Using the attached
form Nomination of Delegates your
association is now asked to name its delegates for the Council meeting to be
held in
Under the constitution and Bye-Laws of the Confederation each member association which has fully paid its membership fees may name and send 2 of its members as delegates to the Council. Each Association then has two votes. In any voting or elections during the Council meeting the votes may be carried by the two delegate(s) nominated by the Association. If an association is able only to send one delegate that delegate may cast the two votes.
When considering your nominations for the ICM Council meeting you may wish to remember that
* the International Council of the Confederation is the final authority for the policy and management of the affairs of the Confederation (Clause 13 of the Constitution)
* In exercising their authority the Council members have a responsibility to:
Provide strategic direction for the Confederation;
Monitor that the aims and activities as described in the constitution are being achieved;
Appoint and elect the Officers of the Confederation.
As the role of the delegates to the Council is heavy, there is great value in continuity of representation at meetings of the International Council. Midwives who have represented your Association before have a wealth of knowledge and experience that is valuable to both you and ICM. If at all possible, please ensure that one of your delegates has already attended a Council meeting, so that the other, if she is new to the procedure, has the time to learn and understand how the Council works and the (sometimes) complicated procedures of debate and voting.
Unless a delegate is selected to attend the
Council and Congress under the Sponsor a Midwife Scheme, the ICM does not carry
any responsibility for the costs of sending a delegate to the Council meeting
or the Congress
Preliminary information for Council delegates:
*
Attached is a schedule of
activities over the Council and Congress period to be given to your delegates
once they have been identified.
*
Four months prior to the
Council meeting member associations and delegates will receive information on
the venues for the meetings to be held and the need to make arrangements for
travel visas, accommodation etc.
*
Six weeks before the Council
meeting delegates and associations will be sent confirmation of dates, a
comprehensive handbook containing detailed information about the Council and
the activities associated with it, and the council agenda and supporting papers.
Delegates will also be informed if their Regional Representatives will be holding any Council preparation activities.
The Constitution says that all midwives belonging to a Member Association are eligible to attend meetings of the Council.
Using the attached form Nomination of Observers to Council, your association now has the opportunity to provide the names of any of its members who wish to be observers at the council meeting.
If a midwife wishes to be an observer at the Council meeting the association to which s/he belongs is required to submit the form accrediting (confirming) the member to be a member of that association. The form of accreditation must be received by the ICM secretariat prior to the opening of the meeting. Only observers accredited at the opening of Council are admitted to the Council venue.
* Observers are not entitled to speak unless they are specifically invited to do so by the Council expressed through the Chairperson;
* Observers are seated separate from members of Council, but so they can hear the debate;
* They will be provided with a copy of the agenda but no supporting papers. If at all possible they will be given access to the translation facilities.
* If the demand for access to the meeting by midwife and non-midwife observers exceeds the capacity of the Council venue, first priority will be given to those accredited by member associations and places will be allocated across member associations by Region.
* The Chairperson can close the meeting to observers at any time with the agreement of Council.
Under the Constitution and Bye-Laws the members of the Board of Management are the Director, the Deputy Director, the Treasurer and the President. The only member of the Board of Management not elected by the Council is the President who is named to become the President of the ICM in the three years leading up to the Congress by the Congress Host Association at the time the Association’s bid to host is accepted.
* The term of office of the Director, the Deputy Director and the Treasurer is three years. Each may be re-elected for a further two consecutive terms of office.
* The Director and Deputy Director may be nominated as individuals by any member association but the member association of the person nominated must be either the nominator or the seconder.
* The Treasurer shall normally be a member of and nominated as an individual by a Member Association of the country in which the Headquarters of the Confederation is situated.
The Constitution defines the role of the Board of Management which is that subject to the final authority of Council for the policy and management of the affairs of the Confederation, its role is to manage the activities and business of the Confederation, including its financial affairs. It may undertake all acts which will safeguard the interests of the Confederation.
The costs of Board members for ICM activities are carried by the Confederation.
Using the attached forms Nomination of Members of the Board of Management your association is now invited to consider if it wishes to make any nominations to the Board of Management.
Under the Constitution and Bye-Laws member associations are the Regional Representatives and not individuals. An associations elected as a Regional Representative names an individual to carry out the role on its behalf. Regional Representatives have seats on the Executive Committee and the Council of the Confederation.
* The term of office of a Regional Representative is three years. The association may be re-elected for a further two consecutive terms of office.
