ASSOCIATIONS

              associations

An association is  the meeting  of  several people  who decide to gather around  a common activity, with an aim other than that to share benefit.

Contrary to a commercial company, an association is  with nonlucrative goal, i.e. its objective is not to earn money.

1.   WHY CREATE AN ASSOCIATION?

The creation of an association answers the need and the desire for acting together. To share its knowledge, its activity, its energy makes it possible to carry out tasks and projects which it would not be possible to only achieve.

2.   WHAT THE "LAW 1901"?

The "law 1901" is a law voted in France the 1 ^er July 1901 which gives the right to the individuals to gather in association. It is by this famous law that is recognized and organized the principle of  the right of association.

It marks a large projection in the recognition of public freedoms and the exercise of  the democracy: before this law, any meeting of people, any independent movement were prohibited and repressed. Today, the right of association is  a fundamental freedom  protected by the Constitution.

3.   IS IT EASY TO CREATE AN ASSOCIATION "LAW 1901"?

Within the framework of the law 1901, the creation of an association is done completely freely, without request for authorization. The formalities are very simple: association must be composed of at least two members and it must  be declared  near the prefecture.

This declaration consists in making known the name and the object (the goal) of association, its founder members, its rules of operation, etc. The whole of these elements constitutes its  statutes. It makes it possible to make  public  association, to give him a legal capacity: association is like a person, it can for example conclude from the contracts, buy and sell, perceive contributions, etc.

4.   HOW DOES AN ASSOCIATION FUNCTION?

The law does not impose any structure of operation. Associations generally include/understand:  an office, generally composed of a president, founder members and of a treasurer, who assumes administrative duties;  a council, which represents the members;  a General meeting, which brings together all the members and votes the budget, elects the office and the council, etc.

Association draws its resources money which its members (contributions ) pay.  The voluntary ones, generally members of association, devote free part of their time to his operation and its animation.

5.   HOW MUCH Y Does It Have ASSOCIATIONS IN FRANCE?

It is not easy to know exactly the number of associations in France. It is created some more than 60 000 each year, and when they disappear, their dissolution is not always recorded. At the beginning of the years 2000, one evaluates the number of associations in France between  700 000 and 900 000.  Approximately 20 million people are members of one or more associations.

There are associations of any size and any kind. Most (nearly a quarter) are those which carry on their activity in  the sporting sector. One also finds organizations religious, of medical and social action, defense of the humans right, defense of the consumers, environmental protection, protection of the animals, etc.

6.   WHAT Does One CALL RECOGNIZED ASSOCIATIONS Of PUBLIC UTILITY?

Beside associations which are simply declared, there are  recognized associations of public utility. To be seen recognizing this quality, these associations must fill a certain number of criteria. They can then profit from State grants and  collect gifts.

These associations work in many fields of action: social, medical, educational, scientific, cultural, environment, defense of the sites and the monuments, international solidarity, etc.

7.   WHICH IS THE ROLE OF ASSOCIATIONS OF SOLIDARITY?

Associations of solidarity try  to mitigate the insufficiencies of the State  as regards social and medical assistance. They act with the daily newspaper to bring a material aid and moral to the people more in difficulty: the Restaurants of the heart distribute free meals, the popular Help allows the most stripped to leave on holiday, Emmaüs helps exclude them to be reintegrated, Aides is specialized in the assistance with the people reached of the AIDS, etc. These associations function thanks to  the gifts  and  the voluntary help.

This solidarity is also addressed to the other countries, within the framework of  the nongovernmental organizations (ONG). These associations act at the international level in fields where the States are not sufficiently committed: in  emergencies  (famine, war) in order to bring  a humanitarian aid  (Doctors without borders) or in  the defense of the humans right  (International Amnesty, League of the humans right), etc.

8.   WHICH IS THE WEIGHT OF THE ASSOCIATIVE MOVEMENT IN THE COMPANY?

One speaks about associative movement  to indicate the whole of associations and their importance in the company. Because they are numerous, dynamic, that they relate to all the sectors of the life and all the ages, associations create  bonds between the citizens: they play an essential role in the social life.

More and more, associations become  special interest groups: they try to influence the political leaders. It is in particular the case of associations of defense of the consumers, associations ecologists or associations for the defense of the right to housing.

ARBITRATION

                      Arbitration

With rbitrage, procedure of payment of a litigation by people named by the parts in order to slice a disagreement. The arbitration, which is presented in the form of an alternative solution at traditional justice, is used more and more by the companies in commercial matters. This possibility tends to develop, as well at the national level as international, because of the advantages which it has at the glance procedures carried in front of the traditional courts.

The first advantage of the arbitration is in the possibility offered to the parts to choose their referees according to a certain number of criteria, which can vary according to litigations' to solve.The second advantage is due to the simplification of the procedure, insofar as the parts exempt the referees to respect the formalism imposed by the legal procedure.

