Article 1. The Assembly of Delegates is the supreme authority of the Inter-American Commission of Women.

Article 2. A delegation shall be composed of the Principal Delegate, who shall head it, and of the Alternates and Advisers accredited by their governments. The Principal Delegate may entrust her duties to any other member of her delegation, and shall designate the members of her delegation who are to sit on the various committees.

Only the Principal or Alternate Delegates duly accredited to the Inter-American Commission of Women and to the Assembly may participate in the Assembly with the right to vote.

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

Article 3. The members of the delegations shall be accredited by their respective governments through a written communication to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

Article 4. The OAS Permanent Observer States; 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 5. Observers may present their statements and reports to the Secretariat of the Assembly in writing, with the number of copies that they consider necessary for distribution.

Article 6. Any government of a non-American state, any public or private entity, or other person who expresses a wish to attend the Assembly, shall submit a written request to the General Secretariat of the OAS at least thirty days before the opening of the Assembly. At the proposal of the President, the Secretary General of the OAS, with the approval of the Executive Committee and the consent of the host country, may grant them facilities and courtesies for attending the meeting of the Assembly as guests.

Article 7. The order of precedence of the delegations shall be established by lot at an informal meeting of the Delegates, which shall be held prior to the opening of the meeting of the Assembly. This order of precedence shall be in effect until the end of the meeting of the Assembly.

Article 8. The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, or his/her representative, participates with voice but without vote in the plenary sessions and in the committees and subcommittees.

CHAPTER II. OFFICERS

Provisional President of the Assembly

Article 9. At Regular and Special Assemblies held at the Commission's headquarters, the President of the Commission shall preside.

Away from headquarters, and until the President of the Assembly is elected, the President of the Commission or, if she is unable to do so, the Vice President of the Commission, shall preside provisionally over the Assembly.

Article 10. The President of the Assembly and three Vice Presidents shall be elected at the first plenary session, and shall hold office until the close of the Assembly. Only Principal Delegates may be elected to these posts. These elections shall be by the vote of an absolute majority of the states participating in the meeting of the Assembly.

Article 11. The President shall have the following duties, in addition to those assigned to her by other provisions of these Rules of Procedure:

a. To convene the plenary sessions;

b. To establish the order of business for the sessions;

c. To open and close the plenary sessions and to direct the discussions;

d. To recognize speakers in the order in which they request the floor;

e. To put points under discussion to the vote, and announce the decisions taken;

f. To rule on points of order, without prejudice to the submission of such a ruling to the consideration of the Assembly, at the request of a delegation;

g. To install the working committees, and

h. In general, to observe and enforce these Rules of Procedure.

The President shall call any participant to order when her remarks depart from the matter under discussion. During the discussion of a subject, she shall also propose a limitation on the length of a speaker's remarks, a limitation on the number of times each participant may take the floor, closing the list of speakers, or closing the discussion. She may propose suspension or adjournment of the session, or postponement of discussion on a matter under consideration.

Article 12. In the performance of her duties, the President is subject to the authority of the Assembly.

Article 13. The President, or the Vice President acting as President, shall not participate in the voting at plenary sessions, but shall designate another member of her delegation to vote as the representative of her country, in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 2 of these Rules of Procedure. Nor shall she, as President, participate in the discussion of the substance of a matter.

Article 14. The Vice President shall replace the President when the latter considers it necessary to be absent for all or part of the session, or when she requests such replacement for any other reason. Vice Presidents shall serve according to the order of precedence, and shall have the same functions and duties as the President.

Article 15. If the officers of the Assembly should be absent or unable to serve, the Assembly shall be presided over by the presidents of the working committees, following the numerical order of the committees.

Article 16. The Executive Secretary of the Commission shall serve as Technical Secretary of the Assembly and as supervisor of the secretariat services for the Assembly.

Article 17. The Technical Secretary shall advise the President of the Assembly on all technical matters dealt with at the meeting.

Article 18. It shall be the responsibility of the government of the host country of the Assembly to appoint the Coordinator of the services that it will provide under the agreement between that government and the Secretariat of the Organization of American States.

Article 19. The Secretary General of the OAS shall appoint a staff member of the General Secretariat to serve as director of the Secretariat services of the Assembly. The appointment shall be made with the consent of the government of the host country in the case of Assemblies held away from headquarters.

Article 20. The Director of the Secretariat shall have the following duties:

Article 21. The Secretary General of the Organization of American States shall furnish to the Assembly such specialized, technical and administrative personnel as may be necessary, in accordance with the funds approved for that purpose.

