Articles of Association

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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 X1+X2 Founding Members (X1 individuals and X2 organizations) over the period July 24 - October 20, 2024.

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

Objective

The objective of the RCE Network is to advance the protection and realisation of international human rights law (especially the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) in all educational environments (prioritising institutions established for the provision of Education).

Activities

The initial activities of the RCE Network shall be

  • A Declaration, the "Declaration of Child Rights-Centric Education"[1], 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
  • A Program, the "Rights-Centric Education Framework", based on a proposal approved by the UN as part of the First World Program for Human Rights Education, for educational environments to report on their progress in pulling education into alignment with the evolution of human rights (as called for in the above Declaration)
  • A Program, the "Rights-Centric Education Policy Advocacy", for supporting advocacy to influence local-, national- or regional-, or international-level policy to respect, protect and fulfil Human Rights to, in, and through Education.

Membership

The Membership of the RCE Network comprises the Founding Members who established the community of practice, and 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 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[2] of the Rights-Centric Education Network", and using the Rights-Centric Education Logo. However, Members may NOT claim to speak for, or represent, the RCE Network as there is no provision to appoint representatives.

Membership shall be required to participate in the Programs of the RCE Network[3]

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,

  • 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 align education to the evolution of human rights may join the RCE Network as a Member by completing the application form here.[4]

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 [5]

Withdrawing from Membership

Any Founding Member or 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 shall be consent-based, 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.

Decision making will take place in the RCE Discord Server, with at least one invitation to the Members-only email announcement list soliciting inputs.

There shall be NO formal decision making process (e.g. decisions based on majority vote). While all members have equal opportunities to express their opinion, the extent to which the opinion of a particular Member is taken into account by others will presumably depend on the credibility of that Member.

For any decision, any member may request a Poll (NOT a vote) to gauge opinion as a measure to support the expression of different viewpoints.

For amendments to the Articles of Association, there shall be a minimum period of 2 weeks' of dialogue before a decision can be taken.

As all Members benefit when the RCE Network is stronger (more Members, more active participation) the "checks-and-balance" mechanism will be that non-inclusive decisions will lead to Members withdrawing their membership and the disintegration of the Network.

Dissolution

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

Footnotes

  1. ↑ We may have other declarations in the future, e.g. on environmental rights
  2. ↑ or, "Founding Member"
  3. ↑ 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
  4. ↑ 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
  5. ↑ for example, email sent from an official email address.
  6. ↑ Should it be open to non-members, as it is at present?
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