Denomination, Headquarters and Official Language

Article 1
This Organization shall be named the World Buddhist Sangha Youth (hereinafter known as "WBSY").

Article 2
The Secretariat of the WBSY Headquarters shall be situated in any country which is approved by the Executive Board at its founding. For this purpose, the Secretariat shall be located in Gangathilaka Royal Temple, Megoda Kalugamuwa, Peradeniya, Kandy, Sri Lanka, R.O.C. Subsequently, the Secretariat of the WBSY Headquarters shall be situated where approved by under a resolution of the General Conference. Liaison offices, whenever and wherever necessary, may be established in any country.
Article 3
The official language used for the Organization shall be English Language for all purposes. WBSY’s Secretariat may also use the national language of the country where it resides.

Registration : Registed by Buddist Department of sri lanka.

Objectives and Powers

Article 4
: The objectives of WBSY are :

To develop Buddhist youth organizations and exchanges of Buddhist Sangha youth worldwide; To assist Buddhist Sangha youth to carry out Dhammaduta youth activities throughout the world;
To enhance harmony and relationship among the Sangha youth of different Buddhist traditions;
To protect the Buddhist Sangha youth of the world from all forms of obstacles they might have to face;
To develop the Buddhist Sangha youth through education and welfare;
To develop 'Buddhayana' in the world without discriminating between Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana or other denominations/traditions and to encourage unity in the world Buddhist Sangha youth;
To protect and develop the identifying features of each Buddhist monastic denomination/tradition; and
To bring the world's Buddhist Sangha youth members together annually to discuss support for the underdeveloped countries, to determine the matters of priority and to take action to support those countries.

Article 5
To achieve the objectives in Article 4, WBSY has the power to :

(a) To deepen the relationship between monastic youth individuals and the Buddhist youth groups from the different countries;
(b) To publicize useful news concerning international monastic Sangha youth and youth of Buddhist non-profit organizations amongst our members;
(c) To promote the World Buddhist Sangha Youth to the World Buddhist Sangha members, Buddhist priests and non-profit organizations; and
(d) To do all things necessary, incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above objectives.

Membership

Article 8
1. The Organization Membership of WBSY is open to the following eligible Buddhist organizations in the world which accepts the rules and regulations of this Constitution while appointing their permanent representative officially in writing :-

(i) A Buddhist youth organization or monastery headed by Sangha youth of all denominations/traditions; and
(ii) Buddhist non-profit organizations of all denominations/traditions.

2. The Individual Membership of WBSY is open to the following eligible natural persons of the world of all Buddhist denominations/traditions who accepts the rules and regulations of this Constitution :-
(i) Buddhist Sangha youth of the world made up of Bhikkhus, Bhikkunis, Samaneras and Samaneris wishing to participate on the international level; and
(ii) Other Buddhist individuals who are recognised by the officers of WBSY.

3. The basic unit of the WBSY shall be the Organization Member formed by Individual Members.

Article 9
1. Each Membership Applicant shall apply by submitting the required application form to the Secretariat of the Executive Board of WBSY. For Organization Membership Applicants, the application form must come together with the name of its permanent representative officially in writing). Membership, at all times, shall be subject to the approval of the Executive Board.

2. However, the Executive Board of WBSY, in their absolute discretion, may also give out Honorary Membership to suitable Buddhist laypersons of the countries of the world, upon which, must accept the rules and regulations of this Constitution.

Article 10
There is no membership fees charged . However, organizational members are encouraged to donate funds in support of the activities of the WBSY.

Article 11 :
A Certificate of Membership or Member Identification Card will be issued and distributed exclusively by the Secretariat of WBSY Headquarters. A Register of Members shall be kept showing in respect of each Member, the name, address and contact number.

Article 12
Any Member ceases to be a member of WBSY if the following occurs :-

(i) The Organization Member is dissolved at its country of origin and in the case of an Individual Member, he or she has become deceased;
(ii) The Organization Member or Individual Member resigns from WBSY using the requisite form, subject to approval of the Executive Board
(iii) The Organization Member or Individual Member does not attend the General Conference and other meetings for three (3) times without valid reasons; or
(iv) The Organization Member or Individual Member is duly discharged or expelled by the Executive Board.

