[AFRINIC-Announce] NomCom 2016 call for volunteers

[Alan Barrett]

Dear AFRINIC community,

The AFRINIC Board hereby calls for volunteers from the community to fill the three open positions on the 2016 NomCom.

If you are interested in serving on the 2016 NomCom, please send your expression of interest, including a short biography, by email to legal<at>afrinic.net by Friday 19 February 2016 at 20:00 UTC.

The duties of the NomCom, and the elections to be held, are described below.


ELECTIONS TO BE HELD

* AFRINIC Board of Directors:

Three Board seats are up for election, to serve three-year terms from July 2016 to June 2018:
- Western Africa (currently held by Sunday Folayan);
- Northern Africa (currently held by Haitham el Nakhal);
- Non-geographical seat 1 (currently held by Aminata Garba).

* Policy Development Working Group:

One PDWG co-chair position is up for election, to serve a two-year term from June 2016 to June 2018.  The seat is currently held by Sami Salih.

* Governance Committee:

The AFRINIC Governance Committee will be constituted for the first time in 2016.  In terms of the draft terms of reference published at <http://www.afrinic.net/images/afrinicgovernancecommitteeproposal-2.pdf>, four members should be elected using a process similar to that for Board elections.  Some will serve one-year terms and some will serve two-year terms.

* NRO-NC/ASO-AC:

One member of the NRO NC/ASO AC needs to be elected during 2016, to serve a three-year term from January 2017 to December 2019.  The seat is currently held by Fiona Asonga.  In the past, AFRINIC has usually conducted NRO NC/ASO AC elections during the November/December meeting.  However, it is useful for the results to be known several months before the end of the year, so this year the NRO NC/ASO AC election will be held in June 2016.


NOMCOM COMPOSITION AND RESPONSIBILITIES

According to Section 9 of the AFRINIC by-laws, a Nominations Committee (NomCom) appointed by the Board must work to ensure that appropriate candidates are nominated to contest for open seats and that all elections are successfully conducted according to current procedures.

The bylaws say that NomCom must have four members, appointed by the Board.  The Board’s practice is to appoint the four members as follows;

- One member selected from within the AFRINIC Board;
- Three members selected by the AFRINIC Board from the community.

In terms of section 9.1 of the Bylaws:

- No candidate for election to the Board may be a member of the NomCom;
- No person domiciled in a region whose Board seat is open for renewal may be a member of the NomCom; this means that the 2016 NomCom may not not include people who reside in Northern Africa or Western Africa.

Responsibilities of the NomCom are defined in section 9 of the AFRINIC bylaws and include the following:

- Report to the Board and follow guidelines set by the Board;
- Call for candidates for all open positions;
- Prescribe criteria and qualifications for eligibility to stand for election;
- Interview candidates, if appropriate, prior to finalising the slate of candidates;
- Finalise the list of candodates for every election;
- Supervise the conduct of the polls by the Election Committee on election day.

The Board further expects NomCom members to:

- be neutral; to have no interest in the results of the elections;
- be trusted members of the AFRINIC community;
- have good knowledge of the AFRINIC business environment;
- do their best to fulfill their responsibilities.

NomCom members do not receive any remuneration.

AFRINIC staff will provide logistical support to the NomCom throughout their mandate. Such support includes publication of the list of nominees, compilation of comments, mailing list moderation, website update, communication with nominees and other duties pertaining to the roles and responsibilities of the NomCom.


HOW TO VOLUNTEER

If you are interested in serving on the 2016 NomCom, please send your expression of interest, including a short biography, by email to legal<at>afrinic.net by Friday 19 February 2016 at 20:00 UTC.


Alan Barrett, on behalf of the AFRINIC Board of Directors