Article 22. Taking into account the topics proposed by the governments of the member states and the preliminary draft prepared by the Permanent Secretariat, the Executive Committee shall prepare a draft agenda for each meeting of the Assembly and submit it to the governments and delegates for consideration at least three months before the opening of the meeting of the Assembly, setting a deadline of thirty days for them to present their observations. On the basis of these observations, the Executive Committee shall prepare the definitive draft agenda, present it to the governments of the member states forty-five days before the opening of the meeting of the Assembly, and send it to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States for its information.

Article 23. The draft agenda shall be considered by the Assembly at its first plenary session. After the agenda has been approved, it may be changed only by the vote of two thirds of the governments of the participating member states represented by their delegates.

Article 24. The agenda of the regular meeting of the Assembly must include the following topics:

a. Consideration of the report of the President and of the Executive Committee;

b. Election of the President and Vice President of the Commission;

c. Election of the five member states that will form the Executive Committee;

d. Adoption of a biennial work program;

e. Determination of the place and date of the next regular meeting of the Assembly.

Article 25. The Assembly shall hold an inaugural session, such plenary sessions as may be necessary, and a closing session.

Article 26. Prior to the inaugural session the President of the Commission shall meet informally with the Principal Delegates or their Alternates to coordinate the aspects of organization of the work of the Assembly.

Article 27. Plenary sessions and sessions of the working committees shall be open. However, at the proposal of the President or any delegate, these sessions may begin as closed and, when the reasons of the proponent have been heard if it is so agreed, they may continue in that form.

Sessions of the Committee on Credentials, the subcommittees and working groups shall be closed, unless they determine otherwise.

Article 28. Other than the delegations of the member states accredited to the CIM, only the Secretariat personnel expressly authorized in each case by the President of the respective group may be present at closed sessions. The Permanent Observers to the OAS or their Alternates may attend closed sessions when invited by the respective president.

Article 29. Every decision taken by the Assembly at a closed session shall be announced at a future open session.

Article 30. No session may be held unless the place and time have been publicly announced sufficiently in advance, except by the unanimous agreement of the delegations of the member states.

Article 31. The President of the Commission shall preside over the inaugural session. The Chief of State of the host country, if he so desires, or his representative, may address the inaugural session. The President of the Commission and the delegate of the host country shall speak at this session.

Article 32. The first plenary session shall be held as soon as possible after the inauguration of the Assembly. This session, as the first order of business, shall elect the officers of the Assembly, establish and form the working committees, and appoint the Coordinating Committee and the Committee on Credentials. Immediately afterwards, the President shall install each of the working committees, which shall elect their respective officers.

Article 33. The Assembly shall establish the working committees that it deems advisable to consider the various topics of the agenda.

Article 34. The working committees may be composed of all the delegations of the member states.

Article 35. Each working committee shall elect a president, a vice president, and a rapporteur from among the Principal Delegates.

Article 36. The purpose of a working committee shall be to study the topics assigned to it by the Assembly and to present to the plenary session a report on the discussions held, drafts considered, and recommendations made to the plenary session. The report must be presented to the plenary session by the rapporteur and, whenever possible, shall be published and distributed to the delegations prior to the plenary session in which it is to be presented. The plenary session shall take cognizance of the document containing the report and shall consider the drafts recommended therein.

Article 37. Each working group may establish such subcommittees and working groups as it deems advisable. An effort shall be made in constituting them to see that the various opinions expressed on the different topics are represented. Each committee may delegate to its president the power to form subcommittees and working groups taking these opinions into account. Each subcommittee and group shall elect a person to serve as president, who will present its report to the respective committee.

Article 38. Each committee, subcommittee, and working group may establish such drafting groups as it considers necessary. The president of the drafting committee shall present its conclusions and recommendations to the body that established it.

Article 39. Delegations that do not form part of a subcommittee or working or drafting group shall have the right to participate in their sessions with voice, but without vote. The groups should set limits for interventions by same.

Article 40. The Coordinating Committee shall be composed of the President of the Inter-American Commission of Women, the President of the Assembly, the three Vice Presidents, and the presidents of the working committees. Its purpose shall be to settle any difficulties that may arise with regard to the work of the Assembly, and to suggest pertinent solutions to the committees or to the plenary session. To ensure smooth running of the Assembly, the Coordinating Committee shall coordinate the work of the working committees, and shall be responsible for revising the documents of the Assembly. When deemed advisable, the Coordinating Committee shall invite the Executive Secretary and the Director of Secretariat Services to its meetings. The President of the Assembly shall convoke the Coordinating Committee whenever she considers it advisable.

Article 41. There shall be a Committee on Credentials composed of three delegations elected at the first plenary session. It shall examine the credentials of the delegations, and shall submit the corresponding report to the Assembly at the second plenary session.

Article 42. The official languages of the Assembly shall be Spanish, French, English and Portuguese.

