1. Aims and objectives of the Platform

The platform for civil society organizations CivilM+ – hereinafter the “Platform” or “CivilM+” – is an informal association of civil society organizations and experts from Ukraine, Russia and other countries, as well as international organizations, that have united:

– to carry out joint activities aimed at resolving the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine (hereinafter the “conflict region”);

– to resolve issues linked to human rights violations arising from the context of the conflict, and

– to implement dialogue, peacebuilding and other initiatives, aimed at improving the quality of life and prospects for people affected by the conflict, at the restoration of a constitutional state in the conflict region and its integration into a democratic Ukraine in accordance with the Memorandum of the Platform from 4 December 2017 by expanding interdisciplinary, cross-sector and cross-border cooperation of the Platform’s participants.

2. Participants of the Platform

2.1. Participants of the Platform may be independent non-governmental, civil or other organizations, institutions and initiatives (including those with and without the status of a legal entity, hereinafter “organizations”), as well as private people – experts, who in Ukraine, Russia, on an international level or in other countries:

• regularly and purposefully work on topics related to the Platform’s mission and activities;
• agree with the values and principles of the Platform’s work as set out in the Memorandum and this Statute.

2.2. The participants of the Platform are civil society organizations and experts, who signed the Memorandum of the Platform and Statute on Principles and Structure by 31 December 2017, or have passed through the procedure of accepting participants to the Platform based on the Statute on Principles and Structure (as of 31 December 2017), or based on this current Statute.

3. Forms of Participation

3.1. There are two forms of participation in the Platform:

а) active (full) participation;

b) informational (associate) participation.

3.2. Active participation involves: receiving newsletters, participating in Platform events, participating in working groups of the Platform and signing statements issued on behalf of the Platform. A participant of the Platform, who is a representative of an organization, may be an applicant/coordinator of a project/subgrant, programme, working group or other format within or on behalf of the Platform, may appear with various initiatives, and has the right to vote in all other decisions relating to the activities of the Platform, in accordance with the rules and principles in this Statute.

3.3. Informational participation involves: receiving newsletters, participating in events, working groups, projects and programmes within the Platform – if this does not prevent active participants of the Platform from exercising this right – and the right to sign statements issued on behalf of Platform participants.

4. Principles of the Platform’s operation

4.1. Organizations from Ukraine (UA), from Russia (RF) and from other countries (international, INT) are grouped into three “country”/ “country-regional” groups to ensure a balance of participants in the Platform’s work. In its activities, in the structures of the Platform, and in the admission of new members, the Platform strives to ensure a balanced participation of representatives from these three “country”/ “country-regional” groups in order to take into account as many different viewpoints as possible.

4.2. In order to implement the multifaceted nature of conflict resolution, the Platform also strives for the balanced participation of representatives from different areas of civil society in the “country”/ “country-regional” groups, including human rights, peacebuilding, environmental, educational, women etc.

4.3. Participation in the Platform does not prevent independent activities of organizations and the expression of a separate position of member organizations. The Platform will not take responsibility for the actions or statements of its participants, if they are made on their own behalf/on behalf of the participating organizations.

4.4. Adherence to the principle of “do no harm”, as well as ensuring the safety of participants (personal, information etc.) are important priorities for the functioning and activities of the Platform.

4.5. The working languages of the Platform are Ukrainian, Russian and English on an equal footing. The Platform strives to ensure that events, publications and other formats with translations into the above languages.

4.6. The operation of the Platform is based on the principle of no discrimination on any grounds.

5. Structure of the Platform and the Decision-Making Process

5.1. Forum

5.1.1. The Platform’s highest governing body is the Forum. Representation of participants in the Forum is organized via representatives of active participant organizations. According to the internal rules of the organizations, valid active organizations delegate their representative to participate in the Forum. The active organization has the right to replace its representative in the Forum at any moment by informing the Secretariat. Active expert participants of the Platform take part in the Forum with the right to an advisory vote.

