The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) General Assembly approved a new constitution on Saturday (11 December) that ensures the governance structures of the Paralympic Movement’s global governing body are up-to-date, world leading and robust enough to thrive in the ever-changing sporting landscape.
The approval of the new Constitution
with 123 yes votes (96 per cent) from 128 valid votes at the 20th IPC General
Assembly - which is being held online - follows an extensive stakeholder
consultation and review of the IPC governance structures, which was announced
in April 2018.
Andrew Parsons, IPC President, said:
“I would like to thank the whole IPC membership for contributing towards the
governance review and consultation process for nearly three years and approving
it by an overwhelming majority. This has been a real Movement-wide effort led
by our Vice President Duane Kale and the Governance Review Working Group.
“Updating the governance structures
and adopting a new Constitution will ensure the IPC remains a world leading
sports’ organisation and is well placed for the future. In the new Constitution
we redefine our purpose as an organisation, increase accountability and
transparency, and take measures to further ensure the IPC is a
membership-focussed organisation.”
Duane Kale, IPC Vice President and
Chair of the Governance Review Working Group, said: “Today’s approval of a new
IPC Constitution concludes an almost three-year-long process that will benefit
the IPC for many years to come.
“Throughout the process we have aimed
to engage, listen and learn from the feedback provided by our members. As a
membership-based organisation, it is vital that the views of our members are
well represented in how the IPC operates and is governed. To be
athlete-focussed we need greater athlete representation at all levels and the
new Constitution ensures this.”
Guiding principles
The new IPC Constitution focuses on
nine key principles:
Purpose: The IPC’s purpose will focus
on promoting inclusion in society through Para sport, specifically by:
1. Its leadership of the
Paralympic Movement
2. Its supervision of the
Paralympic Games
3. Its support of the NPCs, IFs,
IOSDs, Regional Organisations and athletes
It will cease acting as an
international federation for the 10 IPC Sports through a managed exit process.
Membership: Adjustments to the
categories of members and the criteria for them including for IPC Sports and
Recognised International Federations. The role and structure of Regional
Organisations is also clarified.
Wide engagement: The mechanisms for
engagement in decision-making will be improved to enable regular and wide
participation by all IPC members and others in the Paralympic Movement.
Greater athlete engagement: There
will be greater engagement with athletes in decision making at all levels of
the IPC.
Role clarity: The roles and
procedures of the President, the IPC Governing Board and the Chief Executive
are clarified to ensure effective and efficient decision-making and to set out
their leadership, governance and management obligations respectively.
Aligned committees: The number,
nature, composition and role of the various committees, and working groups will
be refined to align to the IPC’s strategic priorities.
Skilled and diverse people: The
people who sit on decision-making bodies within the IPC must have the necessary
skills and expertise for the tasks they are doing. They must also reflect the
diverse nature of the Paralympic Movement, which requires prioritising the
appointment of people with disabilities, people from all regions of the world
and gender balance.
Integrity standards: High standards
of integrity and behaviour will be required of its people and its members with
independent bodies in place to enforce those standards.
Transparency: Greater transparency of
decisions and the decision-making process with new IPC practices and procedures
to be implemented to ensure openness and accountability to the membership,
stakeholders and the wider Paralympic Movement.
Key changes
In line with the nine guiding
principles, key changes to the IPC Constitution include:
An aspiration for the 10 IPC Sports
to separate from the IPC by the end of 2026. To manage this process and ensure
the continued success of the sports, a new internal division called the World
Para Sport Unit will be established. It will be operationally independent of
the IPC with its own Board and staff.
With regards to the IPC membership,
Regional Organisations retain the right to attend and speak at General
Assemblies but have no right to nominate persons for the elected positions on
the Governing Board or to vote.
Additional obligations on NPCs will
be introduced to protect them from government interference (for example,
political interference, or interference with the operations of the NPC).
It is proposed that, as a condition
of membership, all members must have formalised mechanisms in their
decision-making structure to engage with, and have the perspective of, active
athletes.
A Nominations Panel will be
established to assess nominations and applications for members for several IPC
bodies: World Para Sport Unit Board, Committees, Athletes’ Council,
Disciplinary Tribunal, Appeals Tribunal, Board of Appeal of Classification,
Elections Oversight Panel, Anti-Doping Tribunal. This panel will consist of
five people – two independent persons appointed by the IPC Governing Board, the
IPC President, the IPC Athletes’ Council Chairperson and one other Athletes’
Council member chosen by their fellow Council members.
The IPC Honorary Board will be
disbanded
Proposed changes to the composition,
appointment process and terms of office of the IPC Governing Board were not put
forward as part of the new constitution due to Board elections which will take
place on Sunday (12 December). As it is not legally possible to amend the
constitution and elect Board members on the basis of the amended constitution
at the same General Assembly, these proposed changes will be put forward and
voted upon at the 2023 IPC General Assembly, ahead of elections in 2025. One
change that will be made ahead of this date however is the inclusion of the First
Vice-Chair of the IPC Athletes’ Council as a Board member alongside Athlete’s
Council Chairperson Jitske Visser. The First Vice-Chair will be elected by
their fellow IPC Athletes’ Council members post the Beijing 2022 Paralympic
Winter Games.
New members welcomed
Four new members were also approved
and welcomed by the IPC General Assembly on Saturday. The four new members are:
NPC Costa Rica, NPC Eritrea, NPC Eswatini and Americas Paralympic Committee.
In addition to welcoming new members,
the IPC General Assembly also agreed to terminate the membership of “Asociacion
Deportiva Comite Paralimpico Integral” of Costa Rica (formerly NPC Costa Rica),
Comité Paralympique et Sportif Djiboutien (NPC Djibouti), and the Sudanese
Paralympic Committee for Sport of the Disabled (NPC Sudan). Members also approved the continued
suspension of NPC Comoros and the Paralympic Association of Seychelles (NPC
Seychelles).
IPC Governing Board elections will
take place on Sunday 12 December, the second and final day of the 20th IPC
General Assembly.
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