Membership and observer status in SESAME is open to potential initial Members and Observers, other States and international organisations.
The procedure for joining SESAME is different for:
- a potential initial Member or Observer, i.e. an entity that was a Member or Observer in the international Interim Council of SESAME that preceded the permanent Council that was set up once SESAME formally came into existence on 15 April 2004; and
- other States and international organizations which were neither Members nor Observers in the international Interim Council of SESAME that preceded the permanent Council.
A POTENTIAL INITIAL MEMBER OR OBSERVER wishing to join the Centre as a Member or Observer is to send the Director-General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), which is the depository of the Statutes of SESAME, a notification of acceptance of these Statutes, stating whether it is membership or observer status that is being requested. If it is membership that is being sought, this notification is to be signed by the country's Head of State, Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs. If it is observer status that is being sought, it is sufficient for this notification to be signed by the country's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO.
OTHER STATES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS wishing to join the Centre as a Member or Observer are to send notification of this to the President of the SESAME Council and to indicate whether it is membership or observer status that is being requested. They are to do so by addressing a letter to the President of the SESAME Council c/o of the Director of SESAME. Membership and observer status of other States and international organizations is subject to a decision taken by a two-thirds majority of the SESAME Council. The President of the SESAME Council communicates the decision taken by the SESAME Council to the State/organization seeking to join SESAME. In the case of a positive decision by the Council, the President of the SESAME Council also communicates the decision to the Director-General of UNESCO, and the State/organization is then to send the Director-General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), which is the depository of the Statutes of SESAME, a notification of acceptance of these Statutes, and to state whether it is membership or observer status that is being sought. In the case of a State seeking membership, this notification is to be signed by the country's Head of State, Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the case of a State seeking observer status, it is sufficient for this notification to be signed by the country's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO.