies;
  • strenghtening of OCD capacities and public officials for planning and developing of international development cooperation and offering of humanitarian aid through informative and educational activities;
  • examine the needs of the countries in which it is planned to provide development coordination and humanitarian aid;
  • public advocacy, shaping, following and evaluating of implementation of official international development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • participating in international networks connected to international development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • implementation of national and international projects from international development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • publishing of relevant, expert, educational and informative publications;
  • organizing of conferences, cultural activities, round tables and other public events and the implementation of the public campaigns;
  • documenting the experience of OCD’s work from the area of international development cooperation and humanitarian help;
  • providing counselling services from the international development cooperation and humanitarian aid area;
  • creating a data-base of the organizations, initatives and individuals who work in jobs related to international development cooperation and humanitarian aid;
  • other activities according to the Law of Associations

III.  MEMBERSHIP OF THE PLATFORM

Article 7

  1. A member of the Platform can become any association that complies with the Law of Associations, or other non-governmental non-profit organization if it accepts this Statute under the conditions laid down by the Statute and the law.
  2. A member of the Platform can become non-governmental and non-partisan organization if acting on Croatian territory.
  3. Membership in the Platform can be full membership or observational membership.
  4. Platform keeps the membership list.

Admittance and gaining full membership

Article 8

  1. All associations and other non-partisan non-profitable organizations that wish to become the members of the Platform must submit a written application for membership to the Managing Board.
  2. Decision about admittance is made by the Assembly of the Platform at the next meeting, with the presence of the president of the organization that is applying for the membership.
  3. Association or other non-partisan non-profit organization which has been accepted as observational member can apply for the full time membership after at least one year of observational membership and if it fulfills the conditions from the Article 9.

Full time membership

Article 9

(1) Full-time memberishp to Platform can be given to any association or non-partisan non- profit organization which posesses previous experience in international development cooperation and humanitarian aid, or it has capacities for providing one.

(2) The rights of the full time members are:

a. to choose and send the representatives into the Platform bodies;

b. through Assembly and appointed representatives to participate in the governance of Platform;

c. to be informed about the work of the Platform and its members and to share information about its own work;

d. to propose activities, projects and paths of action for Platform;

e. to get the support of Platform when being appointed for national and international bodies relevant for development cooperation;

f. to get support for participating in the name of Platform in the work of national and international bodies and events related to development cooperation.

(3) Obligations of full time members are:

a. to contribute to achieving the objectives and activities of the Platform,

b. to participate at the Assembly of the Platform,

c. to participate in at least one working group of the Platform,

d. to guard and promote the reputation of the Platform and its members in public

e. to pay full annual tuition

Observational membership

Article 10

(1) An association or other non-partisan non-profit organization that is interested in offering international development cooperation and humanitarian aid and building up its own capacities in this area, or any other organization that wishes to act soley through the observational status can become observational member of the Platform.

(2) The rights of the observational members are:

a. to be informed about the work of the Platform and its members and to share information about their own work,

b. to suggest activities, projects and courses of action forof the Platform,

c. according to their own possibilities, to participate in the work for the Platform through working groups,

d. to participate in the work of the Assembly without the right to vote,

e. to get support of the Platform in building up capacities for providing development cooperation and humanitarian aid

(3) Obligations of the observational members are:

a. according to their own abilities, to contribute to the achievement of goals and activities of the Platform,

b. to guard and promote the reputation of the Platform and its members in public,

c. to pay the reduced annual tuition.

Change in a Status or Termination of Membership

Article 11

(1) Membership in the Platform can be cancelled:

(1) by a written statement of the member of withdrawal,
(2) by expulsion from membership, if the member is acting contrary to the provisions of this Statute, especially if it acts contrary to the goals or fundamental values of the Platform or by its actions is harming the reputation of the Platform,
(3) by not paying the annual tuition after it was warned,
(4) by the termination of the member’s activity

(2) If the member does not fulfill obligations from this Statute, the Managing Board shall issue a written warning about the possibilities of expulsion and give the possibility to the member to present an explanation on the next meeting of the Managing Board.

(3) Expulsion shall be explained in a written form and delivered to the member upon whose expulsion has been decided. An Expulsed member has the right to file a complaint to the Assembly within 15 days of receipt of the decision on expulsion and it has the right to present an explanation to the Assembly before the final decision upon the expulsion.