5.1.2. Meetings of the Forum may be held either in person, or by electronic means of communication (hereinafter “online”), usually at least once a year. Informational (associated) participants of the Platform, as well as experts, organizations and other individuals not included in the Forum, may be invited to participate in the Forum by a decision of the Coordination Council.

5.1.3. A meeting of the Forum is considered legitimate, when:

а) the invitation to it is sent out via e-mail by the Secretariat of the Platform, as decided by the Coordination Council, to all active participants:

– no later than two months before the start of the meeting, when the Forum is to be held in person;

– no later than ten days before the start of the meeting, when the Forum is to be held in online.

b) at least 50% of the eligible active participant organizations of the Platform take part.

5.1.4. The Forum makes decisions both in face-to-face meetings and in the form of online voting. The decision of the Forum is taken by a vote and is considered made if at least 50% +1 vote of the total number of representatives of active participant organizations taking part in the vote in each of the country groups (UA, RF, INT) vote “aye”, with regards to statements and other public documents on behalf of the Forum.

In the event of changes being introduced to the existing and/or the adoption of new Platform regulations, the decision of the Forum is considered made, if at least 2/3 of the representatives from the total number of active participant organizations of the Platform in each of the “country”/ “country-regional” groups (UA, RF, INT) vote “aye”.

5.1.5. Online votes of the Forum may also take place outside of meetings on the initiative of either the Coordination Council, the Supervisory Board, or at least one quarter (25%) of organizations and experts from the total number of active participants of the Platform. The voting period shall be established by the Coordination Council on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the circumstances, but may not be shorter than five calendar days.

5.1.6. Information about the issues to be put to an online vote is sent out to all eligible participants via e-mail by the Secretariat of the Platform, as decided by the Coordination Council, at least five days before the vote.

5.1.7. Decisions of the Forum which affect activities, in which informational (associate) participants may be involved (for instance, the adoption of statements and the creation of working groups) are brought to the attention of informational participants, who may join them.

5.2. Coordination Council

5.2.1. The Coordination Council is established to ensure the organization of the Platform’s activities.

The functions of the Coordination Council are:

а) to make conceptual decisions regarding the ongoing activities of the Platform;

b) to represent the Platform in public relations;

c) to authorize active participant organizations of the Platform, including organizations which have assumed responsibility for the Secretariat’s functions, to submit applications on behalf of the Platform for financial support to implement projects or other activities within the scope of the Platform and to implement these projects or other actions;

d) to coordinate the work of the Secretariat of the Platform based on an agreement with the organization/organizations who have assumed the function of the Secretariat.

e) to identify candidates from amongst the active participant organizations for the role of the Secretariat of the Platform and to propose them to the Forum for a decision;

f) to organize the process of formulating development strategies and activities of the Platform, including rules of internal and external communications;

g) to perform other tasks assigned to the Coordination Council by the Forum, unless they conflict with this Statute.

5.2.2. The Coordination Council is elected by decision of the Forum from among the representatives of the active participant organizations or the active expert participants for a period of two years. Nominations of candidates for the Coordination Council is carried out either by self-nomination or by representatives of active participant organizations of the Platform before the vote.

5.2.3. The minimum composition of the Coordination Council is three people, and they must represent each of the Platform’s “country”/ “country-regional” groups (UA, RF, INT).

The maximum composition of the Coordination Council should not be more than seven people, and the number of members from one “country”/ “country-regional” group should not exceed the total of the two other “country”/ “country-regional” groups.

5.2.4. The Coordinating Board is elected by a secret ballot in a face-to-face meeting of the Forum by a simple majority of the total membership of the Forum.

A ballot paper shall be considered invalid, if:

а) at least one candidate from each country group is not marked on it;

b) more than seven candidates have been marked.

5.2.5. The candidate is considered elected to the Coordination Council, if:

а) they receive at least 25% of votes cast in the ballot;

b) they are in first or second place in the list of candidates from their “country”/ “country-regional” group.

