Who chairs the meetings of States parties? The rules of procedure of meetings of states parties provide for the election of a chairperson to conduct the meeting. In accordance with established practice, the chairmanship of the meetings rotates through the regional groups in alphabetical order as follows: •  African States •  Asian and Pacific States •  Eastern European States •  Latin American and Caribbean States •  Western European and Other States The nomination of the chair is made through the chair of the regional group for the month preceding the date of the election. The secretariat writes to the chair of the regional group about one month before the election to request him or her to consult with States parties within the regional group. The nomination must be for the representative of a state from the regional group which is also a state party to the treaty in question. The nominee is normally the permanent representative or deputy permanent representative in the mission. If there are no States parties to the treaty in question from a particular regional group, that group is skipped and the chairmanship will be offered to the next regional group in the order. If there is only one State party to the treaty in question from a particular regional group, the chairmanship will be offered to that State; if it declines to assume the role, the chairmanship will be offered to the next regional group in order. The rules of procedure also require the election of up to four vice-chairpersons. This allows for each of the remaining regional groups to nominate a vice-chairperson 20