The Statute of The Denderam - IRD e.V

§ 1 Name and Seat of the Association, Fiscal Year

(1) The association has the name: DENDERAM - IRD e.V. (Integrated Rural Development).
(2) The association has its seat in Berlin and is registered in the register of associations.
(3) The business year is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose, non-profit status of the association

(1) The Association with its registered office in Berlin (location specified according to § 1(2)) exclusively and directly pursues charitable purposes within the meaning of the section "Tax-privileged purposes" of the Tax Code.
(2) The purpose (stated according to § 52(2) of the tax code) of the association is the promotion and financial support of the infrastructure of rural regions in Ethiopia. It is about the integrated rural development. This is a concept with a comprehensive approach. It includes not only the development of agriculture, but also the development of other economic activities. In addition, the non-economic sectors of the rural areas/regions are also promoted.

• improving and making available water for the rural community and region (e.g. drilling of wells, etc.).
• improving the living and working conditions of farmers through better farming, animal husbandry, agricultural technology and general technology for home and farm and the infrastructure of the region (e.g. solar panels, drilling equipment, etc.).
• support of the population through education and better organization, through targeted financial support for children.
• support and improvement of the living conditions of women through education and training by means of financial aid.

(3) The Association operates selflessly; it does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes.

(4) The Association's funds may only be used for purposes in accordance with the Articles of Association. Members shall not receive any benefits from the Association's funds. The only exception to this is that selected members of the Association may receive the following allowances from the Association's budget, as a rule once a year: These are expense allowances, such as the travel expenses (cost of round trip, Berlin - Ethiopia and accommodation in Ethiopia) and transportation (cost of logistics on the ground in the project region in Ethiopia). The personal presence of association members, on site in Ethiopia, is immensely important. It will stabilize the success of the support measures in the long term.

(5) No person may be favored by expenditures, which are foreign to the purpose of the association, or by disproportionately high remunerations.

(6) The association receives the funds for the fulfillment of its tasks through monetary donations.

§ 3 Acquisition of membership

(1) Any (natural) person may become a member of the Association.

(2) Application for membership must be made in writing (also by e-mail) to the Executive Board. In the case of minors, the application for membership must be submitted by their legal representatives. The executive committee decides on the application for membership at its own discretion. It does not have to give reasons for a rejection of the application to the applicant.

(3) Upon proposal of the Board, the General Assembly may appoint members or other persons who have rendered outstanding services to the Association as honorary members for life.

§ 4 Termination of membership

(1) Membership in the Association shall be terminated by death (in the case of legal entities, by their extinction), resignation or exclusion.

(2) Resignation must be declared in writing to the Executive Board. Resignation can only be declared with a notice period of three months to the end of the business year.

(3) A member may be expelled from the Association by resolution of the General Meeting if it culpably damages the reputation or interests of the Association in a serious manner. The member shall be given the opportunity to comment on the reasons for the exclusion at the General Meeting. These are to be communicated to him at least two weeks before in writing (also by E-Mail).

§ 5 Rights and duties of the members

(1) Every member has the right to use the facilities of the association and to participate in common events. Each member has equal voting and election rights in the general meeting.

(2) Each member has the duty to promote the interests of the association, as far as it stands in its forces to support the association life by its cooperation.

§ 6 Admission fee and membership fees

It is clearly stated that no membership fees are to be paid.

§ 7 Organs of the association

The organs of the association are the board of directors and the general meeting.

§ 8 Board of Directors

(1) The board consists of the chairman, his deputy and the treasurer.

(2) The chairman, his deputy and the treasurer each represent the association alone.

(3) The members of the Executive Board may be paid a remuneration. The amount of the remuneration shall be decided by the General Meeting. The maximum amount is 840 Euro/year in 2023 and is tax-free (§ 3 No. 26a Income Tax Act).

§ 9 Duties of the Executive Board

The Executive Board of the Association shall be responsible for representing the Association in accordance with § 26 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and for managing its business. In particular, it has the following duties: a) to convene and prepare the General Meetings, including the preparation of the agenda, b) to execute resolutions of the General Meeting, c) to manage the Association's assets and to prepare the annual report, d) to admit new members.

