Articles

1. The association shall be called Catholic Women's Association (CWA) Cameroon.
2. • It is a Lay Private Association of Christ's Faithful, governed by canons 321-326 of the Code of Canon Law.
   • It is a non-profit making and apolitical association in the Catholic Church.
3. To serve and not to be served (cf. Mt 20:28).
4. The Patron Saint of CWA is the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of "Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception," whose solemnity falls on 8 December.

1. To achieve a true renewal of the spirituality of its members founded on Baptism in answer to the universal call to holiness (cf. Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, n. 39).
2. To translate this spirituality into action through "works of the apostolate, such as initiatives for evangelisation, works of piety or charity, and those which animate the temporal order with the Christian spirit" (canon 298 §1).
3. To enable members to model their lives after the lifestyle of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Patron Saint of CWA.
4. To provide special education and training for members in social development activities and family life in order to enhance their contribution to the integral development of the person and of society.

1. Membership of CWA shall be open to all baptised Catholic women who have completed 18 years of age, single or married, literate or illiterate.
2. Upon completion of a formative and probationary period of at least one year, an aspiring member may be dedicated.
3. Members who are not yet dedicated should strive to become dedicated.

1. CWA shall be organised according to the following levels:

   • Branch Level
   • Zonal Level
   • Divisional Level
   • Diocesan Level
   • Provincial Level
   • General Level
2. A Branch shall be the basic organ within a parish. It shall comprise at least ten (10) and at most twenty (20) registered members, with 9 elected officials.
3. A Zone shall comprise at least three (03) recognised Branches in a parish or parishes, with 12 elected officials.
4. A Division shall comprise at least three (03) recognised Zones in a parish or in an area, depending on the vastness of the area, with 12 elected officials.
5. • A Diocese shall comprise at least three (03) Divisions under a given local Ordinary, with 12 elected officials.
   • Wherever the Diocesan Level does not yet exist, the highest level in that area shall act as such.
6. The Provincial Level shall comprise the whole association in a given Ecclesiastical Province, with 12 elected officials.
7. The General Level shall comprise the whole association in Cameroon and beyond, with 13 elected officials and a number of co-opted members according to the number of Provinces outside Cameroon.
8. The 13 elected members should be resident in Cameroon.
9. CWA outside Cameroon: The association may be formed in any country outside of Cameroon, but it must function in accordance with the Statutes and Bylaws of CWA Cameroon. However, the Bylaws could be adapted to the situation of the Church in each particular country with the approval of the General Executive and in consultation with BAPEC.

1. There shall be two (02) Advisory Councils in CWA, namely, the Diocesan and the General Advisory Councils.

2. Each Advisory Council shall comprise six (06) members as follows:

   • Five (05) CWA members,
   • The National Chaplain
3. Proposals of the five (05) CWA members into the Diocesan Advisory Council shall come from the Branch through the Zone to the Division. Proposals into the General Advisory Council shall be done at a Diocesan Enlarged Executive Meeting and forwarded to the General Animators, who will forward them to the General Chaplain.

The Leadership of CWA, which is directly responsible to BAPEC as the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority, is constituted as follows:

A. At the Branch Level, the executive shall comprise the following:

1. President,
2. Vice President,
3. Secretary,
4. Vice Secretary,
5. Treasurer,
6. Financial Secretary,
7. Publicity Secretary/Social Secretary,
8. Auditor (01),
9. Adviser (01), and
10. Chaplain (Ex-officio member, who shall be the Parish Priest or his Assistant).

B. At the Zonal and Divisional Levels, the executive shall comprise the following:

1. President,
2. Vice President,
3. Secretary,
4. Vice Secretary,
5. Treasurer,
6. Financial Secretary,
7. Publicity Secretary,
8. Social Secretary,
9. Auditors (02),
10. Advisers (02), and
11. Chaplain (Ex-officio member, who shall be appointed by the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority).

