Create a National Committee

Are you considering creating a national committee? The Application Pack explains the roles and responsibilities of national committees, the rights of each committee, and the process that must be followed, as well as links to all the documents needed.

Please note Article 11 of the Blue Shield Statutes 2016:

stylized image of white balanced scales on a circular royal blue background

The distinctive emblem may be used alone only as a means of identification of: (b) the persons responsible for the duties of control in accordance with the Regulations for the execution of the Convention;

First – check if a Blue Shield national committee already exists in your country. Look at our page Around the Globe.

A national committee already exists in my country:
Please contact them directly using the details on that page to receive information on their membership process.

There is no national committee in my country, and I wish to found one:
Applicants wishing to found a national committee will find all the details in this pack. The first step is to become the nominated Blue Shield Representative. Once you have been approved as the representative of Blue Shield in your country, you may begin the process of founding a committee.

There are 7 documents in the Application Pack, which contain all the information you need to create a committee:

  • Document 1 – Creation of a Blue Shield National Committee: Information, Process and Guidelines
  • Document 2 – Application form
  • Document 3 – Declaration Form
  • Document 4 – Statute Guidance
  • Document 5 – The Blue Shield Logo – Guidance for Use
  • Document 6 – The Blue Shield Rules and Principles, and the 2000 Strasbourg Charter
  • Document 7 – The Blue Shield Approach.

Applicants are required to follow these steps to create a national committee of the Blue Shield.

(Please use English to complete your application unless otherwise agreed with the Secretariat. Completion in languages other than English may lead to a delay in processing your application.)

Process Stage One: Nominated Representatives

1. BSI Secretariat must be informed about the planned application. The point of contact is Dr Emma Cunliffe at Newcastle University, England – emma.cunliffe (@) ncl.ac.uk

2. A person wishing to become the nominated representative for the proposed committee should email the Secretariat for Blue Shield International with:

  • a CV with referees;
  • three Letters of Reference indicating their professional suitability to act on behalf of the Blue Shield;
  • signed support letters (in English, unless otherwise agreed) from the national representatives of the four founding organizations ICA, ICOM, ICOMOS and IFLA (or mutually agreed national equivalents, as detailed in the Membership Guidance in Section 3). These should come from the highest authority in the organisation, with the power to speak for the organisation. If this is not possible, you should discuss this with the BSI Secretariat.
    (More information on the Letters of Reference and Letters of Support is available in the Guidance pack)
  • brief details of the proposed committee they intend to form, including members and brief key aims (for example, disaster relief, armed forces training).

3. Blue Shield International will assess applicants: this can take up to 8 weeks.

4. Once a decision is reached, the nominee will be informed by the Secretariat,

5. The Secretariat will then support successful Blue Shield representative (called the National Correspondent) to complete the documentation and act as a liaison during the accreditation process.

Process Stage Two: Committee Creation

6. The Application Form (Document 2) must be accurately filled in in English (unless otherwise agreed). The Accreditation Committee can review and advise on drafts of all forms.

  1. The proposed national committee should refer to Appendix 1 – Membership Guidance for advice on committee structure and membership composition.
  2. The proposed national committee should also refer to Appendix 2 – Areas of Activity to complete the Areas of Activity section of the Application Form.
  3. The Chairperson of the proposed national committee must sign and date the Application Form.

7. The proposed national committee should draw up draft statutes in line with Document 4 -Statutes Guidelines. Please also refer to the Blue Shield Articles of Association (Statutes), and Document 5 – The Blue Shield Logo – Guidance for Use.

8. All proposed members of the new national committee should read Document 6 – Rules and Principles of the Blue Shield and the Strasbourg Charter.

9. All proposed members of the new national committee should read Document 7 – The Blue Shield Approach.

10. The Chairperson/ President of the proposed Committee must complete the Declaration Form (Document 3); it must be signed by all the founding members of the national committee.

11. The nominated representative must send the following documents to the BSI Secretariat in order for the application to be processed:
emma.cunliffe (@) ncl.ac.uk.

  1. Application Form
  2. Statutes
  3. Signed Declaration Form

12. The Secretariat will reply within one week to confirm receipt of your documents – except in cases of sickness or annual leave, where the sender will receive an out of office notification.

13. The Secretariat will log and then forward the documents to the Accreditation Committee, a sub-committee of the International Board.

14. All documents will be reviewed by the Accreditation Committee, which will work with the national Blue Shield Representative to revise the documentation as required. Draft statutes must be approved by the Blue Shield International Board before they are registered in the country, even if there is no intention for the new national committee to be registered in national law of the country. Draft statutes must be supplied in English, and the final version in English and in the original language. Please note: it can take up to 8 weeks for the International Board to review draft Statutes and provide feedback.

15. Once final versions of all documents are received, the Accreditation Committee will consider the application. Although the Secretariat will check the documentation as it is received, and the BSI Secretariat will provide assistance at each step, the committee may ask for additional information, which may delay the process. This may take approximately 8 weeks.

16. Once the Accreditation Committee has confirmed the documentation is in order, the application will be passed to the Blue Shield International Board meeting. New committees are approved at the June and December meetings.

17. A formal recognition letter will be sent from Blue Shield International to the new national committee within one month of approval.
The Committee should retain this letter in its records.

18. The secretariat will also supply a Blue Shield email for the new committee and assist the new committee in generating branding as required.

19. Candidates must provide regular updates to the BSI Secretariat on the progress of committee creation. Documents should be submitted within one year of approval of the nominated representative. If it is not possible to do so, the candidate must inform BSI, explaining the reason.

Remember, the Secretariat is available to help at all stages of your application process.

NOTE: the process described here and approved by the Blue Shield International Board must be formally approved by the Blue Shield General Assembly at its 2020 meeting, in line with the Blue Shield Statutes (2016): Article 3.1:

“A National Committee will be endorsed by the Board once the proposed National Committee has met the obligatory requirements satisfactorily as set out by the Board and agreed by the General Assembly.”

National committee accreditation received between 2017 and 2020 must be considered conditional until this process is approved.

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