Article 1. The Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) is a permanent specialized technical organization of the inter-American system governed by the Charter of the Organization of American States, by the Statute of the Commission, by these Regulations, and by the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of Delegates. Hereinafter the term Assembly refers to the Assembly of Delegates of the CIM.

Article 2. The objectives and functions of the Commission are set forth in Article 2 of its Statute and they shall be performed using the technical means and resources necessary to attain its aims.

Structure

The Inter-American Commission of Women shall accomplish its objectives with the following structure:

a. The Assembly of Delegates

b. The Executive Committee

c. The President

d. The Delegates

e. The National Committees of Cooperation

f. The Permanent Secretariat

Article 3. The Inter-American Commission of Women is composed of one Principal Delegate from each member state of the Organization of American States, appointed by their government. The Principal Delegate shall be a national of, and reside in, the country she represents.

Each member state of the Organization may appoint women or men as Alternate Delegates and Advisers to cooperate with the Principal Delegate.

Alternates and Advisers shall be nationals of the country they represent.

Article 4. The Assembly of Delegates shall elect the President and Vice President of the Commission, for a term of two years, taking into consideration the principle of equitable geographic distribution.

The Vice President may run for President in the immediately following term, unless she has assumed the office of President during the second half of the previous term.

Article 5. The Principal Delegate shall preside over the National Committee of Cooperation referred to in Title V of these Regulations. She shall act in her country as liaison between the Executive Committee, authorities of her government, and other organizations that relate to matters that concern the Commission.

CHAPTER IV.

Article 6. The Principal Delegates to the Commission shall have the following duties and authority:

a. To attend the regular and special Assemblies and chair the delegation of her country to same;

b. To organize, direct and preside over the National Committees of Cooperation;

c. To ensure implementation of the instruments governing the Commission and the resolutions approved by the Assemblies and by the Executive Committee;

d. To promote in her states the signature and/or ratification of, or accession to, international treaties and conventions favorable to the status of women;

e. To serve as liaison between the Government of her country and the Executive Committee, and to promote the aims of the Commission with officials of the appropriate government institutions in her country, seeking in this way to foster the development of joint programs and projects;

f. To inform their respective governments, at the proper time, regarding the program-budget of the Organization of American States insofar as it relates to the Commission, to seek their support in obtaining its approval by the General Assembly of the Organization, and to inform their governments of the annual work program of the Commission;

g. To answer any questions on which they are consulted by the President or the Executive Committee concerning the specific functions of the Commission, and to make any suggestions they deem advisable;

h. To transmit periodically to the Permanent Secretariat updated information on the progress of activities in their respective countries that are of particular interest for the goals of the Commission, so as to ensure their widest possible dissemination among the member states;

i. To furnish the Commission, at each Assembly, with data on the topics that the agenda indicates will require special information;

j. To make timely suggestions to the President of the Commission on the topics that, in their opinion or that of their governments, should be included on the agenda for the next Assembly;

k. When travelling to other countries, establish contact, whenever possible, with the corresponding Delegates to coordinate their activities;

l. To cooperate with the government agencies concerned with women and to promote establishment of such agencies where they do not exist.

Article 7. The Alternate Delegates and the Advisers shall cooperate with the Principal Delegate and, if they reside in the area of the Commission's headquarters, shall cooperate in its activities.

Article. 8. Delegates shall remain in office until the Commission is informed of their resignation or replacement through the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

TITLE II. THE ASSEMBLY OF DELEGATES

CHAPTER V.

Article 9. The Assembly is the supreme organ of the Commission and as such, establishes its policy and prepares its program of activities.

Article 10. The Assembly shall hold regular and special meetings, which shall be numbered consecutively. The Assembly shall hold a regular meeting every two years.

Article 11. Regular meetings of the Assembly shall be held at the place selected by the Assembly at its preceding regular meeting, or failing this, by the Executive Committee, in accordance with the principle of rotation.

Article 12. If no country has offered to host an Assembly, it shall be held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

The government that has offered to host an Assembly shall confirm its offer at least eight months prior to the holding of the Assembly.

Article 13. The Assembly at its regular meetings shall set the time for holding the next regular meeting. The exact date of the meeting shall be determined by the Executive Committee, in consultation with the government of the host country and with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

If it is necessary to postpone a regular meeting of the Assembly, such postponement may not exceed ninety days following expiration of the two-year period following the previous regular meeting of the Assembly.

