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Presentation

Iraqi Forum for Intellectuals & Academics is created for the national necessities in which it was established for, Two years before its establishment it was only an idea on the mind of its owner, “imagining” that all academic and professional competencies can be organized in an organizational framework for the benefits of homeland and got benefit from the intellectuals that were deported by marginalization, exile, displacement and even killing.

The idea got bigger from its owner, to find faith and echo with others, and it was supported and adopted by the first and nourished by the second and help spreading it between people, and followed its idea by the third, fourth and fifth, until it reached hundreds spreading around the global, they found out that the cure and panacea for Iraq will only be at his inhabitants, and that the intellectuals that were not given the chance to serve it, or occur its crises for the past ten years or more, is now have the chance today that can no longer be post ponded.

This forum is a result of the faith of its founders, who accepted to participate on his first conference, announcing launching it, so that they can have a post and role in the service of Iraq in its historical major crises, wishing that all will understand that these intellectuals that were always known by workplaces and academic establishments and each achieved great

accomplishments according to their fields, is the last defensive lines that can be used by Iraq to protect his existence, social, geographical and civilizational entity.

The most important about all that that these intellectuals is working as volunteers and without any grace from any person, and works in a national framework that overcome all of the political, party, religious, racial polarization, therefore, the preparatory committee consists from the beginning to have this forum built on the basis of a comprehensive national Iraqi base, gathering without distinction nor coinsurance or discrimination of any kind.

We hope that this forum, that his historical destiny is to appear in a sophisticated and dangerous stage in the history of Iraq, will be a reason to start a correct beginnings to rebuild country, and the intellectuals that have organized this forum, is exactly whom can play this role and drive it in the future.

General Secretariat

for Iraqi Forum for Intellectuals & Academics

Iraqi Forum for Intellectual & Academic

Articles of Association

Introduction:

In view of the status quo in Iraq and dispersion of its people inside and outside the country, including those who have academic and professional competencies who were taken out from their normal place in serving the country and contribution in addressing its problems; and

In view of what such competencies suffer inside and outside the country of threats and negligence in addition to the need to protect such competencies and benefit from its capacities;

It has been decided to establish the Iraqi Forum for Intellectual & Academic as it is a professional non-political organization.

 

First Article: Definitions

Forum: The Iraqi Forum for Intellectual & Academic.

System: Articles of Association.

Assembly: General Assembly of the Forum.

Specializations: Academic and professional specializations approved by the Secretariat-General.

Headquarter: Permanent headquarter of the Forum is in the capital Baghdad, and it is temporary in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Branch: The formation established by the Forum in a country other than the headquarter.

Second Article: Goals

Goals of the Forum are as follows:

  1. Gather the qualified Iraqis from all specializations under the same umbrella to ensure communication between them and benefiting from their experiences and capacities in building Iraq and solving its developmental problems.
  2. Organize conferences and workshops and conduct studies that aim to diagnose the current problems in Iraq and suggest solutions for it.
  3. Defend the rights of members and help to solve their scientific and professional problems.
  4. Provide research and scientific opportunities for the qualified Iraqis so that they can practice their specializations.
  5. Establish scientific and research centers and institutions that are capable of achieving goals of the Forum and benefiting from the experiences and capacities of its members.

Third Article: Membership:

The membership is divided into:

Working Member:

Everyone of Iraqi origin or nationality who holds parchment along with scientific expertise in specialty of not less than five years, master or doctorate degree in one of the specializations, who supports goals of the Forum , submits a membership application accompanied by support of two members, gains approval of the Secretariat General and pays the membership fees.

Honorary Member:

The membership is granted by approval of at least two-thirds of members of the Secretariat General for the one who previously provided valuable services for the Forum or in the field of his specialization.

End of Membership:

The membership ends in case of death, resignation or refrain from paying the subscription for two consecutive years. It also may be terminated by decision of the General Assembly based on a suggestion brought by the Secretariat General.

Fourth Article: Resources of the Forum:

  1. Resources of the Forum consist of the following:
  2. Subscriptions of members, donations and grants approved by the Secretariat General.
  3. Incomeearned from different advisory, scientific and investment activities.
  4. Membership fees determined by the Secretariat General.
  5. To be referred to the generally accepted financial and accounting rules.

