Statute The FEMNET association thrives on its members and their commitment. The statutes provide information on the formal structure. The most important body is the General Assembly, which, among other things, defines the main areas of work and elects the Executive Board. Statutes of the Women's Rights Association "FEMNET e.V. Feminist Perspectives on Politics, Economy and Society Status as at 13 May 2023 § 1 Name, registered office and financial year (1) The association shall bear the name "FEMNET e.V." Subtitle: Feminist Perspectives on Politics, Economy and Society. The association is registered in the register of associations and carries the addition "e.V.". (2) The seat of the association is Bonn. (3) The financial year of the Association shall be the calendar year. § 2 Objective and purpose (1) The purpose of the association is the promotion of equality between women and men. The association calls for women's rights, in accordance with international human rights standards and on the basis of equality between women and men. the promotion of development cooperation. This is done in terms of sustainable development, in particular gender equality, decent work and sustainable consumption. (2) The association has a feminist self-image. He is politically independent. (3) The purpose of the statutes Promoting equality between women and men shall be achieved in particular by: Raising public awareness of discrimination and exploitation of women and girls, especially in the workplace Political campaigning and lobbying defined as advocacy work for the realisation of women's and girls' rights the establishment and participation in networks (e.g. round tables, participation in nationwide action days, cooperation with working groups at local, national and international level); Publications of information on issues relevant to women's rights Solidarity with women's rights activists worldwide The purpose of the Articles of Association Promotion of development cooperation shall be achieved in particular by: the promotion of development policy projects with partner organisations in countries of the Global South Education and educational work in Germany (e.g. at schools and universities) as well as in countries of the global south within the framework of cooperation projects outreach through consumer education and advice § 3 Non-profit status The association pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section ‘Tax-privileged purposes’ of the Tax Code. (§§ 51ff. AO) as amended from time to time. The association is selfless; it does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes. Funds of the association may only be used for statutory purposes. The members receive no profit shares and, in their capacity as members, no other donations from the funds of the association. No person may be favoured by expenses that are foreign to the purpose of the association or by disproportionately high remuneration. § 4 Acquisition and termination of membership of the association (1) A full-fledged member of the association may become any woman who declares her solidarity with the goals of the association and is actively committed to their realization. Full members are briefly referred to as members. (2) Natural persons of all gender identities and legal entities may support the association as sponsoring members. Supporting member is anyone who has committed to regular financial support payments. (3) The membership of the association and the sponsorship membership are acquired by application to the executive board, which decides on the admission. If the application for admission is rejected, the applicant may appeal against the decision of the Executive Board to the next General Assembly; It then decides definitively. (4) Membership ends with the death of the member, in the case of legal persons with their dissolution; by a written notice of resignation to a member of the Management Board at the end of a calendar year with a notice period of four weeks; Exclusion for important reasons. (5) A member who has significantly violated the interests of the association may be excluded from the association by decision of the board. Before the exclusion, the member concerned must be heard. The decision on exclusion must be reasoned in writing and sent to the member by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. It may submit a written appeal to the Board of Directors within one month of receipt. The General Assembly decides on the appointment by a simple majority. Until such time as the decision is taken, the rights of the member shall be suspended. If the member does not make use of the right of appeal, he submits to the exclusion decision. (6) If the association fee or the promotion fee is not paid for a calendar year and the arrears are not paid by letter despite a reminder, the member can be removed from the list of members. This legal consequence must be pointed out in the reminder. Deletion may also be made if the Member's residence is unknown. (7) In order to fulfil the purposes and tasks of the association, personal data concerning the personal and factual circumstances of the members of the association are processed in compliance with the provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). Details on this are regulated in a data protection regulation, which is regularly adapted by decision of the Executive Board in accordance with the legal requirements. Since the association may only process correct data, the members are obliged to notify the association immediately of any changes to their data. § 5 Membership obligations (1) All members and sponsoring members are subject to contributions. (2) The amount and due date of association fees and funding contributions shall be determined by the general meeting of members. In special cases, the Board of Directors may, upon written request, waive contributions in whole or in part or hours. (3) The Board of Directors shall decide on the method of payment of the contribution. (4) In the event of the resignation of a member or sponsoring member, contributions paid shall not be refunded. § 6 Organs of the Association (1) Organs of the association are: the General Assembly the Board of Directors. (2) If a management is appointed as a special representative within the meaning of Section 30 of the German Civil Code (BGB), this is the organ of the association. § 7 General meeting (1) The general meeting shall be held at least once a year in the first half of the year. The Executive Board invites all members and sponsoring members to do so at least eight weeks in advance in writing by simple letter or by e-mail to the last known address of the members, accompanied by a proposal for an agenda. (2) The general meeting is the highest organ of the association in which every full member is entitled to vote. In order to exercise the right to vote, another member may be authorised in writing. However, a member may not represent more than one foreign voice. If a natural person is a full member and at the same time a legitimate representative of a legal entity