DUFA Constitution

Subs. 1:

Everybody who agrees to the association’s purpose and wants to support its work can be admitted as a member.

Subs. 2:

The General Assembly is the highest authority of the association. It is held at least once a year, in the first two months after the end of the financial year. All members of the Association have admittance and the right of voting.

The annual general assembly follows an agenda, which shall at least contain the following points:

• Election of chairman of the assembly
• Election of the secretary of the assembly
• Report of last year’s activities by the chairman of the executive committee
• Presentation of accounts by the treasurer, and stipulation of next year’s membership fee
• Incoming proposals
• Discussion of the new year’s activities
• Election of executive committee members
• Election of internal auditor and substitute
• Any other business

Elections and voting take place under common democratic rules: one voice per member. The executive committee calls for the general assembly at a minimum of two weeks' notice through the members' newsletter. Proposals must be sent to the executive committee 8 days before the general assembly at the latest.

The executive committee may call for an extraordinary general assembly after its own decision or on request from at least 1/5 of the members.

Subs. 3:

The executive committee consists of a chairperson, vice-chairperson, treasurer, secretary, and 3 ordinary members, as well as 1 substitute.

Subs. 4:

Role and responsibilities of the chairs:

• The chairperson is the head of the organisation. He/she chairs the board meetings and makes the agenda together with the vice-chairperson for the general assembly. The chairperson, together with the other members of the executive committee, shall lay down strategies for recruiting members and to fundraise to the benefit of the organisation. The chairperson is a signatory to the bank.
• The vice-chairperson shall substitute the chairperson, assist in making the agenda for the general assembly and take up any other task appointed by the chairperson.
• The treasurer shall keep the accounts, assist in keeping record of the memberbase and is a signatory to the bank. He/she shall, together with the rest of the executive committee, lay down strategies for fundraising to the benefit of the organisation.
• The secretary is responsible for taking the minutes form the executive committee meetings and to make the newsletter. He/she shall keep records of the memberbase and shall, together with the rest of the executive committee, lay down strategies for fundraising to the benefit of the organisation.

Subs. 5:

The executive committee has the overall responsibility of the running of the association and is responsible of the finance of the association. It has 7 members. In addition one substitute is elected. Members of the executive committee are elected for a period of two years; only at the general assembly in 2005 one member is elected for one year. The substitute is elected each year.

Subs. 6:

The executive committee is constituting itself and lays down its own plan of business.
It can appoint permanent or temporary subcommittees.
Decisions are made by majority. However, full agreement should be aimed at, whenever making important decisions.

Subs. 7:

DUFA is a national wide association divided into regions according to the locality of members. Each region can have its own sub committees, and each region elects a member to represent them at the board.

Subs. 8:

Each subcommittee has to have a minimum of three members, and each subcommittee shall have a chairperson, who is responsible for the documentation and feed back to the executive committee.

Subs. 9:

The executive committee has meetings 4 times a year, and as required in addition.
Communication to the members is through a quarterly newsletter, contenting among other news brief reports of the EC meetings. In addition, information meetings are held for the members.