(4) The Managing Board shall include in the agenda of the next Assembly meeting the discussion about its expulsion, that is, change in its status into the status of observational member.

Article 12

Full time member of the Platform that does not participate in the annual Assembly two times in a row (through their representatives), and it did not pre-announce that, will automatically change its status to observational member.

Partners of the Platform

Article 13

All legal and physical persons that are not covered by membership can become partners of the Platform by signing an agreement on partnership cooperation which includes the preparation and implementation of joint program activities, with the right to participate in the work of the Platform’s bodies and in the processes of strategic planning and programming, without the possibility of making the decisions that can Maganing Board or the Assembly are supposed to make.

Partners have the obligation to:

1) contribute to implementation of the objectives of the Platform,
(2) guard the reputation of the Platform in public,
(3) cooperate on the agreed joint activities in accordance with the fundamental values of the Platform,
(4) according to the abilities, invest our own funds in the implementation of partnership activities.

Decision on the conclusion or termination of partnership makes the Managing Board.

IV.  Bodies of the Association

Article 14

Bodies of the Platform are:

  1. Assembly
  2. Managing Board

Platforms can be founded by the following executive bodies: coordinator of the Platform, working groups of the Platform, coordination board of the Platform according to the decision of the Managing Board.

IV.I. Assembly

Article 15

The Assembly is the highest body of the Platform. Members of the Assembly are all members of the Platform through their representatives. All full members of the Platform have the right to vote, every member has one vote.

Article 16

Assembly can be regular and extraordinary.

Sessions of the Assembly are led by three members of the Working Presidency, headed by  the president of the Managing Board of the Platform. Until elections of Working Presidency, the session of the Assembly will be led by the convener.

The Assembly chooses two other members of the Working Presidency among its members at the beginning of the session.

The Assembly chooses a recording secretary, two verifiers, three members of the election committee and three members of verification commission.

Regular Assembly is held at least once a year.

Extraordinary Assembly is convened when it is necessary. President of the Managing Board shall convene extraordinary Assembly within 30 days of receiving of proposal, and the proposal can be sent by:

  • at least one quarter of Platform’s Assembly
  • Managing Board

A Proposal for the extraordinary Assembly must be submitted to the president of the Managing Board of the Platform in written form, with the proposal of the agenda and an explanation of the need for an extraordinary Assembly.

If the president does not convene the requested extraordinary Assembly in an orderly time, the proponent shall do that.7

Article 17

Assembly has the following rights and obligations:

(1) adopts the Statute and its amendments,
(2) appoints and dismisses members of the Managing Board,
(3) adopts strategic plans and programs of the Platform,
(4) adopts financial and program reports,
(5) decides on dissolution of the platform,
(6) decides on accepting new members into the Platform,
(7) decides on the exclusion of a member on appeals,
(8) decides on the height of membership fees which the Managing Board proposes,(9) performs other duties specified by the Law or the Statute.

Article 18

Assembly can validly decide if it is attended by the majority (50% +1) full members of the Assembly, and decisions are valid if they receive a majority (50% +1) votes of the present members of the Assembly voting.

The decision to abolish the Platform can be made only by two-thirds majority of all full members of the Assembly.

Both observatory members and members of the Managing Board and Executive Bodies can participate in the work of the Assembly, but without the right to vote.

The Assembly makes decisions by public voting. Elections and issues of exclusion of members are made by secret voting.

The President of the Managing Board of Platform can convene the Assembly in writing, by the decision of Managing Board, at least 15 days before the session.

The President of the Managing Board of Platform can also convene regular Assembly, without the decission of the Managing Board, if the deadline stipulated by the Statute is expirin g.

IV.II. The Managing Board

Article 19

The Managing Board of the Platform is a governing body which is, between the two Assembly sessions, governs the work and activities of the Platform.

The Managing Board has a minimum of three members and a maximum of seven. The number of members must be an odd number.

The Members of the Governing Board choose the president of the Board between themselves.

A full member of the Platform can nominate only one person for the member of the Managing board on the Assembly session.

Members of the Managing Board are choosen on the proposal of full members of the Platform, and they cannot be members of the other bodies of the Platform.