Fifth Article: Organizational Structure

The organizational structure of the Forum consists of the following organizational units:

  1. General Assembly.
  2. Secretariat General.
  3. Sectorial Disciplines Committees.
  4. Branches of the Forum.

Sixth Article: Secretariat General of the Forum:

  1. The Forum will be managed by the Secretariat General that consists of representatives of each specialization provided that they shall be elected by the working members in that specialization.
  2. The General Assembly elects Secretary-General of the Forum among the candidates through direct ballot and the one who gains simple majority will win. In case that no candidate gained this percentage, then another round will be conducted among the candidates who gained the highest percentages and the one who gets the highest number of votes will be the winner in the second round.
  3. The General Assembly will elect four deputies for the Secretary-General and one Secretary.
  4. Duration of the session of the Secretariat General is three years and the Secretary-General does not have the right to renew for more than one session only.
  5. The Secretariat General shall meet once every two months to discuss affairs of the Forum. Meeting of the Secretariat General will be considered valid by attendance of simple majority of its members and if that was not possible then it will be considered valid by attendance of five members including the Secretary-General or one of his deputies provided that voting in that case shall be unanimously.
  6. Due to the current circumstances, the Secretariat General has the right to decide to hold a (Teleconference) using modern means of communication.
  7. The Secretariat General sets the administrative and financial rules and regulations, carries out conduct of the Forum businesses, decides on the membership applications and implements decisions of the General Assembly.
  8. The Secretariat General has the right to authorize some of its terms of reference to a committee that includes some members of the Secretariat General including the Secretary-General, one of his deputies or the Secretaryand no more than three members from outside the Secretariat General.
  1. The Secretariat General has the right to form advisory committees from external members provided that each committee shall be headed by one of the Secretariat’s members.
  2. The General Assembly based on proposal of the Secretariat General has the right to form an advisory board for the Forum from the eminent personalities that support goals of the Forum.

 

 

Seventh Article: Secretary-General:

He is the official spokesperson for the Forum and he carries out presidency of the Secretariat General and General Assembly, he also represents the Forum in all matters including signing on its documents.

Eighth Article: Deputies of the Secretary-General:

  1. The Secretary-General deputizes one of his deputies in his absence, and if such was impossible the Secretariat General chooses one of the deputies to take over tasks of the Secretary-General.
  2. Deputies of the Secretary-General take over authorities and duties determined by the Secretariat General.

Ninth Article: The Secretary:

  1. He is the administrative authorized person of the Forum and he has the responsibility to manage and coordinate the Forum’s activities as well as having the right to employ who is needed to manage the Forum’s matters with or without a wage.
  2. He records minutes of sessions of the Secretariat General, keeps the records, invites for meetings and submits the reports.
  3. He keeps the legal accounting records and books and he has the right of general supervision on the Assembly’s revenues and expenditure as well as issuing the necessary documents.
  4. Implementation of the Secretariat General decisions with regard to financial transactions and signing on disbursement vouchers and instruments with the president or his deputy.
  5. Preparation of the final account and balance sheet and submission of the annual financial report.

Tenth Article: Establishment of Branches:

The Forum has the right to open branches outside country of the headquarter on a geographical basis based on a professional or numerical basis according to a special system to be set for this purpose.

Eleventh  Article:  Amendment  of  the  Articles  ofAssociation:

The Articles of Association may be amended by a decision taken in an extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly held for this purpose with a majority of two-thirds of members of the General Assembly. The invitation for this meeting shall be made by two-thirds of members of the Secretariat General, not less than 100 members or 20% of members of the General Assembly whichever is less after the passage of not less than 6 months of the Constitutive General Assembly.

Twelfth Article: Dissolution of the Forum:

  1. Only the General Assembly has the right to dissolve the Forum with a majority of two-thirds of its members after being invited for the meeting three months before by a written circulated note addressed to all members.
  2. In case of dissolution of the Forum, net of its assets will be transferred to the institution/institutions that seeks/seek to achieve similar goals, under a decision of the General Assembly or whom it authorizes.

Thirteenth  Article:  Establishment  of  Centers  andInstitutions:

The Forum has the right to establish centers and institutions of research, scientific or training capacity or any other institution that is associated with implementation ofthe Forum’s goals and related to its members’ capacities and experiences.

  1. The Secretariat General suggests to establish such centers and institutions and presents such proposal to the General Assembly in its regular session for the purpose of approving it provided that it shall be accompanied by all documents and requirements needed to study it in detail.
  2. The Secretariat General carries out implementation of decision of the General Assembly in this regard.

