Availability

Membership of ECPAT is open to:
1. Groups organized informally or formally registered or otherwise incorporated as "persons" within a given national jurisdiction.
2. Coalitions or federations of groups of the above type whether formally registered as such, or bound together by some Agreement reduced to writing and notarized.
3. Individuals unconnected to any of 1. or 2. above.

Categories of Membership

The Constitution of ECPAT provides in Article 4.1 as follows:
1. NATIONAL GROUPS
2. AFFILIATE GROUPS
3. HONORARY PATRON/ HONORARY PARTNER

Membership Criteria

1. Willing to work with other national organizations as priority in granting membership will be given to coalitions. If government organizations are part of the coalition the lead organization must be an NGO.
2. Demonstrable commitment to the Rights of the Child as expressed in several international conventions, and incorporated in the applicant' s own Constitution or Memorandum of Association.
3. A proven record of achievement in the field of CSEC.
4. A substantial number of the applicant's members directly involved in the work of combating CSEC (Note: in the case of federations or coalitions not less than three constituent units. In the case of an association or group [i.e. single organizations] not less than ten active members).
5. Compliance with the registration requirements within their national legal system as appropriate to the type of Group/Coalition or "Federation".
6. Operation of transparent financial practices.
7. Democratic decision making processes.
8. In respect of the above, applicants must provide documentation such as certified copies of Certificates of Registration or Incorporation, certified copies of or extracts of relevant Statutes or regulations governing such incorporation or registration duly attested by a practising Notary or Attorney.
9. The applicants shall also enjoy a reputation that is free of adverse reports or records of infringement or violation of local or international norms of conduct for organizations of this nature.
10. The addresses and contact details of TWO references from either NGOs or IGOs working in the country.
11. Provision of an action plan for proposed activities as an ECPAT group.
12. Willing to provide information to the ECPAT movement (via the Secretariat) at least on an annual basis, on the ECPAT groups' own activities and of developments at national level on the issue of CSEC.

Classification of Applicant

Where a National Group already exists and is in good standing in the applicant's country as well as within the ECPAT community, the application received from that country may result (if there is substantial compliance with the above criteria), in the applicant being designated an Affiliate Group member.If there is no National Group and the applicant complies with the criteria outlined above, the applicant may be granted Affiliate Group status for the first two years. After the first two years the Credentials Committee will make an evaluation based on information received from the Affiliate Group given to the ECPAT Secretariat and recommend to the Board on whether the Affiliate Group should be upgraded to a National Group.


Documentation

1. Application in duplicate (in the prescribed Form - Schedule 1) attested by a practicing Notary or Attorney at law, (or equivalent in the relevant jurisdiction).
2. Certified copies of applicant's Constitution, Statutes, Articles of Incorporation, Memorandum of Association, and the like (whichever is applicable).
3. Extracts of relevant legislation or administrative regulations governing incorporation or registration. If no such statutory regulation exists applicants must make a declaration of this effect by way of explanation.
4. Action plan for forthcoming year of activities of ECPAT group.
5. Copy of latest Report and Balance Sheet (duly audited), or similar statement of financial condition.
6. The addresses and contact details of TWO references from either NGOs or IGOs working in the country.


Procedural sequence

1. All applications received by the Secretariat shall be entered into a register and duly acknowledged within one week of receipt. If inadequate in any respect such shortcomings should be advised at the same time, thus allowing the applicant an opportunity to comply.
2. When applications are substantially in conformity with the documentation requirements and properly completed they shall be put up to the Credentials Committee for consideration.
3. The Credentials Committee shall in turn examine the application and make a determination at least one month before the next ECPAT Board Meeting.
4. During this period the Committee shall institute all necessary enquiries with the assistance of the Secretariat, Executive Committee members etc. as appropriate and make their recommendations in terms of Article 6.16 of the Constitution.
5. In the event of the Committee finding that the application is significantly short of the minimum requirements and that such inadequacies are not so much in documentation as in the character and composition of the applicants organization and work record then it shall be entitled to reject the application with suitable (brief) reasons for so doing. The unsuccessful applicant should be advised accordingly and their supporting papers returned.
6. Should the application be successful the Credentials Committee shall advise its recommendation by means of a brief Memorandum to the Executive Committee. Unless the latter sees any serious objection to endorsing the Credentials Committee's recommendation the application should be formally approved.
7. Upon admission to membership the successful application should be sent a letter in the annexed form (see Schedule 3) together with the Form of Declaration and Pledge (Schedule 4) for completion by the successful applicant and return.
8. In the event of rejection a process similar to that at stage 5 above should be followed.
9. If the candidate has been accepted in principle but some of the necessary documentation is incomplete, the candidate has 6 months to submit the appropriate materials to the International Secretariat or will automatically need to re-apply for membership.

Application form can be downloaded here : English | French | Spanish