The remaining members of the Coordination Council shall be determined by the maximum number of votes, taking into account the requirements set forth in point 5.2.3.

Disputes related to the voting procedure and its results will be settled by the Supervisory Board.

5.2.6. Members of the Coordination Council take part in the work of the Board in a private capacity. A member of the Coordination Council may be excluded from its membership by a decision from the Supervisory Board for a systematic failure to perform tasks assigned to the Coordination Council by this Statute in a way similar to the procedure for excluding active participants of the Platform.

5.2.7. The Coordination Council is obliged to comply with the principle of transparency towards active members and to report on the content and results of their work to the Forum at least once a year.

5.3. Supervisory Board

5.3.1. The Supervisory Board of the Platform is created to monitor participants’ compliance with the principles of the Platform, as laid out in the Memorandum and in this Statute.

5.3.2. Functions of the Supervisory Board:

а) monitoring of the Platform’s activities;

b) responsibility for compliance with the Platform’s rules of operation and other agreed rules;

c) organization of a procedure to resolve conflicts and disagreements within the Platform.

The Forum and Coordination Council may also delegate other tasks to the Supervisory Board connected with the preservation and/or development of rules of the Forum.

5.3.3. The Supervisory Board shall be composed of at least three representatives of active participants – organizations or experts – at least one from each of the “country”/ “country-regional” groups (UA, RF, INT).

5.3.4. Nomination of candidates for the Supervisory Board takes place either by self-nomination, or by representatives of active participant organizations of the Platform before the vote.

Participants of the Platform may not be proposed at the same time for the Coordination Council and the Supervisory Board.

5.3.5. The minimum composition of the Supervisory Board is three people, and they should represent all “country” / “country-regional” groups of the Platform (UA, RF, INT).

The maximum composition of the Supervisory Board should not exceed seven people, and the number of participants from one “country”/ “country-regional” group should not exceed the total number of the two remaining groups.

5.3.6. The Supervisory Board is elected by a secret ballot in a face-to-face meeting of the Forum by a simple majority of the total membership of the Forum.

A ballot paper shall be considered invalid, if:

а) at least one candidate from each country group is not marked on it;

b) more than seven candidates have been marked.

5.3.7. The candidate is considered elected to the Supervisory Board, if:

а) they receive at least 25% of votes cast in the ballot;

b) they are in first or second place in the list of candidates from their “country”/ “country-regional” group.

The remaining members of the Supervisory Board shall be determined by the maximum number of votes, taking into account the requirements set forth in point 5.2.3.

Disputes related to the voting procedure and its results will be settled by at least 2/3 of the active participants present at the Forum.

5.3.8. Members of the Supervisory Board take part in the work of the Board in a private capacity. In the event of a systematic failure to perform the tasks assigned by the Statute to a member of the Supervisory Board, the question of their exclusion may be brought before the Forum.

5.3.9. The Supervisory Board is obliged to comply with the principle of transparency towards active members and to report on the content and results of their work to the Forum at least once a year.

5.4 Secretariat of the Platform

5.4.1. In order to perform the administrative, technical, informational and other operational tasks required for the functioning of the Platform and to facilitate cooperation among its participants, the Platform shall create the Secretariat by delegating such tasks to one representative or group of representatives of active participant organizations of the Platform, which agree to assume responsibility for these tasks.

5.4.2. Delegation is carried out by decision of the Forum after consideration of reasonable proposals from the Coordination Council.

As the Platform does not have the status of a legal entity, active participant organizations that have assumed functions of the Secretariat, must also take on the associated legal functions.

The organization or active participant organizations that have assumed the functions of the Secretariat are required to comply with the principle of transparency to the active participants of the Platform and to regularly inform them about their performance of the functions of the Secretariat.

5.4.3. The organization or organizations that have assumed responsibility for the tasks of the Secretariat may be authorized by the Coordination Council to submit on behalf of the Platform applications for financial support for projects and/or other activities within the scope of the Platform and for the implementation or partial implementation of these projects or other activities. The Secretariat shall interact with the Working Groups of the Platform and facilitate their activities and the distribution of their results.

