The voluntary association hereby constituted will be called the African Neonatal Association/ Association Neonatal Africaine (henceforth referred to as ANA). The association shall:
a. Exist in its own right, separately from its members.
b. Continue to exist even when its membership changes and there are
different office bearers.
c. Be able to own property and other possessions
d. Be a non-profit organisation
e. May open headquarters, offices or branches in any African country as
directed by its executive, as long as in compliance with local law and
regulations.
f. May sue, and be sued in its own right.
The association’s vision is one where the newborns of Africa receive the best possible start in life.
The mission of the Association will be to improve the knowledge,
implementation and practice of newborn care in Africa; mindful of equity,
access, ethics, family centeredness and quality
I. Education and Knowledge dissemination.
This may include involvement and representation regarding:
i. Regional and global academic bodies,
ii. Any educational curricula involving newborn care,
iii. Collaboration with other professional organisations,
iv. Provision of educational events and materials such as
webinars, conferences, courses, protocols or a peer reviewed journal
v. Prioritising Evidence based Care
II. Research.
i. Providing the evidence base required to best care for African
newborns
ii. Prioritising and communicating the evidence gaps
iii. Co-ordinating amongst researchers working with African
newborns
iv. Increasing African representation in the global neonatal
research community
III. Global newborn programmes and best practice
i. Promoting Representation, integration and implementation of current
global newborn policy
ii. Promoting Quality Improvement, including data, standards and the
quality improvement cycle
IV. Advocacy
i. For the rights and needs of African newborns and their families
ii. For the urgent need to reduce disparities and improve equity in
newborn care
iii. For the importance of family centred care
iv. For the rights and needs of clinicians looking after newborns in
Africa.
V. Collaboration and Co-operation
i. With other African and global professional organisations, including
neonatologists, paediatricians, neonatal nurses, midwives, dieticians
and breastfeeding specialists, public health specialists and
obstetricians
ii. With international and national policy makers and governance
institutions
iii. With community groups, advocacy groups and Non-
Governmental Associations
iv. Promoting collaboration and communication amongst all
sectors involved promoting newborn care within Africa, and making a
concerted effort to involve all regions of Africa with efforts to avoid
neglecting any regions because of language.
I. The following categories of membership will exist:
i. Full Individual Members:
Neonatologists and Paediatricians working with neonates who are
based in Africa
ii. Associate Individual Members: Any healthcare professionals, whether
based within or outside Africa, who are committed to the objectives.
of the society. Individuals may become associate members if
nominated by a full individual member and approved by a majority of
members at any Biennial General Meeting of the association, as long
as the number of associate members never exceeds 40% of the total
membership at any time. Associate members will have the same
voting rights as full individual members, and may hold any elected
office except President or Vice President.
iii. Organisational members :
Fellow organisations, associations, and interest groups may join the
society as organisational members as long as nominated by a full
individual member and approved by a majority of members at any
Biennial General Meeting of the association. Organisational members
will not have voting rights, nor be eligible to hold any elected
positions.
II. Annual Membership is valid for a calendar year from January 1 to December 31
III. Persons or organisations wishing to become members may apply to the society
for membership and their eligibility and membership classification will be
determined by the Executive Committee in terms of criteria agreed to and
recorded by the Executive Committee from time to time.
I. Full Individual members, and Associate Individual members will be entitled to
one vote on all matters, except the president who will have one extra vote in
case of deadlock.
II. Decisions will be determined by a simple majority of votes at duly constituted
meetings, excepting for alterations of the constitution which will require a two
thirds majority of voting members attending at a properly constituted Biennial
General Meeting.
III. A properly constituted meeting will have been advertised widely for at least
fourteen days before and be held in a medium that allows equitable and easy
access to members and will have a quorum in attendance : one third of voting
members for an Biennial General Meeting and one third of Executive Committee
members for any executive Committee meetings.
IV. Voting for resolutions will be by a simple show of hands (whether physical or
online) but voting for office bearers will be done through secret ballot- whether
in person or online, using an appropriate online voting system.
Every member will continue being a member unless membership is terminated by:
I. Written resignation
II. By majority decision of the executive committee because of either no
longer meeting eligibility criteria or through gross misconduct or
incompetence or incapacity.