* Member associations may nominate themselves as Regional Representatives. They may be nominated by another member association which must seek their agreement to the nomination.
Regional Representatives are committed to sending their representatives to one Executive Committee between Congresses and to sending them to the Executive Committee and Council at the time of the Triennium Congress.
The Bye-laws contain a detailed description of the role of the Regional Representatives which includes;
* Contact with their member associations twice a year
* Initiating professional activities on behalf of the Confederation in their regions;
* Contributing to newsletters, publications etc of or on behalf of the Confederation, and encourage midwives in their region to do the same;
* Provide twice yearly reports of activities within their regions and report on these to each Executive Committee and to the Council.
Using the attached forms Nomination of Regional Representatives, your association is now invited to consider if it wishes to nominate itself or other member associations as Regional Representatives.
Unless the person named to carry out the role of Regional
Representative on behalf of her association is selected to attend the Council
and Congress under the Sponsor a Midwife Scheme, the ICM does not carry any
responsibility for the costs of sending a the representative to the Council
meeting or the Congress; this is carried by the association.
The Confederation is invited to represent midwifery and midwives at many meetings around the world. Those meeting often take place at UN institutions such as the World Health Organisation, UNFPA or UNICEF. In order to share the experience and benefits of attending these meetings and to keep down the expenses involved in sending midwives to attend meetings on behalf of ICM, UN Representatives are appointed by the International Council. These named representatives receive accreditation allowing them to enter the meeting rooms and speak on behalf of ICM. The invitation to a meeting will always come through ICM headquarters and any intervention required will be prepared by or together with headquarters’ staff.
In preparing for this task, newly appointed representatives will receive a briefing during Congress and an amount of background materials on ICM and its activities.
Using the attached form Nomination of Accredited Representative, your association is now invited to propose representatives for the following offices:
World Health Organisation headquarters in
UN offices in
UN Royal Commissions in
WHO Regional offices in:
Please bear in mind that representatives will preferably live in or very near to the city where the office is located in order to keep travel and accommodation costs to a minimum. Those costs will be carried by the Confederation.
6. Guidance
on the Application to host a congress
At the Council
meeting, the Board of Management will propose that as of the 28th
Triennial Congress, the organisation of ICM congresses be taken on by a
professional congress organiser linked to headquarters. This will provide more
member associations with the opportunity to host a congress in their country,
as they will be able to focus completely on the scientific and social
programme. It will make the host association's task lighter and provide the
Confederation with a growing knowledge base on congress organisation. If Council adopts
the proposal, this will change the operating procedures described in the attached
Congress Handbook; especially those related to financial or organisation
matters.
The specific
paragraphs in the Congress Manual have been italicised for easy recognition.
Further
information will follow in the Council papers at the end of January 2002.
You are invited
to complete the Application
to host the 28th Triennial Congress using the attached forms.
7. Guidance
on the Invitation to host the mid-triennium meetings
Please note
that these meetings will normally take place in a developing country. Member
Associations in developing countries are invited to complete the application
form.
Prior
mid-triennium meetings have taken place in1995-Uganda, 1998-India,
2001-Zimbabwe.
You are invited
to complete the Invitation
to host a Mi-Triennium meeting using
the attached forms.
8. Guidance
on the Nomination for the Marie Goubran Award
The Maria
Goubran Award is awarded to a midwife who has demonstrated the potential to
further midwifery education and midwifery practice in countries with special
needs and limited funding opportunities. The terms of reference for the award
are attached to the nomination form.
You are invited
to nominate a midwife for this award using the Marie Goubran Memorial Award Nominations form.
A decision will
be made in January 2002 by the Board of Management.
9. Application
to the Congress Interpretation Fund
The official
languages of the 27th Triennial Congress are: English, French,
Spanish and German. The budgets do not allow for translation into more
languages. However, if you wish to pay for other translation, the Congress
Interpretation Fund can release a grant of 750 Euros towards the cost of that
interpretation. A decision will be made by the Board of Management in January
2002.
10.
Proforma for Items for Discussion at Council
All Member Associations are being given the opportunity to send in the
Items they wish to discuss at the 2002 Council meeting. They are asked to
provide as much detail as possible with regard to the nature and the aim of the
final statement.
You are now being invited to fill out as many Proforma as you may require.
When considering your items, please note the information given on the back of the Proforma and in the extensive guidance document which is also attached.