5.4.4. The Secretariat provides support for projects, programmes and other undertakings within the framework of the Platform. The work of the Secretariat is funded by the parts of the budgets of the projects, programmes and other undertakings which are allocated for this purpose.

5.4.5. The Secretariat shall report on the content and results of its work to the Forum at least once a year, as well as to the Coordination Council upon request.

5.5. Working Groups

5.5.1. Any number of subject-focussed or operational Working Groups and Sub-groups may be created within the Platform. Working Groups and Sub-groups are created both for the ongoing work of the Platform in a certain area, as well as for the implementation of individual projects within the Platform.

5.5.2. The minimal composition of a working group is three participants with the mandatory participation of at least two active participants (organizations or experts) from different “country”/ “country-regional” groups. The minimal composition of a subgroup is two participants from different “country”/ “country-regional” groups with the mandatory participation of at least one active participant (organizations or experts). The initiators shall inform the Coordination Council and Secretariat about the creation of such a group. A working group shall be deemed to have been formed after its confirmation by the Coordination Council.

5.5.3. Decision-making procedures in each of the Working Groups is decided by the participants themselves and the Secretariat is informed. Working Groups may also include informational participants of the Platform. Within the Working Groups, representatives of active participant organizations, representatives of informational organizations, and active participating experts have equal rights in decision-making.

5.5.4. Working Groups, through an active participant organization and with the agreement of the Coordination Council, may submit applications for financial support for the implementation of projects or other activities as part of the activities of this Working Group and for the implementation or partial implementation of these projects or other activities. Working Groups must always inform the Secretariat and Coordination Council about the receipt of financial support.

6. Procedure for the Admission of Members to the Platform

6.1. In order to become a participant of the Platform, organizations or experts, in accordance with paragraph 2.1, must:

* fill out the Application Form for Participation in the Platform, including stating agreement with the Memorandum, this Statute and the other foundational documents of the Platform;

** receive the recommendation of at least two active participants of the Platform (organizations or experts), representing different “country”/ “country-regional” groups (for applicant organizations, the recommendations of two other organizations are required, and for experts the recommendations may come from experts or active participant organizations of the Platform).

6.2. Decisions on the admission of new participants shall be made by the Coordination Council of the Platform based on the opinions of the Platform. At least two weeks in advance to the consideration of the admission of a new participant, the Platform Secretary on the Coordination Council shall send the candidate’s Application Form to the active members of the Platform.

6.3. The decision of the Coordination Council to admit a new participant must be approved by at least two thirds of the votes from the total number on the Coordination Council.

6.4. After a positive decision from the Coordination Council, the candidate (organization or expert) receives the status of an informational (associate) participant of the Platform.

6.5. The new participant retains the status of an informational participant for at least four months. During this period, the Coordination Council (by at least a 2/3 majority decision) may withdraw its decision to admit a new member to the Platform. If this does not happen, then after the four months, the new participant receives the status of an active participant of the Platform. A participant may voluntarily remain an informational participant and should inform the Coordination Council of this decision before the end of the four-month period. Each active participant of the Platform has the right to switch to the status of an informational participant and in such a case, the Coordination Council must also be informed.

6.6. The Secretariat shall inform all participants of the Platform about the admission of new participants.

7. Exit and removal of a participant from the Platform

7.1. Participating organizations or experts of the Platform have the right to leave the Platform at any time:

*organization – by written notification from a representative delegated to the Platform or head of the organization or head of the organization to the Platform’s Coordination Council;

**expert – by personal written notification to the Platform’s Coordination Council and Secretariat.

7.2. If, at the time of leaving the Platform, the organization or expert has been assigned duties regarding the Platform, for example, as part of the coordination, implementation of a project or the preparation of expertise, these responsibilities must be fulfilled until the issue of the transfer of responsibilities (powers) has been resolved by the Coordination Council.