that is a full member, that legal entity shall have two votes at its disposal. (3) The General Assembly shall have a quorum if it has been duly invited to it, irrespective of the number of members who have appeared. (4) Extraordinary general meetings shall take place by decision of the Board of Directors if the interests of the Association so require or if the convening of such a meeting is requested in writing by one quarter of the members and supporting members of the Board of Directors; the reasons must be given. (5) The General Assembly shall have the following tasks, among others: Receipt of financial reports, report of the auditors and activity reports of the members of the Board of Management; discharge and re-election of the members of the Board of Management and two auditors; identification of the focal points of the association's work; advising on the budget and approving the budget planning for the following financial year; Determination of the amount of the annual membership and funding contribution; Resolution on amendments to the articles of association, insofar as these are not made by the board of directors (see 8.4), and dissolution of the association; Resolution on the appointment of a member against his exclusion by the Board of Directors; Decision-making on other bodies and their composition. (6) Applications to the General Assembly may be submitted by any member. All proposals, in particular amendments to the Articles of Association, must be submitted to the Board of Directors in writing by letter or e-mail at least four weeks before the start of the General Meeting. The Executive Board shall inform all members of the text of the proposals by e-mail at least three weeks before the start of the General Assembly. Members without internet access can receive the documents by post upon request. (7) Amendments, supplementary motions and urgent motions (so-called ad hoc motions) as well as motions for rules of procedure may be dealt with if the General Assembly agrees. (8) Decisions of the General Assembly shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes cast without including abstentions. An amendment to the statutes requires a majority of two-thirds of the members of the association present, and an amendment to the purpose of the association requires a majority of nine-tenths of the members present. (9) In elections, each office shall be voted on individually, in writing and by secret ballot. Whoever reaches more than half of the valid votes cast shall be elected; if no one has obtained more than half of the votes cast, a run-off shall be held between the candidates with the most votes; The one who gets the most votes is the one who gets the most votes. (10) By resolution of the General Assembly, the agenda proposed by the Executive Board may be amended and supplemented. (11) Voting shall in principle be carried out by lifting hands; If one third of the members of the association so request, a vote must be taken in writing. (12) In individual cases, applications from membership may also come to trial without a meeting of the members. A decision is valid if more than half of the members declare their agreement to the request in writing. (13) Minutes of the resolutions of the General Assembly shall be drawn up, containing in particular the agenda, motions and resolutions as well as the election and voting results. The minutes shall be communicated to the members. contestations of decisions or objections to the minutes shall be notified to the Board of Directors within four weeks of notification; Objections received late will not be taken into account. § 8 The Board of Directors (1) The Board of Directors shall be elected by the General Assembly for a period of two years; However, he remains in office after his term of office until the new election. (2) The Executive Board shall consist of one Chairman of the Executive Board and two Vice-Chairmen. These constitute the Managing Board in accordance with § 26 BGB. The members of the Executive Board are each entitled to individual representation. If a member of the Executive Board leaves during the term of office, the Executive Board must elect a substitute member for the remainder of the term of office of the retired Executive Board member. In addition, the General Assembly can determine an even number (maximum of 4) of other members of the Executive Board (chairwomen). (3) The women on the board of directors are responsible for managing the association's work and are responsible for implementing resolutions. They are accountable to the General Assembly. They carry out their work on a voluntary basis. Executive Board tasks can be performed within the scope of budgetary law possibilities by resolution of the Executive Board against payment on the basis of a service contract or against payment of an expense allowance in accordance with § 3 No. 26a EStG. Other activities for the association can be adequately remunerated. (4) The Executive Board is entitled to make obvious grammatical and orthographic corrections to these articles of association, as well as those that become necessary due to specifications of courts or authorities. Members must be informed of these changes in advance. (5) The Executive Board is entitled to set up working groups or appoint representatives for certain tasks in order to support them. Non-members can also be appointed. This activity may be adequately remunerated. (6) The Executive Board is entitled to take decisions within the framework of electronic communication or within the framework of a circulation procedure. (7) Minutes are to be drawn up of the board meetings, which in particular contain the agenda and resolutions and are made available to membership in a password-protected member area of the association's website. Members without internet access can receive the documents by post upon request. §9 Management of the company (1) The Executive Board appoints a Managing Director who is responsible for managing the office with full-time employees. It manages the day-to-day business of the association. In case of doubt, its power of representation extends to all legal transactions normally entailed by the business group assigned to it. It is responsible to the Board and bound by its instructions. (2) The managing director has the status of a ‘special representative’ within the meaning of Section 30 of the German Civil Code (BGB). (3) The managing director may participate in board meetings with an advisory vote. It is accountable to the annual general meeting. § 10 Use of profits and dissolution (1) The dissolution of the association can only be decided in a specially convened general meeting by a majority of nine tenths of the members present. (2) In the event of the dissolution of the association or the discontinuation of its tax-privileged purposes, the assets of the association, a corporation under public law or another corporation for the purpose of promoting equality between women and men. The assets are to be used exclusively and directly for charitable purposes. Bonn, 13 May 2023 back
