<< Back To Home

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS, CSO ALTERNATIVE REP TO GAVI ALLIANCE BOARD

Monday, 11th of April 2011 Print

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Civil Society Alternate Representative to the GAVI Alliance Board

Published 15 April 2011

 The GAVI Alliance is a public-private partnership launched in 2000. It comprises partners, including UNICEF, WHO, the Gates Foundation, the World Bank, developing country governments, donor country governments, the vaccine industry, civil society groups, and research and technical health institutes. GAVI Alliance partners are represented on the Alliance Board, GAVI’s primary decision making authority on all matters related to programs and policy development. A Secretariat, based in Geneva, coordinates Alliance activities including policy development and support to countries. For more information visit www.gavialliance.org

 

GAVI has two individuals representing civil society organizations on the Alliance Board.  The term of each of these positions is two years.

The official Board Member/Representative for civil society organizations.  According to procedures established by the Civil Society Constituency Steering Committee, this will normally be the current Board Alternate.

An Alternate Member who will support the Board Member in his/her role, and serve at meetings and on key committees of the Board, as required.

 

Civil Society is one of the largest and most diverse constituencies within the GAVI Alliance. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) include non-governmental organizations, community based groups, academic and technical institutions and professional organizations. As a public-private partnership, GAVI’s engagement with civil society should reflect their major roles in global immunization and child health, and encourage the further development and inclusion of CSOs within GAVI’s governance structures.

 

Civil Society perspectives are important to GAVI’s ability to develop sound and effective

policies. Since inception, the Alliance has sought to involve representatives of the civil society constituency in its highest-level decision making authority: the GAVI Alliance Board. In June 2011 the term for the sitting CSO Board Member will expire. The Civil Society Constituency has established a mechanism for selection in which, at the end of the current Representative’s term, the Alternate will automatically be nominated as the Representative for a two-year term. Accordingly the civil society constituency must now identify a new Alternate Board Representative to serve within GAVI’s governance structure. Consequently, the GAVI CSO Steering Committee currently seeks applications for the Alternate position from civil society organizations with an interest in immunization, child health and health system strengthening.

 

All interested candidates should refer to the attached terms of references for the civil society Board Representative and Alternate when submitting their application.  Both the Board Member and the Alternate serve to represent the entire civil society constituency, not just their own organizations. Please note that the alternate Board Member will assume the full duties and responsibilities of a Board Member when acting in that capacity.

 

The below application form should be used for all applicants/nominees.

 

Please submit your application electronically to GAVI.CSO.BoardAlternate@gmail.com

 

The process and timeline for identifying the new Civil Society Board Alternate:

 

• Deadline for submission of nominations is 23 May 2011 at 17h00 (CEST/Geneva time).

 

• A Search Committee (sub-group of the GAVI Alliance civil society Steering Committee) will review nominations and propose a short list to the Steering Committee by 30th May 2011. Telephone interviews may be requested.

 

• The GAVI Alliance Steering Committee will review the short list and vote on a candidate to put forward to the GAVI Governance Committee.

 

• The final candidates (current Alternate as Board Representative and new Alternate) will be submitted to the GAVI Governance Committee for confirmation and agreement 6 July 2011.

 

• The recommendations of the Governance Committee will be presented to the GAVI Alliance Board at its meeting of 7 - 8 July 2011.  The GAVI Alliance Board is responsible for appointing new Board Members and Alternates.

 

 

Terms of Reference

GAVI Alliance Civil Society Board Member and Alternate

April 2011

 

 

Civil Society is entitled to one Representative (Member) on the GAVI Alliance Board and one Alternate.  The functions of the Board are laid out in Article 13 of the GAVI Alliance Statutes and are attached as Annex 1.  Several documents describe different aspects of the selection and functioning of Board Members and Alternates, including the GAVI Alliance Civil Society Constituency Charter (http://www.gavicso.org/pdf/GAVI%20CSO%20Charter.pdf), the GAVI Alliance Statutes  (http://www.gavialliance.org/resources/GAVI_Alliance_Statutes.pdf), and the GAVI Alliance By-Laws (http://www.gavialliance.org/resources/By_laws_June_2010.pdf).  Pertinent sections from these documents have been excerpted and synthesized into the following Terms of Reference.

 

1.    Criteria for membership on the Board

 

The Civil Society Board Member will be an employee of a CSO but will be representing the entire constituency, not just his/her organization. The Board Member will be selected based on criteria covering both organizational and individual factors.  General criteria for Board membership include the following:

 

·         The importance, or potential importance, of the Board Member’s institution or organization to GAVI’s mission;

·         The commitment of the candidate Member to GAVI activities, including representing the broad Civil Society constituency and promoting involvement of constituency partners;

·         Expertise and experience that will contribute to Board discussions;

·         Technical, geographic and gender diversity in the composition of the Board;

·         Commitment of the candidate to participate in all Board meetings and teleconferences;

·         Fluency in English.

