Public Participant Adhesion

Country governments, economies, cities and regions (represented if so wished by an authoritative public institution), can adhere to GEM and become a Public Participant.

Why participate in GEM?

Shape and guide GEM. Due to their position on GEM's governing board, Public Participants are able to guide and shape GEM so that it not only serves a humanitarian purpose, but also provides input for updating and improving national policies.

Impact on the population. GEM will deliver accurate and uniform information which is of major importance to the country's population: 1) based on the cost-benefit analyses GEM will deliver, adequate funds for earthquake management can be set up; 2) the databases and tools GEM will deliver can be used to improve building norms and codes and thus enhance earthquake mitigation; 3) educational material, interactive maps and other tools will be available and will be actively promoted to increase awareness among the population.

Input for decision-making. Many countries, economies and regions have overseas investments and interests with neighbouring and other areas. GEM supports decision-making on assets spread out throughout the world.

Invest in national and regional activities. A public entity participating in GEM has the right to invest up to 50% of its contribution in GEM-related activities in its own region. GEM-related activities could include research activities within the scope of GEM's scientific framework, workshops, training sessions, etc.

Enjoying a first-mover-advantage. As a Public Participant a public entity will have early access to data and products produced by GEM.

Insight in socio-economic impact. As one of the few initiatives in the world, GEM will provide scientifically based models and estimations on social-economic impact of earthquake risk throughout the world.
 

Requirements
A country that wants to become a Public Participant in GEM, has to agree to contribute financially to GEM's five year build-up programme (2009-2013).

Basic financial contribution of a country is based on its Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD). This expected financial contribution will be updated every year using the most recent complete data from the OECD.

Procedure
If your economy or region  is interested in becoming one of GEM's participants, or if you belong to a Public Institution that could represent the entity in GEM, please contact GEM's Secretary General.

• One will then enter into negotiations to formulate a Adhesion Agreement. In this agreement the rights and duties of both parties are clearly set out. The agreement will subsequently be submitted to the Governing Board, indicating the envisaged financial contribution, together with the name of the participant's proposed representative in the Governing Board.
• As Public Participants may chose to utilize up to 50% of their financial contribution for GEM-related activities in their economy/region; the proposed activities will be reviewed by the Scientific Board and are subject to approval by the Governing Board.

As soon as the Governing Board approves the Adhesion Agreement, the representative named by the Public Participant will be formally included in the Governing Board.