The importance and role of the Nominating Committee.
Raad Shakir
By Raad Shakir CBE, FRCP
On behalf of the Nominations Committee
The World Federation of Neurology (WFN) is truly global with 125 member societies. The organization is run by seven elected trustees. Four of them are termed officers: the president, vice president, secretary general and treasurer, with three others termed elected trustees. It is crucial to point out that the WFN is run by all the trustees with equal voting rights. In case of a tie, the president casts the deciding vote.
The WFN operations depend on the quality and fair representation of the seven trustees. When deemed appropriate, two additional non– elected trustees can be co-opted for one year at a time. The composition of the trustees in turn depends on the good judgment, sense of fairness, and equity of member societies to pursue and elect trustees who will represent this global organization to further its goals and to clearly reflect geographic and gender diversity.
The WFN is a United Kingdom registered charity and is therefore exempt from U.K. taxes including income tax and value-added tax. The WFN is also a U.K. registered company limited by guarantee and does not have a share capital. It is therefore governed by the U.K. Charities Commission and the U.K. Companies Acts of 1985 and 1989 through its Articles of Association (Constitution). Changes to the articles must accord with Charities Commission and U.K. Companies Acts.
The Nominating Committee (NC) fulfills a vital role in the trustees’ election process. The NC procedures are contained in the WFN Articles of Association. Also, the WFN charge of the Nominating Committee states that the following factors are considered by the NC in assessing each nominee’s candidature:
- national and international professional stature
- contributions to the WFN in the past
- commitment to the future growth and development of the WFN.
In evaluating nominations, consideration is also given to geography and gender.
If any of these considerations are lacking in the list of those proposed by the delegates, the NC may supplement them by identifying appropriate candidates from the WFN database.
Candidates who miss the application deadline (as per Clause 6.3 of the Articles of Association) can still be proposed by five authorized delegates to be considered by the NC up to 30 days prior to the start of electronic voting. These late applicants must be supported by their member society and shall be subject to the same scrutiny as other applicants. This route is for those who for unavoidable circumstances have missed the application deadline.
The current composition of the elected trustees is unbalanced to say the least. Of the seven men, three are from North America, three from Asia, and one is from Europe. Those ending their terms in 2025 are President Wolfgang Grisold (Europe), Vice President Guy Rouleau (North America), and one trustee, Dr. Chandrashekhar Meshram (Asia Oceania). Dr. Meshram will be finishing his first term and is eligible to stand for a second term.
The WFN aims to elect trustees on merit, trusting that member societies will take into full account geography and gender balance. To do otherwise risks trustees serving select constituencies with potential conflict rather than the benefit of the organization overall.
The election in 2025 will be vital to the future of the WFN. Member societies will need to consider all of the important and vital points made and make sure that we fulfill our goal of fostering quality neurology and brain health worldwide.
The Nominating Committee therefore urges all member societies to consider nominating appropriate candidates and actively participating in the election.
We await to receive your nominations before the deadline which will be announced soon on the WFN website. •
Prof. Raad Shakir is chair of the WFN Nominations Committee and a past president of the WFN.
