Articles of Association

From Rights-Centric Education

Articles of Association (DRAFT)

The Articles of Association of the Rights-Centric Education Network, as consented to by the Founding Members, are as follows:

Name

The name of the association shall be the “Rights-Centric Education Network” (hereinafter referred to as “RCE Network”).

Nature of Association

The RCE Network is a non-hierarchical, consent-based, community of practice of human rights defenders (individuals and organizations) pulling education into alignment with the evolution of Human Rights.

It was established by a Memorandum of Association signed by 75[1] Founding Members (54 individuals and 21 organizations) over the period July 24 - October 20, 2024.

It is NOT a legally incorporated association, and has NO physical location or office.

Objective

To pull education into alignment with the evolution of Human Rights by advancing the protection and realisation of international Human Rights law (especially the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) for, in and through education in all educational environments.

Activities

Activities of the RCE Network shall comprise of

  • Declarations[2] - Public statements calling for actions aligned to the objectives of the RCE Network.
  • Programs[3] - An agreed set of activities that Members of the RCE Network who choose to participate will follow.

There is no obligation on RCE Members to support a Declaration (they may freely decide which ones to support by Signing, Promoting, etc) or participate in a Program (they may freely decide which ones to participate in)

Membership

The Membership of the RCE Network comprises the Founding Members who established the Network, and Regular Members who joined after establishment.

There shall be no difference in benefits, obligations, opportunities for participation in programs, contribution to decision making, or any other matter between Founding Members and Regular Members, save that Founding Members' contribution to establish the community shall be recognized in their title.

Benefits of Membership

All Members are entitled to indicate their membership by using statements such as "A Member[4] of the Rights-Centric Education Network", and using the Rights-Centric Education Logo[5].

However, Members may NOT claim to speak for, or claim to be a representative of, the RCE Network as the present articles do not have provisions to appoint a Member as a representative.

Only Members shall be entitled to participate in the Programs of the RCE Network[6]

Obligations of Membership

There are NO obligations or membership criteria placed on Members.

Members are invited to contribute, to the best of their capabilities, to the Objective of the RCE Network defined above.

This includes, but is not limited to,

  • Supporting Declarations - Signing (consenting to their name being included as a signatory), Promoting, etc.
  • Participation in Programs of the RCE Network relevant to the Member;
  • Collaborating with other Members within the community of practice;
  • Explicitly referencing Human Rights law in their work;
  • Supporting the administrative work of the RCE Network

There shall be NO process of rating, ranking, comparing, or evaluating the participation of members.

There shall be NO fees levied from Members under any circumstances. However, Members are welcome to contribute towards the expenses of the RCE Network.

Applying for Membership

Any Individual (including children) or Organization striving to pull education into alignment with the evolution of human rights may join the RCE Network as a Member by completing the application form here.[7]

There shall be NO membership criteria that applicants are required to fulfil to obtain membership. However, prospective members may be requested to provide evidence of their identity [8]

Withdrawing from Membership

Any Member may withdraw from the RCE Network by emailing network@rights-centric.education

They shall be removed from the listing of Members on the website, and from any Members-only communication platforms.

Communication

The Communication platforms of the RCE Network shall be

Decision Making

Decision making in the RCE Network aspires to be consent-based[10], striving to be as inclusive as possible of views expressed by the Members who wish to participate in the decision, with opportunities for all Members to contribute towards dialogue.

Any Member may propose (via the Discord server, or by writing to network@rights-centric.education) a decision to be taken by the RCE Network. It is recommended, but not essential, to explore the proposal on the Discord before formally proposing it. Once requested, the proposal will be sent to the Members who have subscribed to the Announcement List

There shall be a web-based platform [11]to facilitate dialogue around the proposal. Decisions will be considered as "consented to" if there are no objections / counter proposals received for

  • 240 Hours, for Major decisions, i.e. Amendments to the Articles, to add a new Program and/or a new Declaration, discussing the content of a Program or Declaration
  • 120 Hours, for Minor decisions, i.e. all other decisions

In the event that it does not seem possible to reach a consent-based decision, a member may request for a decision by majority vote (provided that at least 480 hours of dialogue has elapsed for a major decision, and at least 240 hours for a minor decision). This poll will be conducted on an online platform and will run for 160 hours for a Major Decision and 72 hours for a Minor Decision. This will be communicated via the Announcement List.

At any time Members may also request a non-binding poll to gauge the opinion of members, especially for the purpose of enabling disagreeing groups to construct a mutually acceptable proposal. This too will be communicated via the Announcement List.

Dissolution

The RCE Network shall cease to exist if all members withdraw their Membership

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Numbers correct as of 2024.10.10
  2. ↑ At present we are finalising the Declaration of Child Rights-Centric Education - calling for the fundamental rework of educational practice to ensure they are consistent with human rights values and principles, especially the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
  3. ↑ RCE Programs are the initial programs envisaged
  4. ↑ or, "Founding Member"
  5. ↑ Still being developed
  6. ↑ The RCE Framework is the main Program we have been working on, but the work of Sifaan (Sri Lanka), Je'anna (South Africa), Alli (Luxembourg/Europe), and previously the IDEC resolution, would be part of the Advocacy program
  7. ↑ PENDING - basically a simple form collecting the information we would like to publish; we should have in that a privacy clause that we cannot guarantee confidentiality of information and so they should only provide information they are willing to be published
  8. ↑ for example, email sent from an official email address.
  9. ↑ Should it be open to non-members, as it is at present?
  10. ↑ This is not the same as consensus-based, where it requires consent from everyone; in consent-based it is sufficient if no one objects
  11. ↑ e.g. Google Docs, the RCE Wiki
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