Charter of IDCDC

• الإصدار

  1.2.0

• معتمد

  2026-11-13, by the founding steward, under Part XIII, on the owner's written instruction of 13 November 2026; to be ratified by the first members' meeting.

• Replaces

  Charter v1.0.0.1

• Parts

  Preamble · Part I. Name, nature and mission · Part II. Purposes · Part III. Principles · Part IV. Membership · Part V. Organs · Part VI. Chapters and Colleges · Part VII. Integrity and conflicts · Part VIII. Protected participation and safety · Part IX. Resources · Part X. Contested subjects and language · Part XI. Complaints, disputes and appeals · Part XII. Legal form and law · Part XIII. Amendment and transition

We, the members of the Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council, affirm the equal dignity and rights of every person, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights sets them out.

We recall the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

We recognise that the Iranian diaspora is plural in language, ethnicity, faith and generation, and lives in many countries.

We recognise that diaspora communities and the countries that host them share one interest: people who are safe, skilled, informed and able to take part in public life.

We commit to cooperation that is independent, non-partisan, peaceful and evidence-based, and open to everyone who accepts this Charter. We adopt this Charter.

1.1 Name. The organization is the Iranian Diaspora Cooperation & Development Council (IDCDC), "the Council".

1.2 Nature. The Council is a federation of Chapters (host-country and sub-national community cells) and communities of practice, which this Charter calls Colleges. One method holds it together: integrity-first governance, protected participation and peer review.

1.3 Mission. The Council is a research and development network. It works for the wellbeing, resilience and legacy of the Iranian diaspora, and for the communities it lives in.

1.4 Whom it serves. The Council serves Iranian diaspora communities worldwide: every language, ethnicity, faith and generation, by self-identification. This Charter sets no condition of origin. Admission rests on accepting its commitments.

1.5 What the Council is not. The Council is not a university, a school or a degree-granting body. It does not act for or on behalf of any government, state body, political party, corporation or religious authority. It claims no recognition, partnership or endorsement that its organs have not recorded.

1.6 Diaspora scope. The Council works outside Iran. Its public pages are readable everywhere. No account, sign-in or payment is offered to anyone in Iran.

1.7 Neutrality. The Council takes no position on the status, borders, names or government of any state or territory, and takes no side between parties, factions or armed actors.

The Council pursues these purposes, by lawful and peaceful means only:

1. Knowledge. To research, record and share evidence about Iranian diaspora communities, their languages, heritage and conditions, with sources, labels and corrections in public.
2. Learning and peer review. To support learning, mentoring and peer review among members, and to keep standards of competence and integrity through credentials.
3. Wellbeing and resilience. To help people find public services, health and social support, preparedness information and peer support where they live.
4. Legacy. To preserve the languages, heritage, memory and cultural practice of the diaspora's communities for future generations, with consent and respect for every community.
5. Civic participation. To help people understand their rights and duties and take part in public life where they live, under the law of that place, without partisanship.
6. Cooperation with host societies. To offer host countries, cities and institutions research, language and cultural knowledge, professional expertise, newcomer orientation, intercultural dialogue and community partnerships that serve all residents.
7. Opportunity. To share verified opportunities for work, study, enterprise and volunteering, and to connect skills with need.

3.1 Do no harm. A feature that could identify a member to a hostile state, or pressure their family, is used only after a documented threat review.

3.2 Strict non-partisanship. The Council informs and educates about public life. It never endorses parties, candidates, factions or armed actors.

3.3 Dignity. Every member acts with dignity and does no harm.

3.4 Evidence first. Sources, dates and labels on every claim. Contested subjects show every side with sources. Corrections are made in public.

3.5 Equality. No person is excluded or treated less favourably for sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, language, ethnicity, faith or belief, citizenship or political opinion.