A member of the Platform that nominates its representative in the Managing Board must ensure that the nominated person, additional to its engagement inside of the original organization, can commit to work in the Managing Board of the Platform.

Article 20

The President of the Managing Board directs its work and convenes its sessions and in the case of his/her absence, one of the members of Managing Board that he/she authorizes can do it.

The Managing Board can make decisions if there are more than 50% of its members present. The majority of the present members makes decisions.

Decisions and recommendations are made by public voting, except in the case when it is decided that some decisions are to made secretly. Secret voting is used when the board is deciding about the persons.

Any member of the Platform or member of the executive bodies can be present at the session of the Managing Board, but without the right to vote.

Records from the Managing Board sessions must be available to all members of the Platform.

Article 21

The Managing Board has the following rights and obligations:

(1) to regulary follow and implement the decisions and conclusions of the Assembly,
(2) suggests amandments for the Statute,
(3) organize strategic planning and brings Strategic plan of the Platform,
(4) accepts annual financial plan and submits annual financial and program reports to the Assembly, the Assembly then adopts them
(5) answers for the financial performance of the Platform,
(6) creates the working program of the Platform and submitts it to the Assembly which adopts it
(7) takes care of the assets and the material means of the Platform,
(8) if necessary, hires a coordinator of the Platform and on his/her proposal makes decisions about hiring or volunteering activities in the executive bodies of the Platform,
(9) independently or on the proposal of the coordinator of the Platform makes decisions about the founding or the revoking of executive or advisory bodies of the Platform,
(10) independently or on the proposal of the coordinator of the Platform makes decisions about making or cancelling partnership with the partners of the Platform,
(11) keeps record about membership in the Platform,
(12) does not interfere in the freedom of public appearance of its members, if that appearance is not conflicting with the Statute of the Platform,
(13) independently or on the proposal of the coordinator makes decisions about the membership in the Platform in another organizatios or initiatives,
(14) decides about other questions determined by this Statute.

The Managing Board adopts an ordinance about its work.

Article 22

The President of the Managing Board has further rights and obligations:

(1) to convene sessions of Managing Board and the Assembly,
(2) to make decision about the convention of the Assembly,
(3) to represent the Platform,
(4) is in charge of conflict resolution.

Article 23

Mandate of the members of the Managing Board lasts for two years and can be prolonged for another mandate.

Sessions of the Managing Board are held when it is necessary, but are required at least once every three months.

Article 24

Members of the Managing Board are responsible to the Assembly of the Platform for their personal and joint work.

Members of the Managing Board shall file a report to the Assembly of the Platform about their work.

The Assembly can revoke the Managing Board if it considers that it has violated this Statute by its work or goals that have been made by the Assembly, or if it did not execute the decisions of the Assembly.

Membership in the Managing Board can be cancelled through resignation, revocation or permamanent inability. In the exercise of the rights reffered to in paragraph 1 of this article, the Assembly can revoke a member of the Managing Board or the whole Managing Board.

The membership of Individual members of the Managing Board can be revoked if:

  • they do not comply to their obligations according to this Statute,
  • they are acting contrary to the provisions of this Statute and the program which is determined by the Assembly,
  • they exceeded its powers,
  • they, through careless actions, cause significant material damage or damage the reputation of the Platform.

Demand for the revocation of individual or all members of the Managing Board can submit at least one quarter of Assembly members, in a written form with the explanation.

Demand for the revocation of the Managing Board members shall be put on the next agenda of the Assembly. The Proponent has the obligation to explain the reasons, and the persons to whom it relates to have the right to defend themselves in front of the Assembly, before the Assembly votes for revocation. The person can lose the right to defend themselves if he/she does not attend the Assembly session.

IV.III. EXECUTIVE BODIES

Article 25

The Managing Board makes decisions about the founding, restructuring and cancelling of the executive bodies of the Platform, in accordance with the needs of the program and capacities of the members, and defines and follows their work.

Executive bodies of the Platform can include:

(1) a coordinator of the Platform
(2) working groups
(3) a coordination board of the Platform

Executive bodies of the Platform file a report about their work to the Managing Board before it sessions, the annual report is submitted to the Managing Board and Assembly of the Platform.