Organization

Article 13
The Executive Board of WBSY shall consist of reknowned individual Sangha members of various countries of the world. At all times, the Executive Board of WBSY shall define the policies of WBSY and shall ultimately have full administrative authority in all matters of WBSY.

Article 14
(a) WBSY shall comprise of :-

Three (3) Presidents (each representing the three main Buddhist denominations/traditions), whose duty is to represent and promote and oversee WBSY in the respective areas of Administration & Information, Social Welfare & Cultural and Propagation, shall be initially appointed by the Executive Board. Upon agreement of the Executive Board, subsequent elections of President(s) shall be during a General Conference;

Three (3) Vice-Presidents (each representing the three main Buddhist denominations/traditions), who shall be responsible for the smooth functioning of WBSY matters, shall also be appointed by the Executive Board initially. Upon agreement of the Executive Board, subsequent elections of Vice-President(s) shall be during a General Conference with the nomination of the respective President;

Three (3) Secretary Generals (each representing the three main Buddhist denominations/traditions), who shall be responsible for handling administrative and day-to-day affairs relating to the Secretariat, keeping minutes of the meetings of WBSY and to keep proper membership record and applications of the WBSY Headquarters, shall also be initially appointed by the Executive Board. Upon agreement of the Executive Board, subsequent elections of Secretary General(s) shall be during a General Conference with the nomination of the respective President;

Three (3) Assistant Secretary Generals (each representing the three main Buddhist denominations/traditions), who shall be responsible to assist the Secretary General to handle the secretarial work of the Secretariat of the WBSY Headquarters, shall also be initially appointed by the Executive Board. Upon agreement of the Executive Board, subsequent elections of Assistant Secretary General(s) shall be appointed by the respective President with the nomination of the respective Secretary General;

Two (2) Treasurers, shall initially be appointed by the Executive Board to be responsible for the accounting and treasury operation, annual budget and fund-raising activities for the Secretariat at WBSY Headquarters. Upon agreement of the Executive Board, subsequent elections of Treasurer(s)shall be during a General Conference with a nomination by the Presidents; and
Any advisors, appointed under the discretion of the Executive Board of WBSY.
(b) The three main Buddhist denominations/traditions represented in WBSY are namely, the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions.

Article 15
1.WBSY shall also comprise of four (4) Executive Committees, namely :

(a) Dhamma Propagation and Publication Committee;
(b) Administration Committee;
(c) Social Welfare and Education Committee; and
(d) Finance Committee.

2. Each Committee shall have a Director who is to be appointed by the President with the consent of the Executive Board, if any, and is to be in charge of convening committee meetings and executing related work of the Committee.
3. Each Committee shall have several Members jointly appointed by the President and its Director with the consent of the Executive Board, if any.
4. All WBSY Committees shall meet at least once a year and 30 days' notice of each meeting shall be given to its members. Any of the Chairpersons, acting alone, or not less than five (5) of its members, acting together, may call for a meeting to be held at any time. At least one half (1/2) of the Members of the Committee must be present for its proceedings to constitute a quorum and to validate the decisions made therein.

5. No proxies of the Members are allowed to vote in the Committee meeting, unless approved by the Executive Board and provided always, at least 50% of the Members must be present in a properly convened meeting. Such proxies, if approved, shall not vote on matters related to policy and constitution amendments. Honorary Members are only allowed to observe the proceedings.

Article 16
1. Subject to the approval of the Executive Board, each office bearer shall be elected for three (3) years at a General Conference and shall subject to these Rules, hold office until the conclusion of the subsequent General Conference three years for the date of the election of the office bearer. Officers must be nominated and seconded by Members and will be considered in a meeting of the Executive Board specially held for that purpose. The first set of office bearers will be nominated by the Executive Board. Office bearers are eligible for re-election.
2. In the event of an office bearer wishing to resign from office, he or she should remain in office until a replacement can be found.