Article 43. If necessary, there will be simultaneous interpretation, in the four official languages, of the addresses delivered at the plenary and committee sessions.

Article 44. Draft resolutions, recommendations and declarations and the pertinent amendments thereto, as well as the decisions of the Assembly, shall be published in the official languages. The Final Act of the Assembly shall be published in the official languages.

Article 45. An absolute majority of the member states shall constitute a quorum for plenary sessions. In the committees, subcommittees, and working groups, a quorum shall consist of one third of the delegations comprising those bodies. Nevertheless, in order for a vote to be taken, at least two thirds of those delegations must be present at the session or meeting concerned.

1. No one may speak until recognized. The President shall grant the floor in the order in which it is requested.

2. The President may call any delegation to order when its remarks depart from the subject under discussion.

Article 47. Proposals shall be presented in writing to the Secretariat, and may not be discussed until twenty-four hours after they have been distributed to the delegations. Nevertheless, the Assembly of Delegates may, by a vote of two thirds of the delegations, authorize discussion in its plenary sessions of a proposal that has not been distributed on time. In each case, the proposing delegation shall indicate the committee that, in its opinion, should study the proposal, unless such proposal concerns matters that should be discussed only in the plenary sessions.

Article 48. During the consideration of a proposal, a motion may be made to amend it.

A motion shall be considered to be an amendment to a proposal only when it adds to or eliminates something from that proposal or changes part of it. A motion that would totally replace the original proposal or that is not directly related to it shall not be considered to be an amendment.

Withdrawal of Proposals and Amendments

Article 49. A proposal or an amendment may be withdrawn by its proponent before it has been put to a vote. Any delegation may present again a proposal that has been withdrawn.

Article 50. A motion to reconsider a decision taken by the Assembly of Delegates, a committee, a subcommittee, or a working group shall require approval by a two-third vote of the delegations making up these bodies.

Article 51. Reports of the Rapporteurs should be submitted to the Secretariat with sufficient lead-time for their presentation to the respective plenary session.

Article 52. During the discussion of a matter, any delegation may raise a point of order regarding the application of these Rules of Procedure, which shall be decided upon immediately by the President. While raising a point of order, a delegation may not go into the substance of the matter under discussion. The decision of the President may be appealed to the Assembly of Delegates. The appeal shall be put to a vote immediately and shall be declared approved if favored by a two-thirds vote of the delegations present.

Article 53. The President or any delegation may request that the debate be suspended. Only two representatives may speak in favor of, and two against, a motion to suspend the debate. It shall then be put to a vote immediately and shall be declared approved if favored by a two-thirds vote of the delegations present.

Article 54. The President or any delegation, when she or it considers that a topic has been sufficiently discussed, may propose that the debate be closed. This motion may be opposed briefly by two delegations, after which it shall be declared approved if favored by a two-thirds vote of the delegations present.

Article 55. During the discussion of any topic, the President or any delegation may propose that the meeting be suspended or adjourned. Such a motion shall be put to a vote immediately without discussion, and it shall be declared approved if favored by a two-thirds vote of the delegations present.

Article 56. Except as provided in Article 52, the following motions shall have precedence, in the order set forth below, over all other proposals or motions:

a. Suspension of the Meeting;

b. Adjournment of the Meeting;

c. Suspension of debate on the topic under consideration;

d. Close of debate on the topic under consideration.

Article 57. The provisions regarding discussions and procedure contained in this chapter shall govern the plenary sessions and the meetings of the committees, subcommittees, and working groups.

CHAPTER VIII. VOTING

Article 58. Each delegation shall have a right to one vote. The right to vote does not imply an obligation to vote. Only the Principal Delegates or their Alternatives duly accredited to the Inter-American Commission of Women and to the Assembly shall have the right to vote.

Article 59. Decisions of the Assembly shall be adopted by the affirmative vote of the absolute majority of the member states of the Commission, except in those cases that require a two-thirds vote as specifically provided in the Statute of the Commission or in these Rules of Procedure.

Article 60. In the committees, subcommittees and working groups, decisions shall be taken by a simple majority, subject to the provisions of Article 57 of these Rules of Procedure.

Article 61. There shall be a secret vote only in the cases and in the form stipulated in the present Rules of Procedure. For the purposes of these Rules of Procedure, the expression "absolute majority" means more than half the votes of all the members of each deliberative body, and the expression "simple majority" means more than half of those present.

Article 62. Proposals on which there is a tie vote shall be considered rejected.

Article 63. After the discussion is closed, the proposals presented, together with any amendments thereto, shall be put to the vote immediately. Proposals shall be voted upon in the order in which they were presented, unless the respective body decides otherwise.