Fourteenth Article: General Rule:

Reference shall be to the General Assembly and the Secretariat General in every ambiguous matter or that does not have a text in this Articles of Association between two sessions of the General Assembly.

Iraqi Forum for Intellectual & Academic

Bylaws

Pursuant to the Sixth Article of the Articles of Association, the Secretariat General decided to approve this bylaws on 12/12/2014.

First Article: Definitions

Forum: The Iraqi Forum for Intellectual & Academic.

System: Articles of Association.

Regulation: Bylaws.

Secretariat: Secretariat General of the Forum.

Assembly: General Assembly of the Forum.

Sectorial Disciplines Committees: Committees that represent the academic and professional sectorial specializations approved by the Secretariat-General and listed in the Eighth Article.

Headquarter: Temporary headquarter in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Branch: The formation established by the Forum in a country other than the headquarter.

Second Article: Goals

Goals of the Forum are:

  1. Gather the qualified Iraqis from all specializations under the same umbrella to ensure communication between them and benefiting from their experiences and capacities in building Iraq and solving its developmental problems.
  2. Organize conferences and workshops and conduct studies that aim to diagnose the current problems in Iraq and suggest solutions for it.
  3. Defend the rights of members and help to solve their scientific and professional problems.
  4. Provide research and scientific opportunities for the qualified Iraqis so that they can practice their specializations.
  5. Establish scientific and research centers and institutions that are capable of achieving goals of the Forum and benefiting from the experiences and capacities of its members.

Third Article: Membership

The membership is divided into:

Working Member:

Everyone of Iraqi origin or nationality who holds parchment along with scientific expertise in specialty of not less than five years, master or doctorate degree in one of the specializations, who supports goals of the Forum , submits a membership application accompanied by support of two members, gainsapproval of the Secretariat General and pays the membership fees.

Honorary Member:

The honorary membership is granted by approval of at least two-thirds of members of the Secretariat General for the one who provided valuable services for the Forum that fall within the scope of its goals.

End of Membership:

  1. The membership ends in case of death, resignation or refrain from paying the subscription for two consecutive years. It also may be terminated by recommendation of the General Assembly.
  1. The one whose membership has been terminated has the right to submit an objection to the General Assembly through the Secretariat General, and the General

Assembly’s decision shall be final.

Fourth Article: Resources of the Forum

Resources of the Forum consist of the following:

  1. Membership fees, donations and grants approved by the Secretariat General.
  1. Income earned from advisory, scientific and professional activities.
  1. Income earned from other investment activities that are matching with the Forum’s goals.
  1. Accounts of the Forum shall be prepared according to the financial regulations and legal accounting rules followed in the country of headquarter or branch, and one of the Secretary-General’s deputies shall take over the responsibility of direct supervision on the financial matters.

Fifth Article: Organizational Structure

The organizational structure of the Forum consists of the following organizational units:

  1. General Assembly.
  1. Secretariat General.
  1. Sectorial Disciplines Committees.
  1. Branches of the Forum.

Sixth Article: General Assembly

  1. It is the highest authority in the Forum and consists of all the working members who have paid the membership fees.
  1. The Secretariat General invites the General Assembly for convening once a year during the three months that follow end of the fiscal year of the Forum determined by law of the registration country.
  2. The General Assembly discusses the following:
  1. Annual report for performance of the Secretariat General.
  1. Final accounts and auditor’s report.
  1. Appointment of an auditor.
  1. Action plan of the Forum during the next year.
  1. The budget needed to achieve the Forum’s program.
  1. Any other businesses.
  2. The Secretariat General determines date and place of convening the General Assembly, and all of the members who have the right to attend shall be notified in written about the meeting in the invitation letter addressed to each of them at least 30 days before the determined date.
  3. The General Assembly will be convened in an extraordinary meeting based on invitation of the Secretariat General, request of one-third of the General Assembly’s members or fifty of them whichever is less along with expressing the purpose of that.
  4. Agenda of the meeting shall be attached with the invitation to convene the extraordinary General Assembly as well as draft of the decision required to be taken. The General Assembly may not discuss matters other than the ones stated in the agenda with approval of a simple majority of total of the Assembly’s members.
  5. Meeting of the General Assembly is not considered valid except by attendance of the simple majority of its members, and if the number was not completed the session will be adjourned provided that it shall be convened again after at least one hour and the convening in this case is consideredvalid if it was attended by not less than 10% of the members or 50 of them whichever is less.
  6. Member of the Assembly has the right to appoint as a deputy another member to represent him in attending meeting of the General Assembly and the deputized member may not represent more than one member.
  7. The General Assembly will be headed by the Secretary-General of the Forum or one of his deputies.
  8. Decisions will be issued by the simple majority of the members present except that are related to amending the Bylaws or dissolution of the Forum.