Article 17
No Board member and WBSY officer shall receive any remuneration for service on the Board of WBSY.

Article 18
The Executive Board of WBSY, may in its discretion, appoint its former President to be the Life-Long Honorary President in recognition of his or her contribution.

Conference and Meeting

Article 19
1. WBSY shall hold a General Conference once every year for its Members and will be hosted by a sponsoring Member's country and the Executive Board shall meet twice every year respectively. All members must be informed in writing, at least one (1) month in advance on the details of the meeting.

An Extraordinary General Conference, when necessary in cases of urgency, may be called subject to the resolution of the Executive Board.

2. The Annual General Conference must have the attendance of the Executive Board and at least one third (1/3) of the Members to validate the proceedings and to constitute a quorum. Honorary Members and Proxies of the Members are allowed to observe the proceedings of the meeting but are not allowed to vote.

3. The Minutes of the Annual General Conference should include the Annual Report, the Financial Statement, election of any new members of the Committees due for election, any resolutions for projects or support in the forthcoming year and any changes to the constitution.

4. A President shall preside as the Chairperson at every general conference of WBSY, but if he or she is not present within fifteen (15) minutes after the appointed time for the commencement of the meeting, or is unwilling to act, then the Members present shall elect one of their number to be the Chairperson of that meeting, with a simple majority sufficing. No item of business shall be transacted unless the quorum of members is present during the time of the meeting is considering that item.

5. Five (5) Members present in person (being members entitled under this Constitution to vote) shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business of the Annual General Conference.

6. Each Member present and voting at the Annual General Conference shall have only one vote. At the meeting, a resolution put to the vote of a meeting shall be decided on a show of hands. In the case of an equality of votes, the Chairperson of the meeting shall be entitled to a second or casting vote

Article 20
The Executive Committees shall hold a meeting once every year with the Presidents as the convener, and the Vice-Presidents and the directors and members of the Committees in attendance.

Article 21
The General Conference and Executive Committee Meeting may, in their discretion invite the Honorary President(s) to attend.

Finances and Financial Year

Article 22
(i) The funds of WBSY shall be derived from fees, contributions and donations subject to any resolution passed by WBSY at its Executive Board and Committee Meetings, and such other sources as WBSY determines.

(ii)All monies received by WBSY shall be deposited intact at the earliest possible date to the credit of the Bank Account of WBSY under the supervision of the Finance Committee. Receipts for monies received shall be issued promptly.

(iii)All payments in the excess of United States Dollars Twenty (USD$20) made by WBSY shall be paid in cheque by any two authorised signatories approved by the Finance Committee with the consent of the Executive Board.

Article 23
All accounts shall be presented to and passed for payment at the Finance Committee Meetings and full details of all such approvals shall be dutifully entered in WBSY's records

Article 24
The income and property of WBSY shall be applied solely towards the promotion of its objectives. No portion of the income or property shall be paid, transferred or distributed directly or indirectly to the Members of WBSY except as reasonable compensation as may be valid for services rendered to or for WBSY affecting one or more of its purposes.

Article 25
The financial year of WBSY shall conclude on 31 December of every year.

mplementation and Amendment

Article 26
All the activities of WBSY shall accord to the rules and regulations of this Constitution in order to achieve its aims and objectives.

Article 27
This Constitution and its amendments shall come into effect only after the approval of more than half the attendance of a General Conference.



Chapter IX

Dissolution

Article 28 (i) WBSY cannot dissolve itself unless three-fourths (3/4) of all its existing Members vote to do so.

(ii)If upon the dissolution of WBSY, if there remains after the satisfaction of its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever shall not be paid to or distributed among the Members of WBSY, but shall, subject to any trust affecting the property or part of it, vest in another like-minded non-profit Buddhist organization. Such distribution shall be determined by the Executive Board and approved by a majority vote of Members.

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