WADA launches election process for one African representative on its National Anti-Doping Organization Expert Advisory Group

Deadline to submit candidatures is 10 February / Election to be held on 4-6 March 

Today, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is launching an election process for one African representative on its National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) Expert Advisory Group (EAG), following the unfortunate passing of Dr. Hanem Amir, Chief Executive of the Egypt NADO and valued member of the NADO EAG.

The Chair of the NADO EAG, Mr. Kim Kum-pyoung, said, “Dr. Hanem’s passing was a shock for us all. During her time as a member of the NADO EAG, she contributed significantly to our work not only as a recognized Anti-Doping expert but also as a great person. In order to continue her legacy, we now need to initiate an election for a representative of the African NADO community. I strongly encourage all eligible African NADOs to participate in this election process to ensure strong and effective representation within WADA.”

Background

On 19 May 2022, WADA’s Foundation Board (Board) unanimously approved a final report from its Working Group on the Review of WADA Governance Reforms (Governance Working Group), which included a recommendation to increase the representativeness of WADA’s Board by having two representatives from NADOs among its members.

To support this, it was also recommended by the Governance Working Group that WADA’s NADO EAG be reformed to be comprised of ten elected representatives, with two from each of the five regions (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania). In November 2022, ten members were elected to the reformed NADO EAG for a term of three years, and two of them joined the Board in June 2023.

Regional Election for one Africa member of NADO Expert Advisory Group

The NADO EAG Terms of Reference state, “in case of a member stepping down before the end of their mandate for any reason, WADA and the NADO EAG will determine the process to be followed in replacing this member, taking into account the length of term remaining, regional needs and any other relevant factors.”

As a result, the NADO EAG and WADA agreed to follow the procedural rules that were adopted by the WADA Executive Committee on 18 May 2022. These rules govern the election process for the NADO EAG members and include: 

• criteria for the NADO to be eligible to nominate candidates and vote; 
• criteria for the candidate to be eligible for election; 
• role of an election scrutineer;  
• procedural steps for submission of candidatures; 
• voting procedure; and 
• provisions related to potential infringement of the procedure and protection of personal information.  

To ensure that the election is completed in a timely manner and the African NADOs can benefit from full representation on the NADO EAG as soon as possible, and given the flexibility granted by the Terms of Reference to replace a member, the NADO EAG and WADA have agreed to a more condensed timeline than what is laid out in the Election Procedure. The following table outlines the timeline that will apply to the regional African election.  

Today, WADA initiates the preliminary phase for the election that will be carried out in March by asking eligible African NADOs to submit nominations. To be eligible, a NADO must meet certain criteria which are set out in Article 3 of the Election Procedure. Of particular note, only NADOs that come from a country that has paid its annual contribution to WADA for 2023 are eligible.

WADA encourages all African NADOs to promote this opportunity to potential candidates to contribute further to the collaborative global movement for doping-free sport.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to direct them to governance@wada-ama.org.