Membership and Observer status of SESAME is open to potential initial Members or Observers, all other States and international organisations. Associate Membership is open to all States and international organizations.
ACCESSION TO MEMBERSHIP
The procedure for joining SESAME as a Member is different for:
- a potential initial Member and Observer, i.e. an entity that was a Member or Observer of 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
- all other States and international organizations which were neither Members nor Observers of the international Interim Council of SESAME that preceded the permanent Council.
A POTENTIAL INITIAL MEMBER OR OBSERVER wishing to join the Organization as a Member 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 that it is seeking membership. This notification is to be signed by the country’s Head of State, Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs.
ALL OTHER STATES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS wishing to join the Organization as a Member are to send notification of this to the President of the SESAME Council. They are to do so by addressing a letter to the President of the SESAME Council c/o of the Director of SESAME. Membership of all 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 become a Member. 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 indicate that it is seeking membership. This notification is to be signed by the country’s Head of State, Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs.
ACCESSION TO ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP
The procedure for accession to Associate Membership, whether as an Observer cum Associate Member or as a Prospective Member, is the same in both cases. It is subject to a decision taken by a two-thirds majority of the SESAME Council.
In both cases, the entity is to notify the President of the SESAME Council of its request to accede to Associate Membership. It is to do so in a letter addressed to the President of the SESAME Council c/o of the Director of SESAME.
The President of the SESAME Council communicates the decision taken by the SESAME Council to the entity seeking Associate Membership.
ACCESSION TO OBSERVER STATUS
The procedure for joining SESAME as an Observer is identical to that for accession to full Membership except that the notification of acceptance of the Statutes of SESAME to be sent to the Director-General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is to state that it is observer status that is being sought, and this notification may be signed by the country’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO instead of by its Head of State, Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Currently, no new entity is being admitted as an Observer.
This is because by 43 C/Decision 3 at its 43rd meeting on 4-5 December 2023, the SESAME Council decided that with effect from 1 January 2024, and for three years until 31 December 2026, it will not approve increases in the existing number of Council Observers. Instead, it will encourage entities interested in joining SESAME to do so in the capacity as full Members or Prospective Members in SESAME’s Associate Membership category of Members. This will permit the entities joining SESAME to take a more active role in the activity of the Organization. In the case of a request for observer status that does not increase the number of existing Observers, the Council may grant the status of Observer in exceptional cases and on a case-by-case basis, after careful examination of the request and what the entity will bring to SESAME whether in terms of expertise or funding, and a strategic discussion by the Council. At the end of the three-year period, the Council reserves the right to extend this measure for a further three-year period.