TWN Structure

GOVERNANCE

TWN-Africa was established in 1994 under Ghanaian law as a non-profit company limited by guarantee. It is the autonomous Africa section of Third World Network (TWN), an independent non-profit coalition of organizations and individuals engaged in advocacy on issues related to development, environment and North-South affairs. It seeks a greater articulation of the needs and rights of the peoples of the South, especially marginalized social groups, a fair distribution of the world's resources and forms of development which are ecologically sustainable and fulfill human needs.

Four main levels of governance are recognised and accounted for in the work of TWN-Africa. At the narrowest but legally most important level is the issue of corporate governance of TWN Africa under Ghanaian law. Secondly there is governance in relation to the approval and supervision of TWN's overall work programme. Thirdly there is governance as it involves the ownership and participation of TWN's partners in the management of programme implementation. Finally there is the internal governance of the Secretariat, especially the role of all staff in the decision making process. Though there are overlaps but the four areas have independent significance.

Corporate governance: Under Ghanaian law the highest decision making of a company limited by guarantee is the general meeting of subscribers to which the Executive Council (EC) is accountable, and which must meet at least once a year. However the Executive Council (Board of Directors) has a critical role in shaping the strategic orientation of TWN-Africa's work and is the institution to which the management is immediately accountable. In that sense both TWN-Africa's subscribers and EC play key roles in both corporate and programme governance.

The EC has overall responsibility for approval and supervision of the organisation's work programme and financial management and is the structure to which the Coordinator reports. The 7 members of the EC (4 men and 3 women) were selected according to the following criteria. 1) personal attributes and standing , 2) links with TWN's work areas, 3) African geographical spread, 4) gender balance and 5) possible availability to take part in TWN's affairs.

The chairperson Professor Akilagpa Sawyerr, is a past President of the Council for the Development of Economic and Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Africa's premier social science network. The EC meets at least once a year but in between their meetings the management retains an active interaction with its chairperson.

Role of partners in programme design and implementation: Partners play a number of roles. The fullest level is exemplified by the decision making processes in a fully fledged network such as the Africa Trade Network (ATN) which TWN-Africa initiated and coordinates. ATN brings together nearly 40 organisations from 15 African countries engaged in advocacy on defined trade policy issues. At the other extreme is the Consultative meeting of partners of TWN-Africa which has been held twice (1994 and 1996) where TWN-Africa's key partners evaluated the organization's work and its future programme. In between these extremes each of the programme areas have developed various ways through which partners input into decision making.

Governance at Secretariat level: The Coordinator is the chief executive of the organisation and carries out his functions with the support of a management team comprising himself, the Heads of Programmes and Finance & Administration. The Coordinator, the Head of Programmes, the Head of Finance & Administration and the Gender Policy Advisor are the principal officers of TWN-Africa. All staff, particularly programme staff however play an important role in the design of programme and evaluation of programme implementation.

The formulation of programme work and periodic reports is participatory. It draws from a collective review, through drafting of programme and report outlines by the responsible officers back to a group discussion before the finalisation of these by the coordinator. This approach extends to the drawing up of operational budgets. Linked to this efforts are made to keep staff fully informed of developments as well as maintain channels for feed back and discussion of staff concerns. The right to form a trade union is guaranteed by Ghana's 1992 Constitution and reflected in TWN-Africa's conditions of service.