Article 14. If the meeting of the Assembly has not taken place within the ninety days established in the preceding article, the Executive Committee, in consultation with the governments of the member states, shall decide on the place and date for holding it.

Article 15. Under special circumstances, the Executive Committee may request the governments of the member states to agree to holding a special meeting of the Assembly.

When the Executive Committee decides to hold a special meeting of the Assembly, it shall ask the Secretary General to take the necessary steps to provide the pertinent funds. The special meeting of the Assembly shall take place not more than ninety days after the date of convocation.

Article 16. All member states of the Commission have the right to be represented in the Assembly through the delegations they appoint for that purpose, taking into account the provisions of Article 6 (a) of these Regulations.

Article 17. A delegation shall be composed of the Principal Delegate and her Alternates and Advisers, accredited by their government.

The Principal Delegate shall designate the members of her delegation who will sit on the committees.

Only Principal Delegates to the Inter-American Commission of Women, or their Alternates, all of whom must be duly accredited to the Assembly, may participate in the Assembly with the right to vote.

The members of each delegation shall be nationals of the country it represents.

Article 18. Members of the delegations shall be accredited by their respective governments by written communication to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

Article 19. The OAS Permanent Observers; the United Nations; the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women; and governmental or international institutions that are interested in the agenda of the Assembly and that maintain cooperative relations with the Organization of American States, especially with the CIM, may participate in the Assembly of Delegates as observers.

Observers may speak when the president so decides.

Article 20. Observers may present their statements and reports to the Assembly in writing, with the number of copies they consider necessary for distribution.

Article 21. The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, with the authorization of the Executive Committee and the consent of the host country, may grant facilities and courtesies for attending meetings of the Assembly as guests to governments of non-American countries, private or public entities, and other persons, provided they have shown interest in attending, so that they may follow the proceedings.

Such interest should be conveyed in writing to the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States at least thirty days prior to the opening of the meeting of the Assembly.

Article 22. The President shall be elected in accordance with Articles 14 and 15 of the Statute. Ten months before the meeting of the Assembly in which the election is to take place, the President shall send a communication to the governments of the eligible member states inquiring whether their Delegates will be candidates. The list of candidates resulting from this inquiry shall be made known to the Delegates of the corresponding countries and shall be distributed among the Delegates to the Assembly at the latest before the second plenary session. The election of the President shall be by secret ballot.

Article 23. Pursuant to her mandate from the Assembly, the President is invested with the highest authority to direct the activities of the Commission and, in addition to the duties and responsibilities conferred on her in Article 20 of the Statute, she shall have the following:

b. To report to the regular and special meetings of the Assembly of the Commission on the work carried out by the Commission and by its Executive Committee since the last meeting of the Assembly. This report shall include the actions taken to fulfill the mandates received from the Assembly;

c. To present the work program of the Commission to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States for consideration for the purpose of drawing up the pertinent program-budget, in accordance with the provisions of Article 112.c of the Charter of the OAS, and to convey it in due course to the Delegates, so as to attain the objectives set forth in Article 6.f of these Regulations;

d. To supervise the execution of pertinent budgetary resources, as well as any others that the Commission may receive, and to report to the Assembly and the Executive Committee on the subject;

e. To make representations to the governments of the member states, through the Secretary General and directly, regarding the appointment of their Principal Delegates to the Commission whenever a vacancy occurs;

f. To make representations to the governments of the member states represented on the Executive Committee, through the Secretary General and directly, regarding the appointment of a new Delegate, in the event the Principal Delegate is unable for any reason to perform her duties;

g. To inform the delegates, as far in advance as possible, of the dates of forthcoming regional and international conferences, so that they may arrange for their respective governments to appoint women to their delegations;

h. To supervise and approve the draft publications and documents of the Commission that are prepared by the Permanent Secretariat;

i. To establish the order of business for the meetings of the Executive Committee.

Article 24. The duties of the President terminate upon expiration of the term for which she has been elected, upon her resignation from office or as a Delegate for her country, or upon revocation of her appointment by her government. The Secretary General of the Organization of American States shall be informed of resignations or revocations.

Article 25. The Vice President of the Commission shall be elected in accordance with Articles 14 and 18 of the Statute and Article 22 of these Regulations.

