DRAFT AND PROPOSED CONSTITUTION.
TABLE OF CONTENT:
1.0. PREAMBLE
2.0. NAME OF THE THE ORGANISATION
2.1. SEAT OF THE ORGANISATION
2.2. ACRONYNM AND LOGO
3.0. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
3.1. PURPOSE, MISSION AND VISION
4.0. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
4.1a. THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
4.1b. COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD
4.1c. THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
5.0. STAFFING
6.0. ORGANISATION’s ACCOUNT
7.0. ENDORSEMENT
1.0. PREAMBLE
The more than one decade of civil conflict in Sierra Leone has led to an enormous suffering for an entire socio-economic life of the people. Apart from the physical violence, murder, rape, forced marriages and labour especially on women and young girls, it also interrupted in their normal pattern of socialisation.
2.0. NAME OF THE ORGANISATION
The organisation shall be named Self-Help and Development Everywhere. This is because, the members believe in putting hands together in order to develop a nation.
2.1. SEAT OF THE ORGANISATION
The organisation's seat shall be Kambia Town in Kambia district in the northern region of Sierra Leone.
2.2. ACRONYM AND LOGO
The organisation’s acronym shall be SHADE and the logo shall take the form of a long stripe of shaded line running in a horizontal manner manner from left to right indicating that development is horizontal and it cut across people and cultural beliefs.
3.0. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the organisation is to work with appropriate community groups in order to promote institution and capacity building necessary for community participation in the development and political process of their country. The objectives are thus,
- To promote income generating activities and enhance a total food security situation of the poor;
- To mobilise resources, sensitize and express public opinion on matters affecting the general or societal welfare of the people;
- To take active part in relief, rehabilitation or other development programmes with special reference to vulnerable groups in emergency situations and areas of economic needs;
- To start and / or encourage initiatives leading to prevention of environmental damage, control and devise remedial programmes.
- To offer basic education and in trade and agriculture
3.1. PURPOSE, VISION AND MISSION
3.2. Purpose
As mentioned in the preamble, the major factors that motivated the founding members were abject poverty and the desire to save humanity from the claws of hunger, disease, poverty and starvation that had eclipsed the Sierra Leone society not only by the long decade civil conflict but by also three decades of misrule and by all successive governments. The organisation shall also have a strong wing that will help to educate the civil populace on issues affecting their societal lives. In addition to the death toll and the displacement of over 70% of the population of the country as a result of a more than one decade of bloody conflict, the widespread human rights abuses and the destruction of private and public property, power stations and agro businesses, an equally alarming situation was that the war was being waged by mainly child and adolescent soldiers. This militarization of the youth and the unprecedented degree of violence directed at the civilian population contributed to the disintegration of the community and family structures, including the traditional community based social and economic "safety-nets".
Cognisant of the above, the founding members were inspired by the following Vision:
Working with appropriate community groups in order to promote community awareness and development everywhere.
From the above, the organisation shall be committed to the following mission:
To create a conducive socio-economic and political environment that will enable the poor and needy to realise their potentials through self-help activities.
4.0.Organisational Structure
The structures within the organisation shall comprises the following bodies:
- The Annual General Meeting (AGM)
- The Advisory Board
- The Management committee
The Technical Team
4.1a. Composition of the AGM
The Annual General Meeting shall be the highest decision-making body and comprises representatives of beneficiary groups, target communities, SHADE staff and founding members. The AGM shall convened once a year, but shall also be convened for an extra- ordinary session in case of emergency situation. The number of delegates to the AGM shall vary between 25 and 40. The gender composition of delegates shall depend on the choice of the participating institutions.
4.1b. Composition of the Board
Second in the structure shall be the Advisory Board, shall consist of 3 to 5 members. They shall be prominent and highly educated citizens, including functionaries of UN agencies with knowledge of development, national politics, government, NGO and members of the target community. The Board shall meet twice a year, but shall be convened for an extra-ordinary meeting on the request of the Programme Manager in order to authorise changes required to confront important events and emergency situations.
Membership to the board shall be done by the Programme Manager on the advice of the general assembly. The tenure of members of the board shall not exceed two years and there is provision for an extension of individual members based on their performance. Board members shall not expect stipend for their services rendered to improve their communities.
4.1c. The Management Committee
Next to the Advisory Board shall be the Management Committee. lt shall be composed of the Programme Manager, the Project Officer, Gender Co-ordinator, The Accountant and Monitoring & Evaluation Officer.
5.0. STAFFING
All staff within the organisation shall be directly answerable to the programme Manager. The programme Manager shall be the overall head of the organisation and he shall be expected to be able to pass on adequate information concerning the organisation to the lowest echelon.
The Core staff shall be those directly employed by the organization on the basis of long-term (2 years) contract. They shall include the Programme Manager, the Project Officer, Gender Coordinator, Accountant, Monitoring Officer and Administrative Secretary. Project Staff shall be those employed by specific projects with contracts depending on the duration of the project. The Core staff and Project staff shall constitute the technical team.
The organisation shall also work with Community Animators. These shall be volunteers selected from the beneficiary communities on the bases of their knowledge experience and commitment to community development. They shall be train to assist project staff and continue activities at the end of the project. They shall not be on Shade’s pay voucher but shall receive incentives like transport cost for trainings or seeds for agriculture.
All positions for staffing shall be done through newspaper or television advertisement. All project staff’s service shall be terminated at the end of their contract period; and as a local NGO trying to work to improve their community, there shall be no terminal or end of project benefit. All other information for staffing shall be in the operational manual of the organisation or in staff contract letter.
6.0. ORGANISATION’s ACCOUNT
The organisation shall have an account in any credible banking institution operating within the borders of Sierra Leone. There shall be three signatories to any account open by the organisation. The signatories shall include the Programme Manager, The accountant and any senior staff appointed by the management committee. The accountant shall be the sole custodian of all petty cash and cash books of the organisation and he shall be periodically reporting to the Programme Manager. There shall also be a credible auditing firm to audit the finance books of the organisation and give reports of their findings to both the organisation and the funders or donors.
7.0.ENDORSEMENT
This constitution is written, endorsed as a binding and working document of the organisation by the founding members of the organisation. All other areas will be in the staff operational manual. It is cross checked and approved by the legal practitioner and a member of the bar association of the Republic of Sierra Leone.