III. Failing to pay any required subscriptions for two consecutive years
I. An executive committee will be formed which shall manage the association. The
executive Committee shall consist of:
i. President
ii. Vice-President
iii. Secretary-General
iv. Treasurer
v. Chairpersons of any sub-committees formed at a properly constituted
General Meeting
II. The executive Committee will hold any particular office for two years, but shall
be eligible for re-election for up to two consecutive terms if the candidate is
willing to submit for re-election. There is no limit on the total number of terms
any member may serve, but they cannot serve more than two consecutive terms
in any one position, but may still continue on the executive committee if elected
to another position.
III. The Executive Committee will meet at least twice a year and minutes of the
meeting will be recorded, approved and distributed.
IV. Members of the Executive Committee who do not attend three consecutive
meetings will be relieved of their position and any member of the executive
Committee may have their appointment terminated if two thirds of the
remaining executive committee members agree so in cases of incompetence,
negligence, incapacity or gross misconduct.
V. Sub-committees may be created at properly constituted biennial general
meetings. Sub-committees will be given a specific task or mandate and their
membership will be open to any full individual or associate members. Each Sub-committeewill hold at least two meetings a year and will elect a chairperson for
that sub-committee who will then become a member of the executive
committee until the next biennial general meeting. The term of office for leading
a sub-committee will be two years, and the chairperson can submit themselves
again for re-election again, however may not serve more than two consecutive
terms.
I. The executive committee may take on the power and authority that it believes it
needs to be able to achieve the objectives of the association
II. The Association must abide by the laws and regulations of countries it operates
in
III. The Executive Committee has the power and authority to raise funds or to invite
and receive contributions from donors and individuals.
IV. The Executive Committee has the power to buy, hire or exchange for any
property that it needs to achieve the objectives.
V. The executive Committee has the right to make by-laws for proper management,
including procedure for application, approval and termination of membership.
VI. The Executive Committee will hold at least two meetings a year. The President,
or two other Executive Committee members may call an Executive Committee
Meeting, as long as members are informed at least 14 days before the meeting.
VII. The President shall co-ordinate the running of the association and the chairing of
the meetings.
VIII. The Vice-President will assist the chairperson and takes on the President’s
functions (including a tie-breaker vote) if the President is unable to attend a
meeting.
IX. The Secretary General will maintain minutes of the meetings and distribute them
and will coordinate planning and management of meetings
X. The Treasurer will oversee the finances of the organisation, including compilation
and submission of a financial summary at the Biennial General Meetings.
I. The general meetings of the association will be held every second year. At the biennial general meeting (BGM) members exercise their right to determine the
policy of the association by proposing resolutions and voting.
II. At a BGM the association must deal with the following items
i. Agreeing on an agenda
ii. Compiling a list of attendees and apologies
iii. Determining whether a quorum is present
iv. Read and confirm the previous meeting’s minutes with matters arising
v. President’s report
vi. Treasurer’s report
vii. Appointment of accounting officer
viii. Any proposed changes to constitution
ix. Any commissioning or de-commissioning of sub-committees
x. Elect new office bearers for the posts of President, Vice President, Secretary General, Treasurer and chairperson of any sub-committees
xi. General issues raised by the membership – these must have
been submitted in writing to the Executive Committee at least 14 days
before the BGM
xii. Close the meetings
III. Additional General Meetings may be called at the request of the majority of the
Executive Committee. The Executive Committee must vote on calling an
extraordinary general meeting if requested to do so by at least 20% of the voting
members.
I. An accounting officer will be appointed at the BGM and will audit and check on
the finances of the institution.
II. The Association will register as a voluntary organisation in an African Country as
directed by the Executive Committee and then may open a bank account in that
country in the Association’s name.
III. All financial withdrawals must be approved by both the President and at least
one other executive committee member (excepting the treasurer) and these
authorisations must be made in writing to the treasurer.
IV. The financial year will run from 31 March to 31 March.
V. The associations financial records must be in full compliance with the country in
which the voluntary association is registered.
VI. The Executive Committee may agree to levy an annual subscription,or may
choose not to.
I. The association may close down if at least two thirds of the members voting at a properly constituted general meeting convened for the purpose are in favour of
closing the association.
II. When the organisation closes down it must pay all its debts. After doing this, if
there is any money left over it should not be given or paid to members of the
organisation, but rather to another non-profit organisation with similar
objectives.
This constitution will be submitted for approval and adoption at a Special general Meeting to be held on 1 September 2021. This constitution was based, in part, upon review of other similar professional organisations’ constitutions, which are used and adapted with gratitude but with no implied liability or responsibility whatsoever upon those organisations. Some of those organisations include:
United South African Neonatology Association
Kenyan Paediatric Association
Pan-African Thoracic Society