Article 64. Voting shall be conducted by a show of hands, but any delegate may request a roll-call vote, which shall be taken beginning with the delegation of the country whose name is drawn by lot by the President and continuing in the order of precedence of the delegations. No delegate may interrupt the voting except for a point of order regarding the manner in which the voting is being conducted. The voting shall conclude with an announcement of the results by the President.

Article 65. If there any doubts regarding the result of the vote after it is announced, any delegation may immediately request that the balloting be repeated. The new vote shall be taken with the same delegations that took part in the vote in question. Delegations that did not take part in the previous balloting may not do so in the subsequent one.

Article 66. Amendments shall be submitted for discussion and voting before a vote is taken on the proposal to be amended. When two or more amendments to a proposal are presented, the Assembly shall vote first on that which departs the most in substance from the original proposal, and then on the amendment that, next to the one previously voted on, is furthest from the proposal, and so on until all the amendments have been put to the vote. In case of doubt in this regard, amendments shall be considered in the order of their presentation.

Article 67. When adoption of one amendment necessarily implies exclusion of another, the latter shall not be put to the vote. If one or more of the amendments are adopted, the proposal shall be put to the vote in the form in which it has been amended.

Article 68. When any delegation so requests, proposals or amendments shall be voted on by parts. If a delegation opposes such a request, the respective body shall decide on the objection. It shall be put to the vote, the majority required for approval being that indicated in Articles 59 or 60 of these Rules of Procedure, as the case may be. If voting by parts is accepted, the various parts of the proposal or amendment that are accepted shall be put to the vote as a whole. When all the operative parts of a proposal or amendment have been rejected, the proposal shall be deemed to have been rejected in its entirety.

Article 69. The President and Vice President of the Commission and the member states that are to make up the Executive Committee shall be elected by secret ballot.

Article 70. When only one person or one member state is to be elected, and no nominee or member state receives an absolute majority on the first ballot, a second ballot shall be taken, or a third, if necessary. These ballots shall be restricted to the two nominees or member states receiving the highest number of votes. If after the third ballot, neither of the two candidates or member states has received an absolute majority, the balloting shall be suspended for a period of not more that twenty-four hours. When the balloting is resumed, up to two more ballots shall be taken. If neither of the two nominees or member states receives an absolute majority, the election process indicated in the present article shall be begun again, within twenty-four hours, with the nominees presented.

Article 71. When it is necessary to fill two or more elective posts at the same time and under the same conditions, the nominees or member states receiving an absolute majority on the first ballot shall be declared elected. If it has not been possible to fill all the vacancies on the first ballot, and it is necessary to take a second, the vote shall be between those nominees or member states that received the highest number of votes on the first ballot, in such way that the number of nominees or member states shall not exceed twice the number of posts that remain to be filled. However, after a third inconclusive ballot, any other member state may be voted for until the vacancies are filled.

Article 72. In the event of a tie between two or more nominees or member states, as the case may be, that have received at least an absolute majority, and when the number of posts to be filled is less that the number of nominees or member states receiving the same number of votes, another ballot shall be taken. If the tie is not broken by the second ballot, the election shall be decided by lot.

Article 73. The President may allow the delegations to explain their votes, either before or after the balloting, and may limit the duration of these explanations.

Article 74. Summary minutes shall be taken of the plenary sessions and of the committee meetings.

Article 75. The Secretariat of the Assembly shall distribute the provisional summary minutes to the delegations as soon as possible. Twenty-four hours after this distribution, the delegations shall present to the Secretariat any stylistic corrections they deem necessary. The corrected minutes shall be published as part of the official proceedings of the Assembly.

Article 76. Before any proposed resolution is put to the vote, its text shall be translated into the four official languages of the Organization and distributed by the Secretariat of the Assembly 12 hours before its consideration whenever possible. The resolutions of the Assembly shall likewise be distributed in the four official languages immediately after they are adopted. These translations shall be done unless the delegations concerned express a wish to the contrary. This shall be communicated to the General Secretariat of the Organization sufficiently in advance, in order that the corresponding budgetary arrangements may be made.

Article 77. Working documents produced in the Assembly and the reports of the Rapporteurs of the Committees shall be published in the official languages insofar as the Secretariat is able to do so.

Article 78. The Secretariat of the Assembly shall prepare the Final Act in Spanish, which shall contain the resolutions, declarations, recommendations, agreements and votes adopted by the Assembly; this Final Act shall be signed at the closing session by all participating member states.

Article 79. The Permanent Secretariat of the CIM shall adopt a suitable system of numbering the resolutions of the Assemblies of the Commission. After the close of the meeting of the Assembly, the Permanent Secretariat shall be responsible for publishing and distributing the Final Act in the four official languages, within the three-month period following the holding of the Assembly.

Article 80. Cases not provided for in these Rules of Procedure shall be resolved in accordance with the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States.

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