Our Constitution
| CONSTITUTION OF THE AFRICA HEALTHCARE DEVELOPMENT TRUST [AHDT] 1. Name The name of the association shall be Africa Healthcare Development Trust [AHDT]. 2. AHDT is a non-partisan voluntary forum to be registered as a UK based charity that will work to facilitate the development and provision of health care in Africa, particularly in northern Nigeria. 3. Mission statement Health care for Africa. 4. Aims & Objectives i. To promote health awareness in the general public ii. To promote practices that lead to better health iii. To help prevent practices that lead to poor health and diseases iv. To support government and other organisations to improve general public health and health care delivery v. To undertake health promotional campaigns aimed at reducing the burden of disease vi. To provide health education as part of an effective disease prevention strategy vii. To undertake health care projects for the benefit of the public viii. To facilitate the training of health care professionals directly and indirectly ix. To develop and foster mutually beneficial relations with other organisations x. To act as a non-political lobby for the development and provision of effective health care for everyone by governments, other statutory bodies, voluntary and other organisations. 5. Membership AHDT membership is open to any adult member of the public provided he/she will abide by the rules and regulations of the trust and subscribe to its aims and objectives. 6. Types of membership There shall be one type of membership i.e. full membership. 7. Offices and Eligibility Executive Committee (EXCO): Chairman: Has overall responsibility for effective implementation of agreed policies aimed at achieving the objectives of the Trust. Deputy Chairman: Assists the chairman and acts in his/her absence. Secretary: Has responsibility for all of the Trust’s secretarial matters including its external relations. Assistant Secretary: Assists the secretary and acts in his/her absence. Financial Secretary/Treasurer: Oversees the revenue and expenditure of the trust and presents audited annual accounts to the Annual General Meeting. Publicity Secretary: Is responsible for the promotion of the Trust’s activities. Regional offices/Coordinators: Organise and coordinate local/regional meetings e.g. in Nigeria, Scotland, Wales etc. 8. Elections This shall be by popular vote. The electoral Committee appointed during an Annual General shall determine the rules of the elections. 9. Voting Open to all members. 10. Eligibility Open to all members. 11. Resignation In case of resignation of any EXCO member, the EXCO shall have the power to nominate someone from the membership. 12.Tenure For EXCO members there shall be a maximum of 2 terms of 2 years each. 13. Patrons & Trustees The Patrons and Trustees shall have the following roles: i. Advisory ii. Promotional iii. Influential 14. AHDT website The website of the Trust shall be www.ahdt.org 15. Fees Type of membership Registration fee Annual fee Full membership £30 £20 16. Method of payment Payments detailed above shall be by standing order. 17. Signatories to the AHDT account The signatories to the account shall be three: Chairman, Secretary and Financial Secretary/Treasurer. For transactions, any two of the three shall do. 18. Funding Potential sources of funding shall be i. Membership fees ii. Pharmaceutical/drug companies iii. Donations iv. UK Department for International Development (DfID) v. Others 19. Meetings i. There shall be two general meetings a year, one of which will be the Annual General Meeting, in January and September (AGM). ii. There shall be at least four EXCO meetings annually (prior to general meetings). iii. Emergency meetings shall be held when necessary. 20. Registration The Trust shall be registered with i. Charity Commission ii. Nigeria High Commission iii. Africa Union (AU) 21. Secretariat The AHDT shall have a secretariat. 22. Criteria for involvement in a project Projects undertaken by the Trust shall i. Be non political ii. Be non religious iii. Be affordable iv. Be beneficial to many people v. Lead to health improvement vi. Ensure that benefits outweigh risks 23. Constitutional amendments These shall be made by simple majority during a general meeting or by at least 50% of registered members during the September AGM. 24. Discipline AHDT shall have a duly constituted Disciplinary committee and disciplinary procedures. 25. Annual Report AHDT shall publish an annual report of its activities and audited revenues and expenditure. |