Seventh Article: Secretariat General of the Forum

  1. The Forum will be managed by the Secretariat General that consists of the Secretary-General, his deputies, Secretary and heads of the Sectorial Disciplines Committees.
  2. In case of adding new specialization through creation or as a result of dividing the activity of one specialization to more than one then members of the new specialization shall inform the Secretariat General about name of Chairman of that committee, his deputy and reporter for that committee. In this case, Chairman of that committee will join the Secretariat General after its approval.
  3. The General Assembly elects Secretary-General of the Forum among the candidates through direct ballot and theone who gains simple majority will win. In case that no candidate gained this percentage, then another round will be conducted among the candidates who gained the highest percentages and the one who gets the highest number of votes will be the winner in the second round.
  4. Duration of the session of the Secretariat General is three years and the Secretary-General does not have the right to renew for more than one session only.
  5. The Secretariat General shall meet once every two months and the meeting is considered valid by presence of the simple majority of the Secretariat’s members. Decisions will be taken through simple majority of votes and in case of equality of votes, vote of the Secretary-General will be the casting vote.
  6. The Secretariat General sets the administrative and financial rules and regulations, carries out conduct of the Forum businesses, decides on the membership applications and implements decisions of the General Assembly.
  7. The Secretary-General deputizes one of his deputies in his absence, and if such was impossible the Secretariat General chooses one of the deputies to take over tasks of the Secretary-General.
  8. The Secretariat General has the right to authorize some of its terms of reference to a committee that includes somemembers of the Secretariat General including the Secretary-General, one of his deputies or the Secretary and no more than three members from outside the Secretariat General.
  9. The Secretariat General has the right to form advisory committees from external members provided that each committee shall be headed by one of the Secretariat’s members.
  10. The General Assembly based on proposal of the Secretariat General has the right to form an advisory board for the Forum from the eminent personalities that support goals of the Forum.

Eighth Article: Secretary-General

  1. He is the official spokesperson for the Forum and he carries out presidency of the Secretariat General and General Assembly, he also represents the Forum in all matters including signing on its documents and agreements.
  2. He follows up all matters of the Forum including the financial and administrative matters, businesses of the Sectorial Disciplines Committees, tasks and office of members of the Secretariat-General.
  3. Signing on the financial disbursement lists.

Ninth Article: Deputies of the Secretary-General

Deputies of the Secretary-General take over authorities and duties determined by the Secretariat General by agreement or voting including the supervision responsibility and following up affairs of a number of the Sectorial Disciplines Committees and in case of equality of votes, then vote of the Secretary-General will be the casting vote.

Tenth Article: The Secretary

  1. He is the administrative authorized person of the Forum and he has the responsibility to manage and coordinate the

Forum’s activities as well as having the right to employ who is needed to manage the Forum’s matters with or without a wage.

  1. He records minutes of sessions of the Secretariat General, keeps the records, invites for meetings and submits the reports.
  2. He keeps the legal accounting records and books and he has the right of general supervision on the Assembly’s revenues and expenditure as well as issuing the necessary documents.
  3. Following up implementation of the Secretariat General decisions .
  4. Signing besides the president or his deputy on disbursement vouchers and instruments.
  5. Following up preparation of the final accounts of the Forum and submission of the annual financial report.

Eleventh Article: Sectorial Disciplines Committees

First: The Forum has a number of Sectorial Disciplines Committees that elect a Chairman for it who will become a member in the Secretariat-general:

  1. Culture, Media and Arts Committee.
  2. Sports and Youth Committee.
  3. Agriculture and Irrigation Committee.
  4. Industry, Energy (Electricity and Oil) and Natural Resources Committee.
  5. Housing and Infrastructure Committee.
  6. Economic Committee.
  7. Management, Statistics and Strategic Planning Committee.
  8. Humanitarian and Social Sciences Committee.
  9. Health Committee.
  10. Education, High Education and Scientific Research Committee.
  11. Legal Committee.
  12. Political Sciences Committee.

Second: The Sectorial Disciplines Committees have the right to coordinate and cooperate with each other directly to facilitate the performance of their tasks.