§ 10 Appointment of the Executive Board

(1) The members of the Executive Board are elected individually by the General Meeting for a period of two years. Only members of the Association may be members of the Executive Board; membership of the Executive Board also ends when membership of the Association ends. Re-election or early dismissal of a member by the general meeting is permitted. A member shall remain in office after the expiry of the regular term of office until the election of his successor.
(2) In the first election period, during the time of the founding of the Association, the founding members will fill the positions of the Board without election. This determination is valid only in the first election period. Starting from the second election period the executive committee is freely selected (§ 10 Abs.1).
(3) If a member leaves the board prematurely, the remaining members of the board are entitled to elect a member of the association to the board until the election of the successor by the general meeting.

§ 11 Consultation and Resolutions of the Board of Management

(1) The Executive Board shall meet as required. The meetings shall be convened by the chairman or, if he is prevented from doing so, by his deputy. A notice period of one week shall be observed. The board has a quorum if at least two members are present. The majority of the valid votes cast shall be decisive in the passing of resolutions. In the event of a tie, the chairman shall have the casting vote, or, if the chairman is unable to attend, the casting vote of his deputy.
(2) The resolutions of the Executive Board shall be recorded in the minutes. The minutes shall be signed by the keeper of the minutes and by the chairperson or, if the chairperson is unable to do so, by the deputy chairperson or another member of the Executive Board.

§ 12 Tasks of the general meeting

The General Meeting is responsible for decisions on the following matters: a) amendments to the Articles of Association,
b) the appointment of honorary members and the expulsion of members from the Association,
c) the election and dismissal of members of the Executive Board,
d) the acceptance of the annual report, the cash audit and the discharge of the Executive Board,
e) the dissolution of the Association.

§ 13 Convening of the General Meeting

(1) At least once a year, if possible in the first quarter, an ordinary General Meeting shall be convened by the Executive Board. The meeting shall be convened in writing (also by e-mail) with a notice period of two weeks and with the agenda.
(2) The agenda shall be set by the Board. Each member of the association can apply for an addition to the agenda in writing (also by e-mail) to the board of directors at least one week before the general meeting. The Board shall decide on the application. The General Assembly shall decide on motions for the agenda which have not been included by the Executive Board or which are put forward for the first time at the General Assembly by a majority of the votes of the members present; this shall not apply to motions which have as their object an amendment to the Articles of Association or the dissolution of the Association.
(3) The Executive Board shall convene an extraordinary General Meeting if the interests of the Association require it or if at least one tenth of the members request this in writing, stating the purpose and the reasons.
(4) Preference shall be given to convening the General Meeting by e-mail. This is always to be documented by an acknowledgement of receipt by the invitee. The location of the general meeting can be both physical (e.g. club room, etc.) and online (e.g. jitsi-Call, etc.). The documentation at the Jitsi-Call is done by recording. In order to comply with the documentation obligation under association law, minutes must also be prepared (§ 14 para. 4).

§ 14 Adoption of Resolutions by the General Meeting

(1) The General Meeting shall be chaired by the Chairperson of the Executive Board or, if the Chairperson is prevented from attending, by the Deputy Chairperson and, if the Deputy Chairperson is prevented from attending, by a chairperson to be elected by the General Meeting.
(2) The General Meeting has a quorum if at least one third of all members of the Association are present. In the event of a lack of quorum, the Executive Board shall be obliged to convene a second General Meeting with the same agenda within four weeks. This meeting has a quorum regardless of the number of members present. This must be pointed out in the invitation.
(3) The general meeting shall decide by open vote with the majority of the votes of the members present. If, in the case of elections, no candidate can obtain the majority of the votes of the members present, the candidate who has obtained the majority of the valid votes cast shall be elected; a run-off election shall be held between several candidates. Resolutions to amend the Articles of Association shall require a majority of three quarters, and resolutions to amend the purpose or dissolve the Association shall require the approval of nine tenths of the members present.
(4) Minutes shall be taken of the proceedings of the General Meeting and the resolutions passed, and shall be signed by the keeper of the minutes and the chairman of the meeting.

§ 15 Dissolution of the Association, termination for other reasons, discontinuation of tax-privileged purposes

(1) In the event of dissolution of the Association, the Chairman of the Board and his deputy shall be jointly authorized liquidators, unless the General Assembly appoints other persons.
(2) In case of dissolution or abolition of the Association or in case of discontinuation of tax-privileged purposes, the assets of the Association shall be transferred to a legal entity under public law or to another tax-privileged corporation for the purpose of promoting and financially supporting the infrastructure of rural regions in Ethiopia.(Which suitable association (e.V.) will be considered shall then be determined).
(3) The above provisions shall apply accordingly if the legal capacity of the association has been withdrawn.