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
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.
Article 5
Goals of the Platform are:
Article 6
Activities of the Platform are:
Article 7
Admittance and gaining full membership
Article 8
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.
Article 14
Bodies of the Platform are:
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:
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:
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.
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.
Article 31
The work of the Platform is public. Publicity of work is ensured by:
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.
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.
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.
Article 37
Platform will terminate its work:
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.
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.