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World Para Athletics Athletes' Committee and Sport Committee - Election Process

 

SPORT COMMITTEE

The Sport Committee will consist of 7 total positions.

o   These will be 5 regional representatives, one from each of the five regions as designated by the IPC (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania).

o   It will also comprise the 1 Sport Committee Chairperson

o   It will also comprise the 1 Chairperson of the Athletes’ Committee. 

o   At least 40% of each gender must be represented.

The responsibilities of the Sport Committee are set out in the terms of reference.

ATHLETES' COMMITTEE

  • The Athletes’ Committee will consist of 5 total positions.

    • These will be 5 regional representatives from each of the five regions as designated by the IPC (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania).

    • At least 40% of each gender must be represented.

  • The Athletes’ Committee will elect a chairperson from among the 5 regional representatives who will serve as a member of the Sport Committee.

  • The definition of ‘active’ athletes and the responsibilities of the Athletes’ Committee are set out in the terms of reference.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Sport Committee 

Athletes’ Committee 

 

GUIDELINES

Each National Paralympic Committee (NPC) are requested to:  

  1. Designate one person to vote on behalf of the NPC for their region’s Sport Committee candidates and worldwide Sport Committee Chairperson candidates.  
  2. Collect and submit to WPA a list of all ‘active athletes’ for the purposes of voting for Athletes’ Committee candidates. The NPC must ensure that all ‘active athletes’ are able to express interest for nomination, are aware of the voting process and that their email address will be used by WPA to send a link for voting from 17-31 May 2024. The following information about ‘active athletes’ is required in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet submitted via email to info@worldparaathletics.org:  

    SDMS number

    Family Name

    Given Name(s)

    Gender

    NPC

    Email address
    		         

     
  3. Submit one male and one female to stand for election as the regional candidates for Sport Committee via a survey link.  A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is requested with this submission.
  4. Submit one candidate for Sport Committee Chairperson via a survey link. A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is requested with this submission.
  5. Submit one male and one female to stand for election as the regional candidates for the Athletes’ Committee via a survey link. A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is requested with this submission. It is expected that the NPC will communicate to all ‘active athletes’ the opportunity to stand for election prior to this submission.
  6. Ensure all submissions and communications are provided in English as the WPA recognised language. 
     
  7. Ensure all candidates are able to speak and understand English reasonably well.  
     

SPORT COMMITTEE ELECTION GUIDELINES

  • Nominated NPC representative to vote for one male and one female candidate only within their respective region as designated by the IPC (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania).
  • Nominated NPC representative to vote for one Sport Committee Chairperson candidate from the worldwide nominations.
  • An NPC representative is not allowed to vote for candidates put forward for election by their respective NPC.
  • One male and one female candidate with the highest votes received within their respective region as designated by the IPC (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania) will be either directly elected as the regional representative or shortlisted in case the election does not result in at least 40% of each gender. If required, from that shortlist, it may be necessary to assess the votes to achieve at least 40% of each gender represented. If this is the case, the highest overall votes for one gender per region will be directly elected until it is necessary to achieve at least 40% of each gender, in which case the highest overall votes for the opposite gender from the remaining region(s) will be elected as the one regional representative for the Sport Committee.

One candidate with the highest worldwide votes received for the Sport Committee Chairperson will be appointed.

ATHLETES' COMMITTEE ELECTION GUIDELINES

  • Nominated NPC representative must put forward one male and one female athlete to represent their NPC in the Athletes’ Committee election.
  • Nominated athletes will be voted on by all ‘active athletes’ only within their respective region as designated by the IPC (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania).
  • Each athlete with a valid email address (as submitted to WPA by the NPC) will receive an online voting form.
  • One male and one female candidate with the highest votes received within their respective region as designated by the IPC (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania) will be either directly elected as the regional representative or shortlisted in case the election does not result in at least 40% of each gender. If required, from that shortlist, it may be necessary to assess the votes to achieve at least 40% of each gender represented. If this is the case, the highest overall votes for one gender per region will be directly elected until it is necessary to achieve at least 40% of each gender, in which case the highest overall votes for the opposite gender from the remaining region(s) will be elected as the one regional representative for the Athletes’ Committee.

 

Voting Examples

Example 1 – Direct Elections:

 

REGIONS VOTE RESULT (%)

CANDIDATES

AFRICA

AMERICAS

ASIA

EUROPE

OCEANIA

FEMALE

40

65

48

53

68

MALE

60

35

52

47

32
  • Female candidates directly elected to the Committee from the Americas, Europe, and Oceania because they have the highest percentage of Female votes in their region.
  • Male candidates directly elected to the Committee from Africa and Asia because they have the highest percentage of Male votes in their region.

 

Example 2 – Gender Represented Elections:

 

REGIONS VOTE RESULT (%)

CANDIDATES

AFRICA

AMERICAS

ASIA

EUROPE

OCEANIA

FEMALE

46

49

45

47

49

MALE

54

51

55

53

51
  • In this example, Male candidates would be directly elected to the Committee from Africa, Asia, and Europe because they have the highest percentage of male votes in their region.

To comply with the requirement to achieve 40% of each gender representation, the Female candidates from the Americas and Oceania would then be elected from the shortlist to the Committee as the highest non-direct voting result.

TIMEFRAME

The election timeframe and more information about the election process can be found here.