In addition to its speed and its economic character, the arbitration offers the advantage of discretion, since the referees, who do not deliberate in public, are held to respect an obligation of confidentiality. The sentences (legal term given to the arbitration decisions) delivered by the referees, unlike the stops or of the judgements given by the courses and the courts, are not the subject of any publication.

The recourse to the arbitration is also appreciated at the international level, because it avoids with the parts of different nationalities carrying their litigation in front of jurisdictions whose language and procedure are generally obscure for them, even unknown.

Lastly, even if one of the parts obtains a decision of court which consolidates the defense of its interests, it is likely to encounter difficulties to enforce this judgement in the country of the opposing party, because the procedure of recognition of the foreign judgements is particularly complex in the absence of International Convention in this field. Contrary, the arbitration decision is often well accepted by the parts, which more easily carry out in fact the decision which puts a term at the litigation which opposes them.

There exists however, of the fields in which its recourse is prohibited, in particular for all that concerns the law and order,  heard like the legal organization of the life in company. Thus, for example, the arbitration is interdict in all the matters which control the state and the capacity of the people (marriage, divorce, filiation). In the field of the trade, the arbitration cannot apply as regards legal rectification of a company and thus come to replace the action of the commercial courts, the matter concerned with the law and order known as economic.On the other hand, there or it has vocation to apply, the arbitration developed considerably: if it should not inevitably be apprehended as competitor at the other techniques of the right which have the aim of settling a disagreement, the arbitration presents the merit of the effectiveness and the speed. The recourse to the arbitration can be decided either in preparation for the supervening of the litigation, or subsequently to its realization.First of all, the parts with a contract can decide to resort to the arbitration as of the negotiation and the drafting of the contract while inserting there what the right names a "arbitration clause". To be juridically valid, this clause must be written and to make appear, if not the identity of the referees, at least the methods of their designation.

Although used in a preoccupation with a precaution, such a clause present of the dangers to the people not very ready to seize the exact range of it. This is why the arbitration clause is licit only in commercial matters, i.e. when it relates to contracts concluded between tradesmen or companies, namely of the people presumedly able to defend their interests during a negotiation of businesses. This restriction is likely to protect the interests from the neophytes, and thus to avoid the economic abuses power.

The parts can also have recourse to the arbitration after the supervening of the litigation, when those are intended in order to establish a compromise of arbitration. This one, to be valid, in particular requires (as for the arbitration clause) to be noted in writing, which having to specify the nature of the litigation to be solved, the identity of the referees and the methods of their designation.

The arbitration jurisdiction can be made up of only one or several referees, always in an odd number. Generally, the arbitration jurisdictions comprise three referees, so that each part (generally two) can designate a referee, which choose the third then. The referees are physical people, selected on lists drawn up by centers of arbitration, which generally depend on the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The referees are held with the respect of the principle of the contradictory one, which means that they must convene the parts and invite them to present their arguments and means of defense, and to also take care that each one can know the content of the arguments of right which are opposite for him (it is the principle of the communication of the parts). Lastly, the referees must justify their decision, i.e. to indicate the reasons of right which justify the conclusions of their decision.

The award results from a secret deliberation of the referees, adopted in the majority of the voices. The sentence is analyzed in a true decision of court which profits from the authority of the final decision and thus prevents the parts from carrying the same litigation in front of a court. However, it does not profit from the executory force attached to a judgement or a stop. The execution of the award thus rests for a share on the volunteer tender of the parts, which recognize the legal authenticity of the award 

In the event of non-observance, by one or the other of the parts, the award, it is then necessary to require the distraint of it. In the case of France, this competence belongs to the Court of Bankruptcy, whose task consists in checking the formal regularity of the convention and the arbitration. The judge cannot examine the business at the bottom, it can return only one decision  of exequatur, allowing the part which intends to be prevailed of the arbitration decision to force its adversary to subject itself to it.

ELLIMINATION OF ILLITERACY IN THE WORLD

Ellimination of illiteracy in the world

"to be taught reading and writing", it is to be able  to read  and write.

This knowledge is essential to be able  to communicate  with the others, in company.

The elimination of illiteracy is an asset in a developed country like France, but there still exists in the world  860 million  illiterate adults. And, in the countries concerned, illiteracy touches much more the women that the men.

1.   WHY IS THIS SO SIGNIFICANT TO KNOW TO READ AND WRITE?

For a person, to learn how to read and to write is very significant: 

• to be able  to be at ease in the company: in the life of tous.les.jours, it is necessary to be able to decipher and include/understand all kinds of written information (administrative papers, notes, panels in the street, plans, etc.) ; 
•  to have access to the culture  (literature, the newspaper industry, etc.) ;
• to be able  to study. 

Moreover, on the level of a country, more there are people who make studies, more this country is equipped professors, engineers, researchers. It is like that that agriculture, industry and the services develop; it is as that also that the saving in a country progresses and that its richnesses increase.

