Statute

Scope

Article 1

The association ‘Za pristupačno okruženje’ (hereinafter, ZAPO) is a non-government association, established for an indefinite period in order to accomplish goals in the field of accessibility for people with disability.

All terminology within this document and other documents of the association is gender neutral.

Vision, mission and goals of the association

Article 2

The vision of ZAPO is the environment that meets the needs of all people.

The mission of ZAPO is to inform people of the significance of accessibility for all people and to motivate them to contribute personally in order to create an environment in which no one is excluded.

The goals of ZAPO are the following:

1. Creation of an accessible environment for all people, in both physical and virtual world, especially for the people with disability, by applying the concepts of universal design and design for everyone;
2. Exercising rights guaranteed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
3. Stimulating and including women and girls with disability in advocacy of accessible environment, services, information and communication;
4. Inspiring and motivating individuals and organisations, with emphasis on young people and students, to become more involved in creating accessible environment for every person.

Article 3

With a view to attaining its goals, the Association namely:

1. Collects and reviews scientific and specialised literature in the field of accessibility and human rights of people with disability;
2. Follows and analyses domestic and international standards in the area of accessibility;
3. Analyses and prepares proposals of practical policies, follows existing regulations, prepares amendments to existing laws and proposes adoption of new ones;
4. Carries out research and analyses the effects of implementation of rules and regulations in the area of accessibility and human rights of persons with disability;
5. Organises, independently or in cooperation with other organisations, seminars, counselling, conferences, webinars and other forms of education in the domain of accessibility and universal design;
6. Publishes printed and electronic books, magazines and other publications on the issues which are relevant to accessibility and human rights of persons with disability in accordance with the law;
7. Organises experts to work on control and implementation of standards of accessibility, education of engineers, public sector employees, students, young people, persons with disability and all interested parties;
8. Cooperates with universities, schools, associations, alliances, networks and other organisations, companies and institutions within the country and from abroad that work on improving accessibility, universal design and design for everyone, as well as on removing obstacles in all spheres of life for all persons with disability;
9. Cooperates with corresponding bodies of state and local administration;
10. Cooperates with the media and all relevant parties who, with their actions, can contribute to improvement of accessibility;
11. Cooperates with business sector within the country and from abroad with the aim of improving accessibility;
12. Organises campaigns with the aim to remove all obstacles which persons with disability face with;
13. Promotes and advocates universal design in studying.

Name and Head Office

Article 4

The name of the association is Za pristupačno okruženje.

The name of the association in English language is For an Accessible Environment.

The abbreviation of the name is ZAPO.

The association’s head office is in Jabuka, Pančevo.

The association carries out duties on the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

Article 5

The logo of the association For an Accessible Environment consists of a sign and a typographic part.

The sign is made of an orange diagonal line(which is slanted to the and symbolizes a steep plane), a part of a Latin letter P as the first letter in the word ‘pristupačno’ (meaning accessible in Serbian), a circular arrow turned left above the diagonal line which is green, symbolising the environment, and the letter O as the first letter of the word ‘okruženje’ (meaning the environment in Serbian).

Typographic part consists of a full name Za pristupačno okruženje in Latin alphabet, in which the word ‘pristupačno’ is orange, and words ’za’ and ’okruženje’ are green.

Article 6

The association has a circular stamp. In the central part of the stamp, there is a logo of the association. On the edge of the stamp, a text in Cyrilic is written, stating Za pristupačno okruženje Pančevo. Below the text in Serbian, following the circular shape of the stamp, it says in English Association for an Accessible Environment.

Conditions and the manner of becoming a member and the manner of losing membership

Article 7

A member of the Association can be any person who acknowledges the goals of the Association and the provisions of the Statute and who submits an application for membership with the Association’s Assembly.

From the age of 14, a minor can become a member of the Association by submitting a written consent given by a legal guardian and officialy authenticated by a notary public. For a person younger than 14 from paragraph 1 of this article, the application is submitted by their legal guardian.

Article 8

The Assembly makes a decision on accepting a member and notices about the decision the person who submitted the application within 30 days from the day the written application was submitted.

A member may withdraw from membership by submitting a written statement on withdrawal. In case of a minor, a consent of a legal guardian is not needed.

Membership in Association may be terminated due to prolonged inactivity of the member, disrespect of the provisions of this statute or damage to the reputation of the Association.

The decision on termination of the membership is made by the Assembly.

A member has to be enabled to express the reasons for which the suggestion for making the decision about termination of their membership with the Assembly.

Rights, obligations and responsibilities of members

Article 9

A member of the Association has rights to:

1. equally with other members participate in accomplishing goals of the Association;
2. directly participate in decision-making at the Assembly meetings;/li>
3. choose and be chosen for the working groups of the Association, formed in accordance with the statute and general policies of the Association;
4. be timely and fully informed of the work and activities of the Association;

The member has the obligations to:

1. actively contribute to accomplishment of the goals of the Association;
2. participate, in accordance with the sphere of interest, in the activities of the Association;
3. pay membership fees;
4. perform other duties entrusted by the Assembly.

