There shall be a General Conference of the Network, hereinafter referred to as the Conference, in which one delegate shall represent each institution with Full Membership. Associate Members shall have the right to participate in the deliberations of the Conference but shall not hold office or have the right to vote. Affiliate Members shall have the right to participate as observers.

The Conference shall be the supreme governing body of the Network. In fulfillment of its objectives, the Conference shall determine the policy of the Network, approve the Program of Work and Budget prepared by the Executive Committee, supervise implementation and review progress, and shall exercise other powers conferred upon it by the By-Laws.

The Conference shall meet once every two years in regular sessions, at the date and place decided upon the previous regular session. The Executive Committee shall call all Members for these meetings at least three months in advance.

The agenda for the biennial Conference shall be prepared by the Executive Committee and shall be dispatched to all Members, and to such observers as the Executive Committee shall decide to invite, not less than ninety days before the scheduled dates for the sessions.

The General Conference shall elect, in the conditions mentioned in Article IX, paragraph 1, the five members of the Executive Committee. It will also elect, among the members of the Executive Committee, a President and a Vice-President who shall act, at the same time, as President and Vice-President of the General Conference and of the Executive Committee. The term of office of the President and Vice-President will be of two years.

The Conference may meet in special session:

if at any regular session the Conference decides, by a majority of the votes cast, to meet in the following year; or

if two-thirds of the Full Members so request the President.

Such meetings shall require a minimum notice of sixty days and the agenda shall consist of exclusively of those items listed in the request for such a meeting.

Each Full Member shall have one vote at all sessions. All decisions shall be taken by simple majority vote, except for those decisions relating to amendments to these By-Laws, and those related to the dissolution of the Network (refer to item 2 of Article XV and item 1 of Article XVII). In the case of equality of votes, the President shall have a casting vote.