Third: The Secretariat General, by the simple majority, has the right to divide or add committees of other specializations as well as merging any of it.

Twelfth Article: Establishment of Branches

  1. The Forum has the right to open branches outside country of the headquarter if such will facilitate its business on a geographical basis based on a professional or numerical basis according to a special system to be set for this purpose.
  2. That system shall take into account the legal burdens resulted from opening the branch in the country in which the branch is intended to be opened.

Thirteenth Article: Disbursement Rules and Accounting Procedures

  • The Secretariat General takes over setting financial and accounting system that is compatible with the applicable financial and accounting rules and regulations in the headquarter country.

Fourteenth Article: Amending the Bylaws

  • The Bylaws may be amended under a decision taken by the Secretariat General by two-thirds of its members.

Fifteenth Article: General Rule

If there is contradiction between a text in these Bylaws and a text in the Articles of Association of the Forum, then text of Articles of Association will be applied. The SecretariatGeneral shall interpret every ambiguous matter or that does not have a text in these Bylaws.

Closing Statement

The founding conference of the Iraqi Forum for Intellectual & Academic was held in Istanbul for the period between 31st October to 1st November 2014 with participation of more than 200 Iraqi professional and academic characters from 28 countries around the world including Iraq.

The conference discussed over two days the bylaws and formation of specialized committees that held meetings in which chairman and vice-chairman or deputies of each committee have been elected as well as election of the secretary-general, his deputies and secretary of the Forum through direct ballot.

Since that the participants in the conference praise the endeavors that have been made to achieve success of its works as best as possible and the efforts that have been made by the preparatory committee to organize the conference; they decided the following:

  1. Announce founding of the Iraqi Forum for Intellectual & Academic.
  1. Approve Articles of Association of the Forum.
  1. The participants confirms that the Forum is a national professional, scientific and research entity that is independent and does not have any political or partisan goals.

Furthermore, it is not linked with any internal or external body or party.

  1. The conferees emphasize their eagerness to employ their scientific and technical capacities and professional experience in providing everything that serves Iraq and its people and that helps it to overcome the difficulties it suffers from.
  1. The Forum is a national comprehensive entity for all Iraqis who were included in membership of the bylaws without any consideration to religion, sect or nationalism.
  1. The conferees invite members of the General Assembly and specialized committees to open prospects for cooperation and coordination with various parties that seek to achieve a national service for Iraq and its people.
  2. The conference confirms that it is not a substitute for any national organization or party and its mission has scientific, research and professional goals and capacity as stated in its bylaws.
  1. The conferees invite the General Secretariat to expedite the preparation of the Forum’s headquarter, formation of its administrative and organizational structure and standing committees, execution of the suggestions requested by the participants as well as providing appropriate resources that do not contradict with what is contained in its bylaws or this statement.
  1. The conferees invite the specialized committees emanated from the founding conference to execute what it decided in its meetings and continue the efforts to attract more competencies each in his field of specialization.

Istanbul 1st November 2014

The Decisions of General Secretariat of Iraqi Forum

For intellectuals and Academics

The issuance of the approval of the General Secretariat of the Iraqi Forum For intellectuals and academics in the meeting held for the period 12-13 / December / 2014 on the following:

First “: – the establishment of an integrated consultative center: which is based on the profit on the provision of consultancy in return for cost and fees which have to be determined according to the consulting effort in the following fields : –

  1. Engineering studies and designs
  1. Oil, gas studies and electrical power consulting
  1. Industrial projects Studies
  1. Agricultural studies and irrigation projects
  1. Health and medical studies
  1. Communications, transportation and information systems studies
  1. Environmental Studies and renewable energy
  1. Financial, economical, commercial and administrative studies
  1. Social studies, demographic and statistical
  1. Consultancies on Legal and Constitutional issues
  1. Prepare strategic, work plans and performance evaluation
  1. Local economic, financial and arbitration of disputes

Second “: – the establishment of Training and Development CenterAssists in the preparation of special courses to train Iraqi employees to all of the relevant ministries and the terms of reference to permanent committees formed by the Iraqi Forum or any other terms of reference.

Third “: – the establishment of an Iraqi school and University in the Istanbul, Turkey:

Because “the presence of large numbers and increasingly Iraqi immigrant students and displaced people in Turkey and because of the circumstances faced by these people and that includes students of all levels (elementary, middle, lower secondary, tertiary) the urgent need to establish a school and an Iraqi university in Turkey according to Iraqi curriculum.

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