C. At the Diocesan Level, the executive shall comprise the following:

1. President,
2. Vice President,
3. Secretary,
4. Vice Secretary,
5. Treasurer,
6. Financial Secretary,
7. Publicity Secretary,
8. Social Secretary,
9. Auditors (02),
10. Advisers (02),
11. Animator (Ex-officio member, who shall be appointed by the local Ordinary), and
12. Chaplain (Ex-officio member, who shall be appointed by the local Ordinary).

D. At the Provincial Level, the executive shall comprise the following:

1. President,
2. Vice President,
3. Secretary,
4. Vice Secretary,
5. Treasurer,
6. Financial Secretary,
7. Publicity Secretary,
8. Social Secretary,
9. Auditors (02),
10. Advisers (02),
11. Animator (Ex-officio member, who shall be appointed by the Provincial Episcopal Conference), and
12. Chaplain (Ex-officio member, who shall be appointed by the Provincial Episcopal Conference).

E. At the General Level, the executive shall comprise the following:

1. President,
2. Vice Presidents (2),
3. Secretary,
4. Vice Secretary,
5. Treasurer,
6. Financial Secretary,
7. Publicity Secretary,
8. Social Secretary,
9. Auditors (02),
10. Advisers (02),
11. Ex-officio members corresponding to the number of Provinces outside Cameroon,
12. Animators (2) (Ex-officio members, who shall be appointed by BAPEC as the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority), and
13. Chaplain (Ex-officio member, who shall be appointed by BAPEC as the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority).

F. At all levels of the association, the executive shall appoint members in charge of liturgy and ecumenism, respectively, from within or out of the executive.

1. The Headquarters of the association shall be in Bamenda.
2. The General Secretariat of the association shall be in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, precisely in Bamenda Town with detailed postal address, email, telephone, and website.
3. The Secretariat shall have a full-time bilingual and a computer- literate secretary.
4. Other workers shall be employed as need arises.

1. The term of office in CWA shall be three (03) years for an elected member to any voted post, renewable ONCE only.
2. A member shall serve in a given executive for no more than three (03) terms, that is, at most nine years.
3. A member shall not hold more than one executive post at the same level of the association. However, she may hold at most two executive posts, each at a different level of the association.
4. Ex-officio members of the Diocesan, Provincial and General Executives shall have a term of three (03) years, whose renewal will be determined by the Bishops of the Dioceses, the Provinces, and the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference, respectively.

5. In case of vacancy (death, declared or observed invalidity, resignation, suspension or expulsion) in the executive at any level of the association, the following shall obtain:

   • If the vacancy occurs in the post of President or Secretary, the Vice shall take over and the executive, upon recommendation of the Adviser(s) and the Chaplain, shall appoint someone to replace the latter.
   • If the vacancy occurs in a post that does not have a Vice, the Executive, upon the recommendation of the Adviser(s) and the Chaplain, shall appoint someone to occupy the post.
   • A member thus appointed shall complete the term of office, and will be eligible for a normal term (terms) of office in the association.

1. At the Branch Level, meetings shall be held ONCE every week (in the mission compound and, if not possible, elsewhere with the permission of the Parish Priest).
2. At the Zonal Level, meetings shall be held ONCE every four months.
3. At the Divisional Level, meetings shall be held TWICE a year, i.e., ONCE every six months.
4. At the Diocesan Level, meetings shall be held ONCE a year. They shall alternate between general meetings and conferences.
5. At the Provincial Level, meetings shall be held ONCE every eighteen months.
6. At the General Level, meetings shall be held ONCE every three years.
7. An Extraordinary General Congress shall be convened when need arises.
8. An Enlarged General Executive Meeting shall be held once a year and when need arises.
9. The Advisory Council shall meet when need arises.
10. Work plans at all levels (except at the General Level) shall be drawn up yearly and shall indicate dates and venues of all Executive Meetings.

1. The association shall aim at becoming self-reliant.
2. The finances of the association shall comprise dues, levies, donations, gifts and grants, sales of articles and any other income-generating activity carried out by the association.
3. Each member shall pay yearly dues of 3 000 Francs CFA between 1 January and 31 March.

