IAS Governing Council responsibilities and liabilities

The IAS Governing Council:

• Consists of 20 elected members – four in each of the five IAS regions – and three officers (the President, President-Elect and Treasurer), as well as two non-voting members (the Immediate Past President and the Executive Director)
• Is the elected thought leadership body of the IAS
• Guides and contributes to the substantive thematic work of the IAS
• Generates knowledge and insights and frames programmatic questions
• Ensures that the IAS strategy is regularly revisited for continued relevance, provides support to management and pursues opportunities in coordination with the Executive Board of the IAS
• Ensures compliance with the IAS Bylaws, IAS internal rules and regulations and IAS Governing Council election procedures
• Reviews the annual audited accounts from the external auditors and proposes their approval to the IAS General Members' Meeting
• Appoints the Executive Board and the Nomination and Election Committee
• Represents the interests of IAS Members in the regions

Term of office

The term of office is four years, with the possibility of running for re-election for another four years.

Criteria for candidates

The IAS is committed to sustaining a skilled, diverse and gender-balanced Governing Council with a wide range of competencies and to the greater involvement of people living with HIV (GIPA) in all aspects of its work. People living openly with HIV, women, young people and young investigators and basic and non-clinical scientists who fulfil the criteria are particularly encouraged to consider standing for election.

A candidate for the IAS Governing Council should:

• Be working professionally in the field of HIV and AIDS
• Have been a paid-up member of the IAS for at least two years
• Be able to demonstrate leadership in their area of expertise
• Be able to demonstrate a sustained commitment to the integrity and general suitability requirements and the vision, mission and values of the IAS
• Be able to demonstrate knowledge of HIV and AIDS organizations, societies and networks within their region, as well as engagement with them
• Be committed to devoting significant time and energy required to discharge their duties as Governing Council members and be prepared to:
  1. Actively participate in and contribute to conferences and meetings managed by the IAS
  2. Become involved in IAS committees, thematic working groups and resource mobilization, as well as IAS conferences (for example, as a chair, member, speaker or point person)
• Be nominated by two members of the IAS (other than themselves), who must have been IAS Members for at least one year
• Have accepted the nomination

To ensure geographical representation from across the regions, only one member per country can be elected to the Governing Council*. Therefore, members in countries that are represented by existing regional representatives on the Governing Council cannot be nominated to run for election. Regarding assigned seats in the regions, at least one of the vacant seats in the Europe region must be filled by an IAS Member from eastern Europe; in the Africa region, at least one seat must be filled by a member from non-anglophone Africa; and in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, at least one seat must be filled by a member from the Caribbean.

The IAS also seeks to ensure that adequate and diverse thematic expertise within the field of HIV and AIDS is represented on the Governing Council. Ahead of each election, the Nomination and Election Committee may identify priority thematic areas.

* Except for the United States and Canada region, where both countries shall be represented.