DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIAL ISSUE COMMITTEE FOUND IN THE YOUNG GENERAL ASSEMBLY CHARTER
Article 6 - Permanent Committees of the Young General Assembly
In the absence of sufficient representation and resources to operate full committees, the Assembly organizers will, in the interim, establish alternative structures in order to carry out the duties of each committee.
3. Special Issue Committee
- The Special Issue Committee of the Young General Assembly organization is
comprised of one person under eighteen years of age and two persons over eighteen
years of age from each of the five regions and one member from the Secretariat.
- Special Issue Committee members from the five regions are selected at annual
Assembly Session Regional Meetings.
- One Special Issue Committee member is from the Secretariat.
- The Special Issue Committee duties are to:
i. promote, and publicize Hear the Children Day activities worldwide;
ii.compile regional reports about Hear the Children Day activities to be sent
to the Secretariat by 31 December each year;
iii communicate frequently with Young General Assembly member organizations and encourage them to establish
links of partnership with national governmental officials and report about
such activities to the Secretariat three months before the annual Young General
Assembly Session to be included in the Young General Assembly Annual Report;
iv. stay informed about the calendar of governmental reports to be made to
the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.
v. send notice to Young General Assembly member organizations as many months as possible in advance
of their government's reporting date in Geneva so member organizations may
compile a report from the children's viewpoint about the status of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child in their country.
vi send copies of these national reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and to the Young General
Assembly Secretariat and remind the reporting organizations to present report
copies to their national government officials vii alert appropriate officials
and organizations about children in crisis.
4. The Assembly will establish any other permanent committees that it decides are necessary to accomplish its
goals.
YOUNG GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL ISSUE COMMITTEE BYLAWS
Article 1. COMMITTEE DUTIES
It shall be the duty of the Committee to:
- Work with the Executive Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Secretariat
to carry out the purposes of the Young General Assembly and uphold its Charter
when the Assembly is not in session;
- Promote, and publicize Hear the Children Day of Peace activities worldwide;
- Compile regional reports about Hear the Children Day of Peace activities
to be sent to the Secretariat by December 1st each year;
- Communicate frequently with Young General Assembly Member Organizations
and encourage them to establish links of partnership with national governmental
officials and report about such activities to the Secretariat before December
1st to be included in the Young General Assembly Annual Report;
- Stay informed about the calendar of governmental reports to be made to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva;
- Send notice to Young General Assembly Member Organizations as many months
as possible in advance of their government's reporting date in Geneva so member
organizations may compile a report from the children's viewpoint about the
status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in their country;
- Send copies of these national reports to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child and to the Young General Assembly Secretariat and remind the reporting
organizations to present report copies to their national government officials;
and
- Alert appropriate officials and organizations about children in crisis.
Article 2. COMMITTEE MEMBERS
SECTION 1. NUMBER
- Any number of Special Issue Committee members can be selected at annual
Assembly Sessions.
- Whenever possible, the Special Issue Committee will be gender balanced
and have at least one representative from each of the five United Nations
regions.
- One or two Special Issue Committee members are from the Secretariat.
SECTION 2. REQUIREMENTS
- Each Committee member must be able to access electronic mail at least once
a week.
- The Committee members under 24 must be under 24 years of age when selected at annual Assembly sessions.
- Committee members must be able to read, write and speak English.
SECTION 3. RESPONSIBILITIES
- Each Committee member is responsible for seeing that all policies and planning
adhere to the principles stated in the Charter and that the spirit of the
Charter is upheld. Therefore, each committee member must be thoroughly familiar
with the Young General Assembly Charter content and these Bylaws.
- Each Committee member is responsible for overseeing Hear the Children Day
of Peace activities in one or more of the five United Nations regions and
must be familiar with the 1995 Hear the Children Day Proposal.
- Each Committee member is responsible for knowing the United Nations Committee
on the Rights of the Child schedule for United Nations Member States to report
to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva so the Committee member
can notify and remind Young General Assembly Member Organizations in one or
more of the five United Nations regions about writing a report about the situation
of children in their countries.
- Each Committee member must submit at least one article in English for the
Future Generation Bulletin during his/her term of office.
- Each Committee member must respond to any e mail or any other request for
information or vote concerning Committee business within a period of 14 days.
- If three communications are not responded to, the Committee member's service
will be terminated and the Secretariat will select a replacement from the
delegates in attendance at the last Assembly session.
- If a Committee member finds that school scheduling or health problems, etc.
make it impossible to communicate for a period longer than 14 days, then the
Secretariat must be notified.
- Committee members must notify the Secretariat if they wish to leave the
Committee for any reason.
- Any Committee member or non-member may bring up an issue they believe the
Committee should consider by notifying the Secretariat to communicate this.
SECTION 4. TERM OF OFFICE
- The term of office for Special Issue Committee members will be one year.
- A second term of office may be served if a Committee member is present, qualified, and wishes to continue when selected at the annual Assembly session.
SECTION 5. VOTING
- A simple majority of all votes cast will be sufficient to approve or disapprove an issue. Only votes designated "approve" or "disapprove" will be considered.
- If a matter to be voted upon is not responded to by any Committee member within the specified time frame, then approval or disapproval will be decided by the Secretariat Committee member or members.
- No vote received after midnight in the time zone of the Secretariat of the voting deadline specified will be considered valid.
Article 3. OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
SECTION 1. COMMITTEE STRUCTURE DURING ASSEMBLY SESSIONS
- GUIDE AND TIMEKEEPER: The Guide is the main leader of the Committee. The Guide makes sure that everyone in his/her Committee understands what to do. The Guide makes sure that all Committee members share their thoughts and ideas. The Guide also makes sure that the Committee completes its task or activity. Serving also as Time Keeper, the Guide helps the Committee decide how much time they should spend on each task, keeps track of time, and notifies the Committee five minutes before the meeting is scheduled to end so the meeting can be summarized and everyone knows what they are to do before the next meeting.
- SCRIBE AND SPEAKER: The Scribe organizes and writes down the group's ideas and summarizes the meeting five minutes before the meeting is to end. Serving as Speaker also, the Scribe reports to other meetings what was discussed and decided upon in the Special Issue Committee meetings. The Scribe gives legible notes in English to the Secretariat within 24 hours after a Special Issue Committee meeting to be placed in the Special Issue Committee's records kept at the Secretariat.
- PEACEMAKER AND SUPPLIER: The Peacemaker makes sure that everyone's thoughts, feelings, and ideas are heard and understood. The Peacemaker makes sure that peace is kept within the Special Issue Committee and between other Committees or groups. Serving as Supplier as well, the Peacemaker makes sure that the Committee members have all the materials they need and that all materials are returned to their proper place
SECTION 2. COMMITTEE STRUCTURE DURING E-MAIL SESSIONS
- A Secretariat Committee member will serve as Committee Scribe and will send out and receive e mail for Special Issue Committee communications.
- A Secretariat Committee member will keep on record all e mail voting and other Special Issue Committee communications.
- By notifying the Secretariat Committee member, anyone on the Committee or not may bring up issues for consideration by the Special Issue Committee.
Article 4. AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
These Bylaws may be amended or repealed and new Bylaws adopted by approval of the Special Issue Committee.
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