News:
Call for Nomination of Candidates to the MMSD Assurance Group

Considerations & Approach

Current Composition

Criteria for Selecting Additional Members

Considerations for Nomination & Selection Criteria

Process for Selection
of 7 Additional Members

Table 1:
Profile of Current Assurance Group Members

Table 2: Current Distribution

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Call For Nomination of Candidates For Additional Members to the MMSD Assurance Group

The Assurance Group of the MMSD Project has established a Nominating Committee to solicit and review nominations for candidates to fill 7 additional positions on the Assurance Group, using a transparent and inclusive process. This document describes the process and criteria which will be used for soliciting and reviewing nominations and for selecting the additional members to the Assurance Group. All organizations and individuals associated with or interested in the MMSD Project are invited to submit nominations by a preliminary date of December 8th, 2000.

Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD)

The Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project is seeking suggestions and nominations from all interested individuals and stakeholders to fill 7 positions on its Assurance Group. In my capacity as Interim Chairperson of the Assurance Group, I have been asked by the Group to coordinate the work of a Nominating Committee comprising 4 other Assurance Group members and 3 outside participants. The Nominating Committee is undertaking an open and inclusive process to seek nominations and select additional members for the Assurance Group.

The attached document outlines the gaps which have been identified to ensure a well-balanced Assurance Group, states the criteria to be used in selection, and outlines the nomination and selection process we are using.

We would appreciate you and your colleagues taking the time to suggest suitable candidates. Please forward your nominations by a preliminary date of December 8th, 2000 to George Greene who is working with the Nominating Committee. Please feel free to call him directly if you have a need for further information. He can be contacted at:

George Greene
Stratos Inc.
Ottawa, Canada
ggreene@stratos-sts.com
Tel: 613 241 1001 ext 33
Fax: 613 241 4758

Sincerely,

Jay Hair
Chair, Nominating Committee
Interim Chair, MMSD Assurance Group

Nomination of Additional Candidates to the MMSD Assurance Group Considerations and Approach

Background

The Assurance Group is one of three principal bodies involved in the overall governance and management of the MMSD project at the global level, the others being the Sponsoring Group and the Work Group. The role of the Assurance Group is to ensure the independence, quality and integrity of the project. Members of the Assurance Group participate in their individual capacity. The charter or mandate of the Assurance Group, along with those of the other two governance entities, is currently under review through a process initiated by the Assurance Group at its 2nd Meeting.

Fifteen members of the Assurance Group were selected at an early stage of the project by the MMSD Project Coordinator. A sixteenth member was elected by the standing members of the Assurance Group at its 1st meeting in May 2000, and a seventeenth member was elected at its 2nd meeting in late August 2000. At this 2nd meeting, the Assurance Group decided to put in place a transparent and inclusive process for selection of 7 additional members to the Group. This is being done in order to fill gaps in the composition of the Group and to ensure that this is done in a manner which strengthens the process for nomination and selection of additional members.

The Assurance Group established a Nominating Committee comprising 4 of its current members and 3 outside participants. This group is responsible for putting in place the nomination process. Jay Hair, Interim Chairperson of the Assurance Group, was asked to coordinate the work of the Nominating Committee.

Current Composition of the Assurance Group

The 17 current members of the Assurance Group and their profile are shown in Table 1.
The current distribution of the Group membership is shown in Tables 2.

The considerations used to select the current Assurance Group members were coverage of key interests involved in the mining and minerals sector, personal qualifications including excellence, experience and public profile, balance in regional coverage and gender, and ability to participate independently in an individual capacity.

The process of selection involved the MMSD Project Coordinator and Project Director canvassing for names among a range of individual experts and stakeholder groups including within industry, among NGOs, research organizations, labour organizations and with international organizations; assessment of the list of names which was gathered in terms of the

considerations outlined above; and, approaching likely candidates to determine their interest, prior to final selection.

The current composition of the Assurance Group has a mix of expert and stakeholder interests at the table. It involves individuals with substantial expertise in a number of areas critical to sustainable development in the mining and minerals sector including mining, environmental and social policy and law; environmental and social impact assessment; nature conservation; mining finance; and, mining operations. It also has individuals from a number of identifiable constituencies including the mining industry, indigenous peoples, NGOs, academic and policy research community, labour, governments and international organizations.

Criteria for Selecting Additional Members to the Assurance Group

The current composition also suggests a number of areas which could be strengthened including:

• Constituency balance
  - NGO - those from south; those with focus on social responsibility or other mining issues
  - Labour
  - Mining industry, particularly national and smaller companies
  - Indigenous peoples
  - Community groups
  - Finance and investment sector
  - Governments - regional distribution
  - UN system
• Regional balance
  - Africa
  - Asia
  - Pacific
  - Eastern Europe
• Additional expertise
  - Social/ethical issues
  - Economic policy
  - Mining and metals technology
  - Finance
  - Environment

Considerations/Criteria for Nomination and Selection

• Sufficient depth and breadth of relevant expertise and experience to make a strong contribution to the work of the Group
• Balance and diversity across the spectrum of interests involved in and affected by mining and minerals activity
• Balance across regions
• Balance in diversity - gender, cultural
• Ability to bring voice and perspective of one or more mining and minerals constituency
• Ability to bring a global perspective to issues of policy and practice, but rooted in real-life experience with the mining and minerals sector
• Ability to participate in an individual capacity
• Willingness and availability to make necessary commitment to fully participate

Process for Selection of 7 Additional Members

The process for nomination and selection of 7 additional members is overseen by the Nominating Committee established by the Assurance Group.

Nominations will be considered from all interested individuals and stakeholder groups involved in the mining and minerals sector worldwide. Full information on the process and criteria being used to review nominations and make the selections will be available to all interested stakeholders through direct contact and mounting on the MMSD website.

Current Assurance Group members will elect the additional members, based on the identified gaps and on the considerations and criteria for selection outlined above.

Steps

1. Design draft process for nominations - early November
2. Identify and confirm 3 outside members of Nominating Committee through telephone networking with stakeholder groups currently involved with or outside MMSD's current work - mid-late November
3. Approval of the nomination and selection process (including gaps and criteria) by the Nominating Committee - late November
4. Inform stakeholders and interested individuals, and solicit nominations (preliminary dates Nov 27 - Dec 8):

• Direct e-mail contact to the MMSD stakeholder list
  
• Mounting on the MMSD website
  
• Networking among individuals inside and outside the current MMSD work

5. Collate nominations against criteria and desired gaps to be filled
6. Selection of nominees by the Nominating Committee for recommendation to Assurance Group (December 15)
7. Election of 7 new members by e-mail ballot involving all Assurance Group members (December 20)
8. Confirmation of new members' participation on the Assurance Group and invitation to 3rd Assurance Group meeting January 22 and 23.
9. Inform other MMSD bodies and stakeholder groups of results.

Table 1: Profile of Current Assurance Group Members

Table 2: Current Distribution

** certain individuals have strong background in more than one constituency
* certain individuals are resident in one region but come from another region

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