1. The name of this Club shall be The International Women’s Club of Helsinki r.y. and its
domicile shall be the City of Helsinki. The languages of the Club shall be English and
Finnish.
2. The purpose of the Club is to promote contacts between Finnish women and women of
foreign nationalities residing in Finland as well as to enable them to acquaint each
other with their respective ways of life and cultures.
For these purposes, the Club shall arrange meetings with a programme and visits and
excursions to museums, exhibitions, businesses and various institutions. Moreover,
different hobby groups shall be formed.
The Club shall be non-political.
3. Membership shall be open to Finnish women and women of foreign nationality resident in
Finland, who are interested in internationalism and who are accepted as members by the
Executive Board of the Club.
The Executive Board shall make every effort to secure an active membership by maintaining
a balance in ages and interests amongst Finnish and foreign members.
The Executive Board will actively oversee balanced member participation (wide cross-
section of members activated through our events) in all Club organized activities,
activating and attracting member participation from all demographics.
4. The Executive Board shall nominate a Membership Committee (MC) to assist the Executive
Board in electing new members to the Club.
Applications shall be submitted to the MC who shall make appropriate recommendations to
the Executive Board.
The MC must be unanimous in accepting an application to be put forward to the Executive
Board for decision.
The Executive Board shall make the final decision on acceptance for membership by a
majority two-thirds secret vote.
The Membership Committee shall consist of three members who are:
- The Membership Secretary of the Club (Chairman)
- The foreign Vice-President of the Club
- A third member nominated by the Executive Board.
5. Announcement of the resignation of a member from the Club shall be made in writing to
the Executive Board or to the President, or orally at a Meeting of the Club, to be
recorded in the minutes. A member who resigns before the end of a calendar year shall,
however, be obligated to pay the full membership dues for that year.
The Executive Board of the Club can expel a member whose membership dues are more than
three months overdue, or whose conduct within or outside the Club is such as to be
harmful in respect to the purposes of the Club or damaging to its reputation.
A motion for the expulsion of a member shall require approval by two-thirds of the votes
cast.
6. The members of the Club shall pay the dues set by the Annual General Meeting. The
membership dues shall be paid within a period indicated by the Executive Board.
7. The Executive Board shall consist of a President, who is called the President of the
Club, and 6-12 other regular members plus 3-6 alternate members.
The President, the Board members and their alternates shall be elected at the Annual
General Meeting for one year at a time. A President can be re-elected consecutively only
for two years at a time.
The Executive Board shall elect from amongst its members two Vice Presidents for the Club
as well as appoint necessary officials either from amongst its members or outside.
The Executive Board shall be convened by the President, or in the President’s absence, by
the Vice President. The President, or the Vice President, and at least half of the
members of the Executive Board shall constitute a quorum of the Executive Board.
If a matter is put to a vote, the majority opinion shall prevail. In case of a tie, the
President shall have the casting vote, except in an election, which shall be decided by
the drawing of lots.
8. The Club’s decision-making authority shall be exercised by a Meeting of the Club. The
Annual General Meeting shall be held in May at a date and place decided by the Executive
Board.
An Extraordinary Meeting can be called by the Executive Board or by at least one-
twentieth of the membership requesting, in writing, that such a Meeting be called for the
consideration of a specific matter
9. Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be made to each member at least
fourteen days before the date of the meeting. The notice shall state the order of
business of the meeting.
10. At the Annual General Meeting of the Club,
1) - the meeting is called to order;
2) - the meeting elects its chairman and secretary;
3) - the scrutineers of the minutes of the AGM are selected;
4) - the annual report, the accounts of the year and the auditors’ report are presented;
5) - the closing of the accounts is confirmed and action is taken on the release of the
Executive Board from liability;
6) - the plan of activity for the following year is presented, the membership dues for
the following year are decided and the budget for the following year is confirmed;
7) - action is taken on the number of regular and alternate members of the Executive
Board;
8) - the President of the Club for the following one-year period is elected;
9) - other regular and alternate members of the Executive Board are elected;
10) - two auditors and two deputy auditors are elected;
11) - other matters mentioned in the notice are considered.
Questions that a member wishes to be considered at the Meeting shall be presented in
writing to the Executive Board six weeks prior to the Meeting.
11. The name of the Club shall be signed by the President or the Vice-Presidents, one of
them together with another regular member of the Executive Board.
12. The fiscal year of the Club is April 1 - March 31 and the business year is July 1 -
June 30. The accounts shall be submitted for auditing by April 15. The auditors shall
give their report to the Executive Board by the end of April.
13. Any amendment of these by-laws shall require approval by at least a two-thirds
majority of the votes cast at an Ordinary Meeting of the Club. Any proposed amendment to
the by-laws and the contents of the proposal shall be mentioned in the notice of the
Meeting.
14. A motion for the dissolution of the Club shall require the approval of a three-
fourths majority of the votes cast at two separate Meetings of the Club with an interval
between them of at least two months. In the event of the dissolution of the Club, its
assets shall be handed over to be used for promoting the purpose of the Club in a manner
decided at a Meeting during which the dissolution is agreed.