Internal organisation

Article 10

The governing bodies of the Association are the Assembly and Executive director.

Article 11

The Assembly of the Association is comprised of all of its members.

The Assembly has regular meetings once a year.

An extraordinary Assembly meeting can be arranged at the initiative of at least one third of the members of the Assembly.

The initiative is submitted to the Executive director of the Association in written form and the questions whose consideration is proposed have to be stated in the initiative.

The meeting of the Assembly is convened by the Executive director, in written notification about the place and time of the Assembly meeting and the agenda for the meeting which is submitted to the members at least 3 days prior to the scheduled meeting. The chairperson for the meeting will be the member who has been chosen by means of public vote at the beginning of the meeting.

The Assembly:

1. establishes the plan and program of work;
2. establishes the Statute, as well as amendments to the Statute;
3. adopts other general acts of the Association;
4. chooses and relieves of duties the Executive director and deputy executive director;
5. decides on the admission to membership and termination of membership with the Association;
6. considers and adopts, at least once a year, a report on the Association’s work;
7. considers and adopts the financial plan and report;
8. decides on changes of status and cessation of work of the Association;
9. decides on forming alliances and other associations in the country and abroad.

The Assembly can fully legally make decisions only if at least one half of the members is present.

The assembly decides by simple majority of votes.

For decisions on Statute amendments, changes of status or cessation of the Association, a two-thirds majority of members’ vote is needed.

Article 12

Executive director and deputy executive director are chosen and recalled from the membership by the Assembly with the majority vote of the present members.

Deputy executive director is authorised to, in the absence of executive director, represent the Association and sign all legal and financial documents for the Association.

Executive director:

1. represents the Association in legal transactions and has the rights and duties of a financial ordering party;
2. manages the work of the Association in between two Assembly meetings and makes decisions in order to achieve the goals of the Association;
3. organizes regular performance of activities of the Association;
4. signs and authorizes the acts of the Association;
5. makes financial decisions;
6. prepares material for the Assembly meetings, ensures acts brought by the Assembly are realized and prepares reports on the work of the Assembly;
7. enters into employment contracts and other types of contracts with the employees and other hired people and makes decisions on terminating those contracts;
8. makes yearly plan and program in cooperation with other members of the Assembly;
9. delegates special tasks to specific members;
10. decides on starting the procedure for making amendments to the Statute, taking personal initiative or at the proposal made by at least two thirds of the members of the Association and prepares amendments which are submitted to the Assembly for adoption;
11. decides on starting the procedure for awarding damages in the cases from article 25 paragraph 2 of the Law on associations, and , if deemed necessary, determines who will be the special representative of the association in that procedure;
12. decides on other issues for which other bodies of the Association are not authorized, by law or by this statute.

Mandate of the executive director lasts four years and they can be re-elected.

The Assembly can relieve the executive director of their duties even before the end of their mandate.

Executive director has right to appeal to the decision made by the Assembly, and the appeal must be submitted within 30 days. Final decision on the appeal is made by the Assembly and it should be delivered within 30 days at the latest from the day the executive director filed the appeal.

Maintaining transparency in work

Article 13

The work of the Association is public.

Executive director ensures all members and general public are regularly informed of the work and activities of the Association, either indirectly or through internal publications, i.e. through press releases or in any other suitable manner.

Yearly accounts and reports on the activities of the Association are presented to the members at the annual Assembly of the Association.

Article 14

In order to accomplish its goals, the Association forms contact and collaborates with other Associations and organizations in the country or abroad.

The Association may join international associations which operate in the domain of accessibility, universal design and human rights of the persons with disability, which is decided by the Assembly.

Obtaining funds for accomplishing goals and disposal of funds

Article 15

The Association obtains funds:

1. from membership fees, voluntary contributions and gifts, subsidies and other legal manners;
2. from registration fees for seminars and other forms of education organised within the domain of accessibility, universal design and human rights of persons with disability;
3. from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, city and municipal budgets and budgets of other bodies of local administration received based on a project;
4. from domestic and international organizations and foundations awarded based on projects and applications.

Economic activity by which profit is gained

Article 16

The Association obtains funds performing economic activity 85.59 Other forms of education – education not defined according to the level of education.

The Association may begin with immediate performance of the activity once it is registered with the Register of legal entities.

Profit gained by performing the economic activity and other activities may be used exclusively for accomplishing goals of the Association, including the expenses incurred by performing regular activities, and for participation in financing of certain projects.

Terminating the Association

Article 17

The Association ceases to exist once the Assembly decides so, once there are no conditions for accomplishing the goals of the Association, and in other situations foreseen by the law.

Treatment of the property of the association in case the Association stops to exist

Article 18

Based on the decision of termination of the Association, which is made by the Assembly of the Association, in case the Association ceases to exist, all of its property will be transferred to a domestic non-profit legal entity which was established for the purpose of accomplishing the same or similar goals.

Article 19

All of the issues which are not regulated by this statute will be directly subject to provisions of the Law on associations.

Article 20

This statute becomes effective on the day of its adoption at the founding Assembly of the Association.