Article 26

The Coordinator of the Platform has the following rights and obligations:

(1) to execute the decisions and conclusions of the Assembly and Managing Board,
(2) to coordinate and executes all the activities of the Platform according to articles 5. and 6. of this Statute and according to the guidelines of the Managing Board,
(3) to provide the means for the work of the Platform in cooperation with the Managing Board,
(4) to cooperate with the Managing Board when planing and executing strategic planning,
(5) leads financial business,
(6) takes care of administrative-technical affairs,
(7) in cooperation with the Managing Board takes care of affairs, assets and material means of the Platform,
(8) builds up an annual financial plan and prepares financial reports and work reports,
(9) in cooperation with the Managing Board suggests founding and abolishing of working groups of the Platform,
(10) does not interfere with the freedom of the public appearance of individual members, if it does not interfere with this Statute,
(11) gives suggestion to the Managing Board about professional hiring inside of the Platform.

The Coordinator is a professional or volunteering person with the relevant experience of coordination, planning, preparation and execution of the projects and is experienced in the acquisition of funds in the international environment.

The Coordinator does not need to be a member or an employee of any organization in the Platform.

Article 27

Working groups deal with specific goals or activities of the Platform.

Working groups define its specific goals or activities according to the articles 5. and 6. of this Statute and based on guidelines of the Manging Board.

Every working group has a director, a working plan, expected results, and a plan for the acquisition of the funds for a defined period of time.

Article 28

According to the number and size of the executive bodies and activities, the Managing Board can found a Coordinational Board which gathers the directors of individual executive bodies, and is led by the Coordinator of the Platform.

Article 29

Records  from the meetings    of executive bodies shall be available to the members of the Platform and Managing Board.

V.  REPRESENTING AND ADVOCATING

Article 30

Platform is represented and advocated by the president of the Managing Board of the Platform.

The President of the Managing Board can authorize other members of Managing Board and executive bodies for representation and advocacy.

VI.  PUBLICITY OF WORK

Article 31

The work of the Platform is public. Publicity of work is ensured by:

  • the means of public communication,
  • a personal web site, mailing lists and social networks,
  • public work of the Assembly and other working bodies of the Platform,
  • regular reports that are available to all members of the Platform.

VII.  ASSETS OF THE PLATFORM

Article 32

Assets of the Platform are: real estates, movable assets, financial assets and ownership rights that the Platform gains in its work, voluntary contributions of physical and legal persons, donations or any other legal way.

Article 33

Platform answers with its entire asset for its obligations.

VIII.  FINANCING

Article 34

The Platform finances its activities by:

(1) tuition,
(2) voluntary contributions, donations, grants and sponsorships,
(3) revenues from publishing, in accordance with the special regulations,
(4) other asset acquired throughin the legal ways.

Article 35

If the Platform gains extra income by publishing, the income must, according to the status of non-profit organization, be used exclusively for the renewal and improvement of the objectives and tasks of the Platform set out in the Statute.

Platform will not distribute the extra income to its members or founders

Decision about the distribution of extra income makes the Managing Board, and files a notice to the Assembly.

IX.  PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Article 36

Platform can give out special acknowledgments to its members, activists, or other physical and legal persons for special credit in the international development cooperation and humanitarian aid.

Platform can, as a special form of acknowledgment, declare a person its honorary member, but honorary members do not exercise the rights that the members of the Platform have.

Types of awards, award criteria and method of awards is set out by the Managing Board by a special decision.

X.  TERMINATION OF WORK

Article 37

Platform will terminate its work:

  • if two-thirds of the Assembly’s members support the decision
  • when the conditions are met for the termination of the Platform established by the Law.

Article 38

In the case of the termination of work, the Assembly decides on the asset of the Platform. If the Assembly cannot meet three times in a row, the Managing Board makes the decision, after the creditors, the court costs and other procedures.

If the Managing Board does no’t meet within 30 days from a third attempt of the Assembly to have a session, and in case of the termination of work, assets of the Platform (after the creditors, the court costs and other procedures) is left to the Red Cross for activities outside of Republic of Croatia.

XI.  FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 39

Changes in the Statute will enter into force on the date of adoption.

The Assembly of the Platform has the right to interpretation of the Statute.

Gordan Bosanac
President of the Managing Board

In Zagreb, 21st of February 2014.

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