Article 26. When the President is unable to serve in that capacity owing to temporary impediments, she shall be replaced by the Vice President, with the same duties and responsibilities, until such impediment ceases to exist. Should the Vice President be unable to serve immediately as President, the Executive Committee shall elect, by an absolute majority of votes, one of its members to act in that capacity pro-tem, until the Vice President is able to do so.

Article 27. If the office of President falls vacant, the Vice President shall fill it during the unexpired portion of the term of office for which the President was elected. If the office of Vice President becomes vacant, either because she has assumed the presidency or for any other reason, the Executive Committee, by an absolute majority of votes, shall elect one of its members to fill the vacancy for the unexpired portion of the term for which the Vice President was elected, and the member so elected shall not thereby lose her membership on the Executive Committee.

If both the President and the Vice President are replaced during the second half of the term of office, the persons replacing them may be elected to the same offices for the following terms.

Article 28. The duties of the Vice President terminate for the same reasons as those indicated for the President in Article 25 of these Regulations.

Article 29. In the event the offices of President and Vice President become vacant simultaneously, the Executive Committee shall elect an Acting President from among its members, by an absolute majority of votes, who shall exercise the functions of President, with the same duties and authority until a new election is held. The Acting President may be elected President by the Assembly, bearing in mind Articles 14 and 15 of the Statute of the CIM.

Article 30. When the vacancies referred to in the foregoing article occur, the Executive Committee, within ninety days following election of the Acting President, shall convoke a special meeting of the Assembly to elect a President and Vice President of the Commission to fill the unexpired terms of the officers replaced. They may be reelected for the following term if their election has occurred during the second half of the terms of the predecessors.

If, however, the next regular meeting of the Assembly is scheduled to be held within one hundred and eighty days after the vacancies occur, the special meeting of the Assembly referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be convoked. In this case, the Acting President shall continue to perform the duties of President of the Commission.

Article 31. If the terms of the President and the Vice President should expire before the meeting of the Assembly to elect the new officers of the Commission can be held, the Secretary General shall ask the governments of the member states to extend their terms until the meeting of the Assembly in which the election is held.

Article 32. The costs of travel by the President of the Commission, or by the Vice President in her stead, to perform her duties at headquarters, as well as the cost of fares and per diem required for her travel or for that of the person who replaces her on official missions other than the aforementioned, shall be included in the preliminary draft program-budget of the Inter-American Commission of Women, approved by the Executive Committee, and incorporated into the draft program-budget of the Organization prepared by the General Secretariat, in accordance with Article 15 of the Agreement signed between the OAS and the CIM and Article 25 of the Statute of the CIM.

Article 33. The Executive Committee is composed of the President and the Vice President of the Commission and the Principal or Alternate Delegates of the five member states elected by the Assembly, for a two-year term. Representation on the Executive Committee may be exercised only by the Delegates referred to in Article 3 of these Regulations.

Article 34. The member states forming the Executive Committee shall be elected by an absolute majority of the member states of the Commission at the regular meeting of the Assembly held in the year in which the terms of the incumbents expire, or at a special meeting of the Assembly convoked for that purpose.

Article 35. Efforts shall be made to maintain an equitable geographic distribution in the election of the member states that are to form the Executive Committee. The members of the Executive Committee shall remain in office for two-year terms and may not be reelected to the same office for the immediately following term.

No member state may run for more than one elective office in any term.

Article 36. The procedure for election of the member states that are to form the Executive Committee shall be in keeping with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.

Article 37. Pursuant to Article 25 of the Statute of the Commission, the preliminary draft program-budget of the CIM, approved by the Executive Committee, shall include the expenses incurred for the members of the Executive Committee to attend its regular meetings.

The per diem will be paid only for full days spent in attendance at the meetings.

Article 38. 

The Executive Committee has the functions established by Article 24 of the Statute.

Article 39. The Executive Committee shall hold a regular meeting every three months at the headquarters of the Commission, or in any country of the Americas if it so decides, for as long as it deems advisable. It may also hold special meetings when the President or at least four of its members so request.

The meetings shall be numbered consecutively, differentiating between regular and special ones.

Article 40. The Delegates present in the area and the Advisors Emeritus may participate in the meetings of the Executive Committee, with the right to voice but not to vote.

