The ICMI Executive Committee has adopted some basic guidelines and criteria about (minimum) requirements for granting the status of an ICMI Regional Conference to a conference under planning.

Two crucial aspects are that

• the conference should be genuinely international (perhaps at a regional level), and not just a national activity;
• the conference should aim for high standards of scientific quality, with a planning and organizing structure that assures this.

To ensure the standards of the conference, a broadly representative International Program Committee (IPC) should be appointed, with some indications of the desired qualities of its membership. It would have primary responsibility for the design of the scientific program and the choice of presenters. If possible, the IPC should have a face-to-face meeting. Should this not be possible, it should have extensive communication regarding its charge.

An ICMI representative to the IPC should be named by the ICMI Executive Committee. In addition to participating and advising, this representative would act as a liaison to the ICMI EC, and contribute to meeting the scientific standards to which the conference aspires. This should be done in ways that respect both the values of ICMI and the local conditions. This ICMI representative should have at least one face-to-face meeting with the primary organizers of the conference.

Those planning to apply for a conference being approved as an ICMI Regional Conference should contact the ICMI Secretary-General. They must provide evidence of a broad national support of the meeting as well as a fair degree of regional support. Organizers are encouraged to select a theme that is of specific significance to the region at issue.  As regards the expected participants, the organizers should show a clear regional scope. Moreover provisions should be made to facilitate the participation of people from non-affluent countries in the region.

After the conference, a report in English is to be prepared for publication on the ICMI Website. 

ICMI sometimes contributes some financial support, particularly when the Regional Conference takes place in a part of the world where the needs are greater. But such a support is always rather modest. Still it is hoped that with the support of ICMI — both moral and eventually financial — attached to the conference, the local organizers are in a better position to raise, either locally or regionally, the support they need, financially and otherwise. If ICMI is asked to provide financial support, a budget and a subsequent brief account, both in gross terms, should be made available to the ICMI EC. Normally, only regional conferences to be held in non-affluent countries will be eligible to a financial support from ICMI.