3.6 Communities lead. Priorities and programmes come from the Council's organs and its members.

3.7 Minimum data. The Council keeps only the data a function needs. Sensitive attributes are optional and never public.

3.8 Safeguarding. Children and adults at risk are protected under the Council's Safeguarding Policy.

3.9 Local law first. The Council and each of its units act within the law of every place where they operate.

4.1 Admission. The Credentials & Participation Office (CPO) administers admission.

4.2 Classes.

1. Individual Members: anyone who accepts this Charter: the diaspora across generations, newcomers, students and people in transit. They take part in Chapters and Colleges, propose work, and stand for service roles after screening.
2. Fellows: members credentialed for competence in their field and for integrity. They lead peer review, author standards and mentor, while the credential is current.
3. Institutional Members: lawful organizations that align with this Charter, such as associations, schools and professional bodies. They take part through named representatives, under conflict disclosure.
4. Affiliates: people or organizations working with the Council on a limited scope. They have no governance rights.
5. Observers: participants for a set time and purpose. They have no governance rights.

4.3 Commitments. Every member commits:

• I am independent and non-partisan in everything I do here.
• I disclose conflicts of interest and step aside when they apply.
• I protect other people's safety and never expose them.
• I do not use the Council for money, markets or investment.
• I never claim to speak for the Council without authority.
• I act with dignity and do no harm.

4.4 Rights. A member may take part in the work of Chapters and Colleges; read public material, and controlled material their role allows; propose work items and improvements to standards; be considered for service roles, after screening; and say they are a member, without implying endorsement.

4.5 Duties. A member keeps their disclosures truthful; follows recusals and role limits; never doxes or exposes another person; respects records and publication rules; never pressures or manipulates others for a faction; and never uses the Council for personal, partisan or commercial ends.

4.6 Credentials. The credentials are Fellowship, Reviewer Certification, Handling Clearance and Readiness Assessor Qualification. Each states what it means, its scope, how long it lasts, how it is renewed and when it is withdrawn.

4.7 Fees. The Governing Board may set membership fees. Waivers and reductions keep membership open to everyone. Membership is free until the Governing Board decides otherwise.

4.8 Pseudonymous participation. Where safety requires it, a member may take part under a pseudonym or by role. The Council keeps only the data that accountability requires, and protects it.

5.1 Members' meeting. The members' meeting is the supreme organ of the Council.

1. It elects the Governing Board and the Integrity Committee, adopts and amends this Charter, receives the annual report and the financial statements, and appoints the auditor or reviewer.
2. It meets at least once a year, in person, online or both.
3. One tenth of the voting members, present or by proxy, is a quorum.
4. Ordinary decisions are taken by a majority of votes cast. Amendments to this Charter, and the dissolution of the Council, need two thirds of votes cast.
5. Individual Members, Fellows and Institutional Members vote; an Institutional Member votes through its named representative.

5.2 Governing Board. The Governing Board directs the Council between members' meetings.

1. It adopts the Work Program, sets membership fees, recognises Chapters and Colleges, appoints the officers, keeps the Council's policies and reports to the members.
2. It has nine members, elected by the members' meeting for three years. No one serves more than two consecutive terms.
3. Neither sex holds more than five seats. At least one member is under 35 when elected.
4. A Board member may not hold office in a party or faction, or any role with an armed actor.

5.3 Credentials & Participation Office (CPO). The CPO administers admission and grants, renews and withdraws credentials under rules the Governing Board adopts.

5.4 Integrity Committee. The Integrity Committee hears matters of conflict, neutrality, safeguarding and conduct. It has five members, elected by the members' meeting; three of them are independent of the Governing Board and the officers. It reports to the members' meeting once a year.

5.5 Officers. The Governing Board appoints a Secretary-General, who runs day-to-day operations, and the other officers the work needs.

6.1 Chapters and Colleges. Chapters are host-country and sub-national community cells. Colleges are communities of practice. Each signs the Council's Chartering Agreement.

6.2 Recognition states. A unit is Provisional, Recognized, Conditional or De-recognized. Until it is recognised, it is shown as forming.

6.3 What every Chapter holds. Every Chapter holds a Chapter Council (local steering); a Treasurer with basic internal controls; an Integrity Liaison; a Handling and Safety Officer; and a Secretary and Records Officer.

