The constitutive General Assembly approved on January 28, 2022 the following statutes, governing the functioning of the association.

Article 1 – Title
It is founded, between the adherents to the present statutes, an association governed by the law of July 1, 1901 and the decree of August 16, 1901, called “French Association of Development Economics: AFEDEV”.

Article 2 – Purpose
The purpose of the association is to bring together researchers, teacher-researchers and all those carrying out research and/or expertise in development economics. It aims to promote research, training and all types of work involving scientific expertise in the field of development economics. Its purpose is to promote and organize events related to development economics. In addition, it undertakes steps and actions to have this work recognized by private and public institutions
.

Article 3 – Means of action
The association may publish publications, subsidize research, institute prizes to reward scientific work, organize conferences, study days or summer and winter schools, and in general take any initiative likely to advance and disseminate knowledge in development economics. It normally holds an annual conference
.

Article 4 – Affiliation
The association may affiliate with all learned societies and international organizations with a similar purpose.

Article 5 – Duration
The duration of the association is unlimited.

Article 6 – Contact details
The headquarters are in Paris, France.

Article 7 – Members
The association is composed of titular members (or adherents), benefactor members and honorary members. The Steering Committee (see Article 10) shall decide on the admission of all members.

A full member (adherent) of the association is any person working and/or having an interest in one way or another in development economics, without limitation of nationality or place of residence or professional practice, and having paid his annual dues. Full members of students, post-doctoral fellows, the unemployed, and researchers from the south can benefit from a preferential rate lower than the rate of the basic contribution.

A benefactor member is any person or organization making a payment to the association greater than four times the amount of the dues of the titular members.

An honorary member of the association is any person recognized for his contribution to the promotion, valorization and advancement of research work and expertise in development economics, and appointed by the General Assembly on the proposal of the Steering Committee. Honorary members are for an unlimited period.

The General Assembly decides on any revisions to the amount of annual membership fees for the coming calendar year. All membership fees are available on the association’s website.

Article 8 – Loss of membership
The status of titular member, benefactor, or honor is lost either by:
• resignation;
• the non-renewal of the contribution;
• cancellation, in the event that the member engages in acts that are manifestly contrary to the purpose of the association or detrimental to its proper functioning; the cancellation is then pronounced by the Steering Committee;
• death.

In the event of de-listing, the person or body concerned may appeal the decision to the General Assembly. The decision of the Steering Committee is then submitted to the vote at the first ordinary or extraordinary General Meeting following the decision to delist. The latter is definitively confirmed or denied by vote according to the modalities specified in the rules of procedure of the association. During the period preceding the vote, the membership of the person or body concerned shall be suspended.

Article 9 – Resources
The resources of the association include:
• membership fees;
• donations;
• subsidies from the State and local authorities;
• income from gainful activities, in accordance with the rules relating to such activities when they are carried out by an association;
• any other resources permitted by law.

Article 10 – Steering Committee
The Steering Committee, in charge of the life of the association, includes fourteen elected members representing the various bodies of researchers and teacher-researchers, as well as practitioners and experts in development economics. It consists of:
• a president;
• at least three Vice-Presidents whose missions will be specified by the Steering Committee;
• a Secretary General;
• a treasurer;
• other members.
The Steering Committee must include at least one representative of AFEDEV members abroad and one representative of young researchers (doctoral students or thesis defended for less than 5 years). In addition, the Steering Committee will ensure gender parity in its composition. The Steering Committee may not be composed of more than four members from the same organization (or laboratory in the case of researchers or teacher-researchers). The members of the Steering Committee are elected for four years by the members of the association. The Steering Committee is renewed by half every two years. The number of consecutive terms of office of the Steering Committee is limited to two. At the time of each renewal of the Steering Committee, it shall appoint from among its members a President, Vice-Presidents, a Secretary General and a Treasurer. The term of office of the President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary General and Treasurer is two years, renewable once. The terms of reference of the Steering Committee shall take effect the day after the General Assembly. All functions of the members of the Steering Committee are performed on a voluntary basis. Only the Steering Committee is competent to appoint the representatives of the association in any body that requests it. The Governing Board shall meet at least twice a year at the invitation of its Chairman. The quorum shall be half of the members of the Council, present or represented. Each member present may not hold more than two powers. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of votes. In a vote, in the event of a tie, that of the President shall be decisive. After the departure of a president, the presidency of the association may not return to a member belonging, in a principal capacity, to the same laboratory (or organization) as him/her, for the next term.

Article 10a – Transitional governance
At the constitutive AGM of the association, an interim board is elected. His prerogatives are those of the executive committee: he is in charge of the day-to-day management of the association and the organization of the first ordinary GA. His term of office ends with the establishment of the first Executive Committee elected by the Ordinary General Assembly.

Article 11 – Ordinary General Meeting
The ordinary general assembly is held once a year under the chairmanship of the president of the association, assisted by the members of the Steering Committee. The Secretary General shall convene and inform all the members of the association of the agenda. Any member of the association may request the addition of an item to the agenda.
Only members who are up to date with their membership fees may participate in the meetings of the General Assembly. The President shall submit the annual moral report, which shall be approved by a simple majority of the members present or represented. The treasurer presents the accounts for the financial year, the budget for the next financial year (including the amount of dues), which must be approved by a simple majority of the members present or represented. In years when elections are held for the renewal of the Steering Committee, the Ordinary General Assembly shall declare elected the replacements of the outgoing members of the Steering Committee after the agenda has been exhausted. The Steering Committee shall indicate at least 2 months before the General Assembly the timetable and the method of organization of the elections. Nominations to the Steering Committee are individual and must be sent to the Secretary General at least one month before the election. Each member may be represented at the Ordinary General Assembly, giving its power to another member. Each member present may have not more than two powers.

Article 12 – Extraordinary General Meeting
If necessary, in particular for the reasons provided for by law, the Steering Committee may convene the members to an extraordinary general meeting. The method of convening and voting is the same as that of an Ordinary General Assembly. An Extraordinary General Meeting may also be held at the request of a simple majority of all members.

Article 13 – Rules of Procedure
If necessary, the General Assembly may adopt, on the proposal of the Steering Committee, rules of procedure to clarify the internal functioning of the Association. The General Assembly votes to adopt rules of procedure by a two-thirds majority of the members present or represented.

Article 14 – Dissolution
The dissolution of the association may be pronounced at the Extraordinary General Meeting by a two-thirds majority of the members present or represented. In accordance with article 9 of the law of 1 July 1901 and the decree of 16 August 1901, the Steering Committee appointed a liquidator responsible for the distribution of the association’s property. During the life of the association, the Steering Committee records the contributions of material goods and their authors. At the dissolution of the association, these contributions are returned to their authors if they still belong to the heritage of the association.

Article 15 – Revision of the statutes
The President shall submit to the General Assembly all proposals for the revision of the statutes adopted by the Steering Committee. These proposals for the revision of the statutes are communicated to all the members of the Association at the same time as the convocation to the General Assembly and at least one month before the date scheduled for it. The General Assembly votes to revise the statutes by a two-thirds majority of the members present or represented. These statutes were approved by the constitutive general meeting of 28 January 2022.