Article 1

The Yasser Arafat Achievement Award aims to encourage serious and exceptional work in the fields of national, cultural, social, economic, or educational work.

 

Article 2

The Yasser Arafat Achievement Award,  hereinafter referred to as as “Award”, shall be granted according to paragraph 6 of Article 4 of the Basic bylaws of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, referred to hereinafter as “Foundation.”

 

Article 3

 The Award Committee, formed according to Article 20 of the Foundation’s Basic Bylaws, shall oversee the implementation of the Award Bylaws and will be referred to hereinafter as the “Committee.”

 

Article 4

 The Committee will adopt internal regulations that will organize its scope of work and will make resolutions through consensus. When that is not possible, resolutions will be made by majority vote of those present; the vote will be done through a secret ballot.  A quorum (more than half of the number of members) is required in order to hold sessions and adopt resolutions.

 

Article 5

A) The Award shall be granted annually and will consist of an award certificate, commemorative plaque, and  $25,000 U.S. dollars.

 

b) The Committee may decide not to grant the award or to withdraw it during any given year.  In this case, the sum of the award may not be carried over to future years.

 

Article 6

The award shall be granted to the deserving individual, organization, or work team on the basis of  documented work(s) and cannot be granted otherwise.

 

 Article 7: Award Nomination Procedures

 

a) A nominee for the Achievement Award cannot be self-nominated

 

b) Qualified nominators must be Palestinians or Arabs, and the nomination is accepted only by the following parties:

 

1.     Boards representing institutions or corporate bodies.

 

2.      Duly qualified individuals known for their professional reputations.

c) Individuals eligible for nomination must be living Palestinian citizens, and nominated institutions or groups must also be based in Palestine.  The nominated parties must present significant contributions to the Palestinian society and welfare of its people in the five aforementioned fields of work.  Non-Palestinian candidates who made fundamental contributions to Palestine will also be considered. 

 

d) Nominations shall be submitted through a special form , which identifies the nominator and the nominee, and provides the necessary contact information.  The form must also include a biography of the nominee, a notice of acceptance of the nomination, and a detailed description and documentation of the work and accomplishments achieved by the nominee, which in the opinion of the nominator have made the nominee worthy of the award.

 

e) The nominator shall also attach a paragraph explaining the justifications for the nomination, which may be referred to when drafting the certificate of award, should it be granted to the nominee. This paragraph must be in Arabic and should not exceeding 60 words in length.

 

f) The nominees that are approved by committee shall be informed of their inclusion in the list of final nominees.

 

g) The nomination must be sent to the Yasser Arafat Achievement Award Committee in the period between March 1st and end of July of every year. Nominations submitted outside this period will not be accepted.  The committee will send a formal notification to the nominator of the receipt of his or her nomination at the address the sender specifies in the nomination form.

 

Article 8: Nominee Selection Standards

 

a) The Committee will conduct an initial elimination of the nominees based on their fulfillment of the nomination requirements. Those who do not meet all the nomination requirements will not be considered.

 

b) In exceptional cases, which the Committee will decide on, the nominee may be asked to provide missing information. The missing information must be provided within two weeks of notification. This exception will not apply to missing documentation and nomination justifications.

c) The approved nominees shall be sorted according to five different areas of work:.

1.      National work

 

2.      Cultural work

 

3.      Social work

 

4.      Economic work

 

5.      Scientific and Academic work

 

d) The Committee will establish mechanisms and standards for the evaluation of the achievements of the nominees. These mechanisms and standards will not contradict any of the Foundation’s Basic bylaws or this Award bylaws. When necessary, the Committee will enlist the assistance of experts for the evaluation. The Committee will identify a winner and grant the Award in accordance with the procedures provided in Article 4 of these regulations.

 

e)The Committee shall provide the Foundation’s board of directors with the name of the winner and the justifications for his or her victory in request for its endorsement of the selected nominee.  Such submission should be considered at the board’s final meeting before granting the award.  The head of the board of trustees shall be informed of the final decision. The name of the winner shall remain confidential until the official announcement of his or her win.

 

f) The deliberations of the Committee shall be kept confidential. Contact with the Committee by any of the nominators or nominees shall be prohibited.

 

Article 9: Assessment Standards

 

a)The work upon which the nomination is based must have achieved a positive impact in one of the categories mentioned in Article 8, C. This achievement must reflect the public interest and promote social progress and prosperity. The nominated candidate’s efforts in his or her field of work must be prominent, well known, and effectivel.

 

b) The work must have taken place within a purely Palestinian context, or otherwise, its outcome has resulted in a positive impact on the Palestinian situation.

Article 10: Announcement of the Winner

 

A) The winner of the award shall be announced by the head of the Award Committee in the presence of committee members, upon the endorsement by the Board of Directors of the Committee’s decision.

 

B) The winner’s name  will be announced during the annual event, held by the Yasser Arafat Foundation, commemorating the late leader.

 

c) The Committee’s shortlist of candidates, from which the finalist will be selected, will be announced at least two weeks prior to the announcement of the final winner. 

Article 11: Award Giving Ceremony

 

a) The Award shall be granted to the winner in an official ceremony by the head of the board of trustees, or the head of the Committee, and the chairman of the Foundation’s board of directors.

 

b) The head of the Committee shall announce the winner’s name, introduce him or her, present the justifications for the nomination for the award, and explain the winner’s work and its impact on Palestinian situation.

 

c) The winner shall make a speech at the award ceremony, which will not exceed 2000 words. A written copy of the speech will be kept in the Committee’s records at the Foundation.