2.   The ACCESS To EDUCATION EAST A HUMAN RIGHT

In 1948, when United Nations (UNO) adopts the universal Declaration of the humans right, it registered the right  to education there, key of the elimination of illiteracy. It creates also an international agency, UNESCO, in particular charged to promote education for all in the whole world. Each year since 1966, UNESCO celebrates on September 8 the international Day of the elimination of illiteracy.

As from the years 1960-1970, with the international assistance, the Third World countries take measures to support the schooling of the children and the elimination of illiteracy of the adults: the primary school is made compulsory and free so that all the children can reach it; courses are organized for the illiterate adults.

3.   The ELIMINATION OF ILLITERACY PROGRESSES BUT IT REMAINS STILL MUCH TO MAKE

The efforts made by the international countries and programs made it possible to make move back illiteracy: the rate of elimination of illiteracy in the world (i.e. the share of the world population fifteen years old and more which can read and write) increased  by 60 % to 80 % between 1970 and today.

But that wants to say that there are in the world 20 more % of the adults (one on five) who are illiterate, that is to say  860 million people. To this figure the 121 million children are added who do not go to the school, and who thus are not taught reading and writing either. For this reason all the countries of the world continue to be committed extending the elimination of illiteracy to those which, today, do not have access there. Within this framework, the period 2003-2012 was proclaimed "decade of the United Nations for the elimination of illiteracy".

illiteracy in the world
Central Asia  (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, India, etc.)	45 % of the adults are illiterate	35 % of the men are illiterate	55 % of the women are illiterate
North Africa and the Middle East  (Mauritania, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, etc.)	40 % of the adults are illiterate	30 % of the men are illiterate	50 % of the women are illiterate
Sub-Saharan Africa  (Senegal, Benign, Cameroun, Ccape Verde, etc.)	40 % of the adults are illiterate	30 % of the men are illiterate	50 % of the women are illiterate
Asia of South-east  (Kampuchea, Burma, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.)	14 % of the adults are illiterate	8 % of the men are illiterate	20 % of the women are illiterate
South America  (Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, etc.)	11 % of the adults are illiterate	10 % of the men are illiterate	12 % of the women are illiterate

4.   GREAT INEQUALITIES

The 860 million illiterate adults are also not distributed in the world, nor between the two sexes. There exists indeed of very great differences:

a)   Between the countries of the world

Appearance of illiteracy in the developed countries

In the countries developed like the countries of Europe, Japan or the United States, illiteracy is extremely reduced. As teaching is obligatory, the children to the school will sufficiently a long time learn how to read and write.

However, in these countries, it happens that the provided education for people learn badly (they can decipher but do not include/understand what they read) or whom they lose the use of the reading and the writing, for lack of practice: it is  illiteracy.

In France, campaigns are carried out since the end of 1980 to fight against this phenomenon which touches more than 2,5 million people.

Persistence of illiteracy in the developing countries (the DEVELOPING COUNTRIES)

In the DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, even if the elimination of illiteracy of the adults progresses, 100 million children are not provided education for. In the least advanced countries, more half of the population is still illiterate.

The principal obstacle with the elimination of illiteracy is indeed  poverty. It is about a true vicious circle: the poverty of a country makes obstacle with education and the lack of education slows down its development.

The situation is particularly alarming in South Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa (i.e. in the countries located at the south of the Sahara). The difficulty in making disappear completely illiteracy in these countries is due to several factors: 

• the insufficiency of the expenditure  devoted by the governments to education: the State does not have or does not give enough money to build schools, to provide material, to train and pay professors; 
• strong demographic growth: the more the population increases in the poor countries and the more the number of illiterates increases; 
• wars: in a country in war, the access to education does not have priority. 

b)   Between the men and the women

Illiteracy touches the women more men:  two illiterates out of three in the world are women. This situation is explained by several reasons.

There are in particular economic reasons: in the poor countries, the help brought by the girls in the domestic tasks is too significant so that the families can deprive themselves some by sending them to the school.

The cultural reasons are also significant: in many countries, the tradition still wants that the girls are not sent to the school; the access to education is reserved to the boys, while the place of the girls is at the house.

However, it is really significant that the women also can learn how to read and to write. First of all because they have the right as much as the men of it, for better living in company and reaching the culture. 

In addition, because the education of the girls is crucial for the development of a country. Indeed, when the level of education of the women increases in a country, the country is in  better health, because the woman is often a mother who can directly apply her knowledge obtained in the field of hygiene and health: the practices of hygiene are better; the children are nourished in a more suitable way; the women have less children; there is less of death during the birth or during the early childhood, because the educated women are able more to ask and obtain care before and after the childbirth. 

Finally a woman who can read and write will be more conscious of the importance of sending to the school her children, in particular her daughters.