Article 41. The Executive Secretary, and any staff member or expert whose presence may be required for the discussions, may also participate with voice but without vote in the deliberations of the Executive Committee.

Article 42. The meetings of the Executive Committee shall be open, but at the request of any of its members it may meet in closed session, with only its members present. After hearing the reasons advanced by the proponent, it shall be decided by a simple majority whether the meeting is to continue closed, and if so, neither the Executive Secretary nor the personnel under her supervision may participate therein.

Article 43. A meeting of the Executive Committee requires the presence of at least four of its members. Decisions shall be adopted by vote of an absolute majority of the members of the Committee. However, decisions on matters of procedure shall be taken by a simple majority of those present.

Article 44. The President of the Commission shall convene the Executive Committee and, with the cooperation of the Executive Secretary, shall prepare the order of business that is to be considered at each meeting. The notice of convocation shall include this order of business and shall be transmitted by the Executive Secretary to the members of the Committee thirty days in advance, which deadline may be shortened in the case of special meetings.

The President shall inform the Secretary General of the Organization of this convocation.

Article 45. In preparing the agenda and the order of business, the President shall take into account any requests and proposals that may be made to her sufficiently in advance by the members of the Executive Committee and by the Delegates on the Commission.

Article 46. At the start of each meeting, the Executive Committee shall approve the order of business. The members of the Committee may propose the inclusion of any additional topic. The Committee shall decide by an absolute majority of votes whether or not to include the topic proposed. At special meetings, additional topics may be included in the order of business prepared by the President only after it has been so decided by a two-thirds vote of the members of the Committee.

Article 47. The Executive Secretary shall arrange for summary minutes to be taken at the meetings of the Executive Committee. These minutes shall include list of the participants in the meeting, the time it began and ended, topics considered and decisions taken.

Article 48. Agreements of the Executive Committee shall be distributed to the Committee members, and the Delegates to the Commission, within five (5) and fifteen (15) working days of each meeting, respectively.

Article 49. The minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee shall be signed by the President and by the Executive Secretary. Provisional minutes shall be mailed to the Committee members within fifteen (15) working days following the date of the respective meeting. The Delegates may submit any stylistic changes they deem advisable within thirty (30) working days of distribution of the minutes. If the President considers that a change affects the substance rather than the form of the minutes, she shall so inform the person who requested the change. The latter shall have the right to raise a point of order on the matter at the next meeting of the Committee.

Article 50. The minutes of each meeting shall be submitted to the Committee for approval at its next meeting, and upon approval, shall be sent to all the Delegates.

Article 51. The National Committees of Cooperation shall cooperate with the Principal Delegate in promoting in each country the purposes and aims of the Commission.

Article 52. The fundamental purpose of the National Committees of Cooperation is to promote increasingly broad participation by the women of the Hemisphere in the development process of their respective countries.

Article 53. The National Committees of Cooperation conduct their activities in accordance with the principles established in the Charter of the Organization of American States, the provisions of the Statute of the Commission, and these Regulations.

Article 54. Each National Committee of Cooperation shall bear the following name: "(appropriate adjective denoting nationality) Committee of Cooperation to the Inter-American Commission of Women."

Article 55. The National Committees of Cooperation shall be organized by the Principal Delegate of each country to the Commission, who shall designate members to represent the various activities and interests of women.

Article 56. Each National Committee of Cooperation shall have its Board of Directors, headed by the Delegate of that country to the Commission. In case of absence of the Principal Delegate, the direction and chairmanship of these Committees shall be exercised by the Alternate Delegates designated by the Principal Delegate.

Article 58. The headquarters of the National Committees of Cooperation shall be the capital cities of the respective countries, or the city in which the Delegate resides.

Article 59. Chapters answerable to the Central Committee may also be established throughout the country.

CHAPTER XIII.

