PMNCH Board and its Committees
The Board has the following responsibilities
- Endorses the Partnership's mandate and institutional framework;
- Sets policy, establishes goals, priorities and strategies for the Partnership in line with internationally agreed frameworks;
- Approves the Partnership's work plan and budget and monitors progress in their implementation;
- Mobilizes adequate funds for the effective operation of the Partnership and its strategic framework;
- Supports the PMNCH strategic priorities, i.e., political advocacy for MNC health, harmonization and accountability;
- Establishes committees of the Board and time-limited task forces and approves their terms of reference;
- Represents the Partnership to donors, countries, institutions and other appropriate fora;
- Approves Partnership publications;
- Presents a consensus recommendation to the hosting agency concerning the appointment of the Executive Director of the Partnership Secretariat, as per due process described in the host-agency Memorandum of Understanding;
- Assumes management responsibility for the Secretariat through the Executive Director and monitors his/her performance through regular reports and budget statements.
Size and composition
The Board consists of no more than 23 members selected from amongst the Partners Forum membership. Board Members represent six constituencies (see below), ensuring there is a balance between maternal, newborn and child health and between national and international institutions as well as a mix of geographical representation. The Board has a Chair and two Co-Chairs who act in support of, and in the absence of, the Chair. As far as possible, the Chair and Co-Chairs reflect a balance between maternal, newborn and child health interests and different constituencies and geographical areas.
Seats on the Board are allocated to representatives as follows:
- Academic/research/training institutions (three);
- Developing countries, represented through the Ministry responsible for health (four);
- Donor governments/agencies and foundations, including one specific seat for a foundation (four);
- Health care professional associations (three);
- Multilateral organizations with a health mandate related to MDGs 4 and 5: UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO and the World Bank (four);
- Non-governmental organizations (four);
- Optional seat which may be filled by an additional bilateral donor (one).
Board Committees
The Terms of Reference for the Committees can be found in the Board Manual, found on the right. Also find the PMNCH Governance Calendar, which contains dates for all meetings, including for the PMNCH Board, Finance and Executive Committees and planned Constituency meetings. Notes for the Record and links to all Board documents are also found on the PMNCH Governance Calendar,
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee (FC) shall be a permanent committee of the Board, reporting to the Board, and composed of five members. The FC works closely with the Director and other Secretariat staff, and is responsible for providing with advice on all policy and strategy issues that relate to finance and audit to the Board. The The Finance Committee reports to the PMNCH Board and meets (with a quorum of three), at least twice per year, just prior to the Board meeting. Five people, one of whom has appropriate financial and audit expertise, are appointed by the Board for a two-year terms, renewable once.
Executive Committee (EC)
The Executive Committee is a permanent committee of the Board. The main responsibility of this Committee is to manage Board business between Board meetings, and to provide guidance and decisions on operational issues. The EC does not take decisions on operational issues where there are expected to be controversies or differences of view without wider consultation with Board Members. The EC refers to the full Board for decisions on governance issues and other issues which are likely to be of considerable significance to the Partnership. Also, delegation of Board functions to the EC will be subject to relevant WHO regulations and guidelines, unless specific provisions are made in the Memorandum of Understanding. Find the latest available Notes for the Record on the Governance Calendar.