7.3. A participant of the Platform may be excluded due to a violation of the principles of the Memorandum and the Statute, or due to an act that causes serious reputational damage to the Platform. The decision regarding the exclusion is made by at least a two thirds majority of the total membership of the Coordination Council.

7.4. A participant of the Platform has the right to appeal to the Supervisory Board against their exclusion. An excluded participant may be given at least two calendar weeks to prepare a comment for the Supervisory Board. If necessary, the right to comment shall also be granted to the Coordination Council, the Secretariat and participants of the Platform.

7.5. The Platform’s Supervisory Board shall make the final decision on the exclusion or retention of the participant within one month from the date of receipt of the written comment from the Platform participant and other participants in the process. The decision of the Supervisory Board is made by a simple majority of its membership. If the decision is made to ultimately exclude the participant, the former participant has the right to receive a written explanation from the Supervisory Board within two weeks (after the written notification).

8. Settling of disputes

In case of any disputes, their discussion and resolution take place within the Platform. Information about such disputes shall be sent to the Supervisory Board, which will propose a procedure for the discussion and resolution of the conflict based on and according with this Statute within two weeks. The recommendation shall be adopted by the Supervisory Board on the basis of a simple majority of its entire membership. The parties to dispute have a right to send a written explanation to the address of the Supervisory Board within two weeks, on the basis of which the further procedure for decision-making shall be determined.

9. Internal and external communication of the Platform

9.1. Internal communication among participants of the Platform takes place via the mailing list of the Forum, where the author of a message may be any participant or the Secretariat.

9.2. The responsibility for keeping participants informed in a timely manner about the upcoming events and initiatives of the Platform rests with the Secretariat. The Secretariat

prepares communications on the work of the Platform at least once every three months, which is sent to the mailing list of the Forum.

9.3. Participants of the Platform may initiate online and offline discussions on issues important to the Platform and/or for the resolution of the conflict. The discussion of an issue may be initiated by any participant of the Platform. If the discussion involves further joint action, then the decision shall be made in accordance with the existing rules and principles of the Platform.

9.4. Members of the Coordination Council, as well as any active participant of the Platform who has agreed their activities with the Coordination Council, have the right to speak on behalf of the Platform.

9.5. The Coordination Council may grant the right to speak on behalf of the Platform on a specific issue or at a specific event to another individual or organization that is not an active participant of the Platform.

9.6. The Platform has a webpage and a logo, creates resources on social media and shall develop a communication strategy, the main aims and focusses of which are approved by the Coordination Council.

10. Commercial activities within the Platform

10.1. Organizational and logistical provision for the Platform’s activities, as well as provision for specific areas within the scope of the topics of the Platform may be subjects of projects and other activities carried out by participating organizations, including those supported by external donor organizations.

10.2. The Coordination Council has the right to appoint a treasurer/auditor to verify the targeted spending of funds allocated to support the activities of the Platform.

10.3. The Platform is entitled to collect donations for its activities and shall entrust one or several of its active participant organizations with the administrative management of this mechanism.

10.4. The members of the Coordination Council and Supervisory Board carry out their activities on a voluntary basis. This does not exclude the possibility of being reimbursed for incurred in performing tasks on behalf of the Platform or expert work that was commissioned and for the benefit of the Platform within the project budgets and from the Platform’s own funds.

10.5. The Coordination Council, with the assistance of the Secretariat, shall provide active participants once a year with a review of the substantial and financial activities of the Platform for the calendar year in electronic form. The review shall be provided no later than March of the following year for the current year.

The Coordinating Board, with the assistance of the Secretariat, organizes a discussion of these reviews during a face-to-face Forum or online.

11. Dissolution of the Platform

11.1. The dissolution of the Platform takes place by decision of the Forum.

11.2. The automatic dissolution of the Platform takes place if there are no organizations from Ukraine or Russia among its active participants for longer than six months.

This document is a translation of the Russian original. In case of conflict between the original and the translated version, the Russian version has precedence.