6.4 No agency. A unit is not the Council's agent and cannot bind the Council, unless the Governing Board authorises it in writing.

7.1 Members disclose conflicts and step aside when they apply, under the Council's Conflicts of Interest Policy.

7.2 No organ, Chapter or College may endorse, fund or host a party, candidate, faction or armed actor.

7.3 The Council engages in public policy dialogue only where it furthers its purposes, in a non-partisan way, as Canadian charity law allows.

7.4 The Council does not deal with any person or entity listed under Canada's Criminal Code, the Special Economic Measures Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act or the regulations under the United Nations Act.

8.1 No list of members, supporters, signatories or attendees is published or shown to other members. Counts under five are not shown.

8.2 A request for information about a member from any government is reviewed by counsel. A request from a state of origin is refused unless Canadian law compels disclosure. The member is told unless the law forbids it. Every request is counted in the yearly transparency report.

9.1 Sponsorship only. The Council accepts no donations in any form. It takes no money, gifts, goods or recurring giving from anyone as a donation. Sponsorship is the only form of support.

9.2 Independence. A sponsor has no say in editorial content, courses, membership or decisions. The Council accepts no support from a government of a state of origin, a party, a faction or an armed actor.

9.3 Transparency. The Council publishes its financial statements once a year, reviewed or audited as the law requires.

10.1 Contested subjects show every side with sources. Claims are attributed. Fact is kept apart from interpretation.

10.2 Communities' self-names are used, with alternatives recorded. Place names follow the official name of the state concerned, with other names given alongside and attributed. No name, map or label implies a position on status or borders.

10.3 Words that assign blame, motive or legal status are used only when quoting a named source, court or United Nations body, and are attributed.

10.4 No hate speech against any people, ethnicity or faith.

11.1 A complaint goes first to the Chapter or College concerned, then to the Integrity Committee, which decides in writing, with reasons, within 60 days.

11.2 Decisions of the CPO on admission or credentials, and of the Integrity Committee, may be appealed once, within 30 days, to a panel of three persons not involved in the matter.

11.3 Disputes about this Charter go to mediation before any other step.

11.4 Nothing in this Charter limits a right a person has under law.

12.1 Corporation. The Council is constituted as a not-for-profit corporation under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Until its articles are issued, the Council is an organization in formation and the founding steward acts for it. Once incorporated, its corporation number, registered office and directors are those on record with Corporations Canada, and the Council publishes them in its yearly transparency report.

12.2 Charitable registration. The Council seeks and keeps registration as a charity under the Income Tax Act for its purposes of advancing education and of helping newcomers settle and integrate. While it is registered, it devotes its resources to charitable purposes and takes no part in partisan political activity.

12.3 Mapping to the corporation. The members of the Governing Board are the directors of the corporation. The voting members under Part V are its members. This Charter is the corporation's governing policy, and its by-laws follow it. Where the Act requires otherwise, the Act prevails.

12.4 Activities outside Canada. Where an activity in another country needs a local legal person, the Council acts through a separately incorporated affiliate bound by this Charter.

12.5 Governing law. This Charter is governed by the laws of Canada and of the province in which the Council's registered office is located.

12.6 Privacy and sanctions. Personal information is handled under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Quebec's private-sector privacy law and, where they apply, the GDPR and the UK GDPR. No account, sign-in or payment is offered to anyone in Iran or another sanctioned territory. Public pages stay readable everywhere.

13.1 Amendment. The members' meeting amends this Charter by two thirds of votes cast, on notice of at least 30 days, on a proposal of the Governing Board or of one twentieth of the voting members. Earlier versions stay public.

13.2 Founding steward. Until the Governing Board is constituted, the founding steward acts for the Council, adopts this Charter, and records every decision in the Council's public decisions register. The steward may not amend this Charter.

13.3 First members' meeting. The first members' meeting is held within eighteen months of adoption. It ratifies this Charter and elects the first Governing Board and the first Integrity Committee.

13.4 Earlier text. This Charter replaces Charter v1.0.0.1 and the membership tiers published in 2022.