4. The dues shall be disbursed as follows:

   • 30% shall go to the General Fund (20% for the functional budget and 10% for the investment budget. From the money destined for the investment budget, 100 Francs CFA per member shall be taken from all members within the national territory of Cameroon and paid to the National Chaplaincy for Lay Apostolates at the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon);
   • 10% shall go to the Provincial Fund; and
   • 60% shall go to the Diocesan Fund.
5. • CWA outside Cameroon shall pay annual dues of 20 000 Francs CFA per member to the General Fund.
   • All financial transactions between the General Executive and CWA outside Cameroon must respect the financial regulations in force. 6 The signatures pertaining to the financial aspects of the association shall be those of the current President, the Treasurer, and the Financial Secretary. The three signatories constitute the Project Committee.
6. • Where a project is being carried out, the project account shall be managed separately from the running account of the association and a financial statement shall be submitted. The project account shall be checked and verified quarterly by the Auditors of the level concerned.
   • A Project Manager, charged with the responsibility of managing project costs, revenue, billing, planning, monitoring and analysis, shall be engaged to work with the Project Committee.
   • The Project Manager shall track all project income and expenditure and analyse financial details in connection with the project.
7. The income of the Branch, Zonal, Divisional, Diocesan, Provincial and General Levels shall be lodged in a credible financial institution.
8. The expenses of the Diocesan and General Advisory Councils shall be determined by the Diocesan and General Executives and covered by the Diocesan and General Funds respectively.

1. All elections shall be by secret ballot.
2. Only dedicated members, who are regular at CWA meetings, committed Catholic women, and free from moral doubt, shall hold posts in the executive of the association.
3. Proposals to any post of responsibility in the executive shall be done at the last Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the next lower organ of that term supervised by the Chaplain.
4. • As far as elections at the General Level are concerned, once the proposals from a given Diocese have been approved by the diocesan Chaplain and the Bishop, the General Chaplain shall compile all the names and present them to the President of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) as the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority.
   • At the lower levels, in consultation with the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority, caution shall be duly exercised to see to it that the choice of the women with regard to the proposals is respected.
   • The final list of candidates for elections at all levels shall necessarily carry the name and signature of the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority who approved it as well as the place and date of approval.
   • A qualified candidate can be elected in absentia depending on the reason for which she is absent.
5. Elections at every level of the association shall follow the structure of the association (from General to Branch Levels) and shall be completed by the month of December following the General Congress.

1. Catholic Women's Association is a member (with full rights) of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations herein referred to as WUCWO and is also free to be affiliated to any other Catholic International Organisation on the recommendation of the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority.
2. The WUCWO Board member of CWA shall be elected at the General Congress.
3. In case of emergency, the WUCWO Board member shall be elected in an Enlarged General Executive Meeting.

1. CORRESPONDENCE/DOCUMENTATION
2. The General Executive alone shall enter into correspondence with any International Organisation, e.g., WUCWO or third parties, on behalf of the entire association.
3. Only the General Executive shall print any documents on behalf of the association.

Members who do not work in the spirit of CWA and within the general provision of the association shall be suspended or excluded from CWA, according to the norms laid down by the association.

• CWA shall have two (02) working languages
• English and French.

1. All proposed amendments shall be given in writing and shall be forwarded to the General Secretariat not less than one (1) year before the General Congress.
2. An Amendment Committee shall be set up at least six (6) months before the General Congress to examine these proposals and send out a draft to the Dioceses at least three (3) months to the Congress.
3. The Statutes can be amended only at a General Congress by at least a 2/3 majority of those present.
4. All amendments approved at the General Congress shall come into effect after the approval of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) as the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority.

1. The association shall only be dissolved on the recommendation of at least 2/3 of members present at a General Congress with the consent of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) as the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority.
2. In case of dissolution, the assets and liabilities of the association shall be taken over by the Competent Ecclesiastical Authority.