Inviting VNGOC members to nominate candidates for the upcoming board elections.
Deadline for nominations is 12th February 2025
The term of the current Board of the VNGOC will expire in March 2025 and the invitation to nominate candidates to serve as Board members is now open. Please read the below official call for nominations by the Election Committee before submitting your nomination.
Only nominations submitted through the electronic Nominations Form will be considered.
Call for Nominations
Dear Members of the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC),
We are writing to invite nominations for the Board positions of Chairperson, Deputy Treasurer, and Deputy Secretary.
Who can apply?
The call is for individuals with a thematic expertise in the areas of Prevention, Harm Reduction, Treatment, Recovery, Social-Reintegration, Policy Reform, and Access to Controlled Medicines. Individuals may only be nominated for a maximum of two positions. Please see the Terms of Reference for information on specific Board positions. Board members are expected to travel to Vienna at least once a year to attend Board meetings, at the expense of their own organization. Please note that Board members will not receive financial compensation for their work and contributions to the VNGOC.
As directed by the membership, the VNGOC Nomination Committee supports the election process, aiming to achieve a balanced board. The Committee’s role is to review the current make-up of the board and the existing and upcoming gaps. Based on its reflections, we especially encourage candidates who meet one or more of the following criteria to apply:
- Regional representation from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and the Americas
- Representation from all genders
- Individuals who have current or previous lived experience of drug use, or someone otherwise directly impacted by drug policies including young individuals
Members of the Board of the VNGOC are elected to serve for a period of two years. Only individuals from VNGOC Member Organisations in good standing (i.e. paid the 2024 and 2025 membership fees by 12th February 2025) may nominate candidates and be eligible to vote.
What is the nominating process?
The Nomination Committee, consisting of a diverse set of members, will consider and review all applications. During this process, the Committee will draft a Slate, recommending candidates based on the provided criteria. The Slate is intended to ensure balanced representation on the Board, reflecting the diversity of members’ experiences, perspectives, and expertise, and to minimise concerns or perception of polarisation or politicisation. Individual votes could be considered in the broader context of creating a balanced Board, rather than as endorsements of specific candidates’ policy positions.
The Slate will be shared with the VNGOC Members two weeks prior to the Annual Meeting. The Slate does not serve as an obligatory guideline, but rather as a recommendation. The Committee would like to stress that all VNGOC Members remain free to vote on any eligible candidate they feel would serve best.
To understand the existing and upcoming gaps in the VNGOC Board, we invite you to visit the website introducing our current board members.
The Nominations Committee reminds members that the role of the Board is to guide the Committee’s work as a vital link between civil society and UN agencies, promoting contacts and collaboration with the relevant international agencies (e.g. nominating speakers) and is expected to represent the broad range of views present in the membership.
Nominating procedure
The electronic Nomination Form should be completed by no later than 12th February 2025, 11.45 p.m. CET. If the nominated candidate is not the Chairperson, President, Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director or equivalent of their organization, they should have the approval of the aforementioned individual. Nominations must be seconded by another member organization that is in good standing. According to the VNGOC Rules of Procedure, Nomination Forms will only be accepted in English and those that are partially or incorrectly completed will be rejected by the Nominations Committee.
We look forward to receiving nominations and thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs Election Committee
- Alexander Caudarella (CCSA)
- Atika Juristia (The J Healthcare Initiative)
- Cressida de Witte (WFAD)
- Eliane Marcondes (Associação Pró Coalizões Comunitárias Antidrogas do Brasil)
- Hugo Faria (Ares Do Phinal)
- Mutaawe Rogers (Uganda Youth Development Link)
- Nate Landau (Virginians Against Drug Violence)
- Paulo Thiessen (ACURA)
- Rima Saade (Nusroto)
- Stephanie Strutner (Prevention Alliance of Tennessee)
- Steve Rolles (Transform)
| Box: The concept of ‘balance’ in the context of the VNGOC Board The VNGOC membership comprises a wide range of different perspectives, views and experiences related to the world drug situation, as well as organisations from all around the world – which remains the greatest strength of the Committee as a whole. It is therefore essential that members feel adequately represented within the VNGOC Board itself, and that the elected officials are from different genders, ages, regions, and backgrounds. However, the Board elections are a democratic process and reliant on the applications that are received. Furthermore, with just six Board positions available, it is simply not possible to guarantee complete representation, especially from every region of the world. With these challenges in mind, the concept of ‘balance’ within the Board needs to be implemented in a flexible way. Therefore, the following aspirations should be considered by the Nominations Committee regarding both overall composition of the Board: – The six Board members should represent at least four different world regions – Of the six Board members, at least two should identify as men, and at least two should identify as women – The six Board members should represent at least four of the following thematic areas: prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery and social reintegration, drug policy reform, and access to medicines – Of the six Board members, at least one should be a person with current or previous lived experience of drug use, or someone otherwise directly impacted by drug policies. |