Article 60. To fulfill their purposes, the National Committees of Cooperation may establish cooperative relations with national and international organizations whose objectives are similar to those of the Commission, to which purpose they may have the following principal functions:

a. To identify, by the appropriate means, those areas where it is necessary to intensify the integral participation of women in the economic, political, social, and cultural development of their countries;

b. To formulate strategies aimed at transforming the roles of, and relationships between, women and men in all spheres of public and private life to those of two beings of equal worth, equally responsible for the fate of humanity;

c. To promote the mobilization, training and organization of women to secure their equal participation in positions of leadership in civil, political, economic, social, and cultural life, and to propose that in the process of planning, organizing, and executing development programs the means required to bring about such participation and representation should always be provided;

d. To promote the extension of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights to the women of the country;

e. To promote the broadest possible information on women's rights, to study the problems affecting them, and the measures that should be taken to solve them;

f. To promote integral education programs for women;

g. At the request of the respective governments, or of non-governmental national organizations, to act as advisory bodies in matters related to the aims of the Commission;

h. The National Committee of Cooperation, through its Principal Delegate, shall foster coordination and liaison between national and international organizations, whose goals, in promoting women in development, are closely linked with the overall efforts of the Commission;

i. To report periodically to the Commission, through the President, on the work carried out by the Committee;

j. To carry out the assignments entrusted to them by the Assembly, the Executive Committee or the Delegate of the Commission.

rticle 61. The National Committees of Cooperation shall carry out their functions in each country using the funds obtained from each government for this purpose. They may also accept contributions from other public or private sources with the prior approval of the Board of Directors.

CHAPTER XV.

Article 62. Each Committee shall establish its own Rules of Procedure in accordance with the Statute, and the Regulations of the CIM.

Article 63. The Permanent Secretariat of the Commission is governed by the pertinent provisions of the Statute of the Commission, of the Agreement between the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Commission, and of these Regulations. The Permanent Secretariat carries out the administrative and executive functions of the CIM.

Article 64. The Permanent Secretariat of the Commission functions in the offices of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States. The staff of the Permanent Secretariat forms part of the staff of the General Secretariat of the Organization and, consequently, is subject to the rules and regulations to govern its operations, and also to those issued by the Secretary General in accordance with Articles 25, 26, and 27 of the Statute and Articles 13 and 14 of the Agreement signed between General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission of Women.

Article 65. The Secretary General of the Organization shall appoint the Executive Secretary of the Commission in accordance with Article 26 of the Statute of the Commission and Article 14 of the Agreement between the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Commission of Women.

Article 66. The Executive Secretary of the Commission is the head of the Permanent Secretariat and is responsible to the President of the Commission, the Executive Committee, and to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States for its proper operations.

Article 67. The Executive Secretary shall perform the following duties:

a. To head the Office of the Permanent Secretariat;

b. To carry out the mandates and assignments given to her by the Assembly, the Executive Committee and the President, and see that they are carried out;

j. To keep the President and the members of the Executive Committee informed of the activities mandated by the Committee;

k. To prepare, under the supervision of the President, the publications of the Commission and order their publication and distribution;

l. To prepare, in accordance with the guidelines and instructions of the President and the Executive Committee, the draft program-budget of the Commission, which, after being approved by the Executive Committee, will be submitted by the President for consideration by the Secretary General of the Organization, in order to prepare the program-budget, pursuant to Article 24 (c) of these Regulations;

m. To prepare the work program of the Permanent Secretariat and submit it for consideration to the President of the Commission for subsequent study and approval by the Executive Committee;

n. To report to the Executive Committee at its regular meetings on the financial status of the Commission, and also to the President of the Commission when she so requests;

o. To be custodian of the archives and documents of the Assembly of Delegates, of the Executive Committee, and of the Commission in general;

p. To provide the President with the necessary documentation and/or information to enable her to exercise her monitoring and representative functions.

Article 68. The government of a state that has accredited a Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States may also accredit an observer to the Inter-American Commission of Women. For this purpose, the government may accredit the person or persons it appoints to carry out these duties by addressing a note to the President of the Inter-American Commission of Women.

TITLE VIII. AMENDMENT AND INTERPRETATION

Article 69. These Regulations shall be in force indefinitely. They may be amended only by vote of two-thirds of the States participating in a regular or special meeting of the Assembly, following a report of the Coordinating Committee of the Assembly of Delegates regarding the amendment proposed.

Article 70. Cases not provided for in these Regulations shall be decided by the Assembly, by a majority of the votes of participating States. When the Assembly is not in session, the decision shall be taken by the Executive Committee, by a majority vote of its members. Should the Executive Committee not be in session, the decision shall be taken by the President after consulting with the Delegates.

(Approved by the XXIX Assembly of Delegates (CIM/RES.210 (XXIX-O/98)), on November 18, 1998)