 

In addition, the GAVI Alliance Board and its Civil Society constituency seek candidates with the following:

 

·         Senior representative with influence and decision-making authority within his/her CSO;

·         Currently and actively working in child health, immunization, public health impact, and/or health system strengthening;

·         Strong working relationship with other organizations at international, national, and local levels;

·         Partnership-building skills; ability to work well with numerous partners, particularly CS;

·         Demonstrated advocacy capacity and dedication to advancing the causes of immunization and child survival;

·         Willingness to represent a broad range of CSOs from all regions;

·         Commitment to speak out on behalf of peers and secure their feedback on key GAVI policies and decisions.

 

2.    Core responsibilities

 

Core responsibilities of the Civil Society Board Member are the following:

 

·         Attending Board meetings on a regular basis and other related meetings as required;

·         Participating in relevant committees and task groups as required;

·         Participating in the annual Board Members retreat;

·         Bringing the voices and concerns of the Civil Society constituency to the attention of the Board and in other GAVI fora;

·         Maintaining a close liaison between the GAVI Alliance Board and the constituency, including mutual exchange of ideas, issues and concerns, through website, virtual discussions, periodic meetings, etc.;

·         Fostering and, whenever required, reinforcing the partner/constituency participation in activities designed to secure the strategic objectives of the GAVI Alliance;

·         Advocating for the participation of civil society representatives in the design, implementation, and evaluation of all policies and programmes of the GAVI Alliance;

·         Creating and maintaining focus on issues of interest and importance to civil society and the GAVI Alliance CSO Steering Committee.

 

The CS Representative to the GAVI Board acts as a liaison between CS and the GAVI Alliance Board, representing the views and concerns of each side, while working to improve immunization and CSO participation in strengthening immunization, child health and in health system strengthening.

 

The Civil Society Board Representative should especially focus on the following areas:

·         Increasing the knowledge among Board Members about civil society participation in the GAVI Alliance and any new support initiatives for civil society;

·         Further developing the civil society constituency within the GAVI Alliance;

Committing to work with the Steering Committee and the Secretariat to ensure other CSO partners are kept informed of results of key discussions in the Board;

Advocating for inclusion of CSOs in deliberations, policies and activities of the GAVI Alliance;

Representing the interests of civil society and the GAVI CSO Steering Committee.

 

3. Selection and term

 

The GAVI Alliance Board CS Representative and Alternate will be nominated by the Civil Society Constituency Steering Committee.  The term of each will be two years.  The Alternate will be nominated to assume the Board position at the end of the Representative’s term.  Consequently, every two years the SC will nominate a Board Alternate and the current Alternate will be nominated to assume the Board Representative position.   Generally speaking, the Representative and Alternate will be from different geographic regions.  Attention will be paid to appropriate gender representation. 

 

The Board Representative and Alternate will be ex officio members of the Steering Committee, with voting privileges. 

 

Nominees for Board Alternate will be selected by the Steering Committee members.  Desired characteristics are described in previous sections of this document.  In April of 2011, and every two years thereafter, a solicitation for nominations will be sent to the broader CS constituency involved in maternal and child health issues.  A sub-group of the SC will review nominations and make recommendations to the entire SC for decision about nominees as Board Alternate.  Attention will be paid to ensure diverse representation geographically, balance between advocacy and service delivery organizations, and gender balance.  Prior familiarity with, and involvement in, GAVI CS activities will be considered.  The SC will vote on the nominees.

 

4. Additional functions of Board Alternate

 

In addition to substituting for the Board Representative when the Member cannot attend Board functions, the Alternate will have the following responsibilities:

Ensuring that the Representative has needed talking points for interventions at Board meetings;

Summarizing both the Representative’s interventions and subsequent discussions for dissemination to SC members;

Working actively with the SC Chair and Vice-Chair to maximize the productivity of the SC in its tasks;

Serving on Board Committees and task teams.

 

 

APPLICATION FORM

CIVIL SOCIETY ALTERNATE REPRESENTATIVE TO THE

GAVI ALLIANCE BOARD

 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION 23 MAY 17h00 (CEST/GENEVA TIME)

 

(Applications should be submitted to GAVI.CSO.BoardAlternate@gmail.com)

 

Name and contact details of civil society organization.

 

Name, title and contact details of individual who is being proposed for nomination to the Alternate Representative position.

 

Name, title and contact information of person filling out this Application.

 

Please provide us with the following information as attachments to this application:

 

1. Background information about your organization and its membership, mandate,

objectives, etc.

 

2. Statement on your understanding of the GAVI Alliance, its vision for the future, and the role of civil society in achieving that vision.

 

3. Statement on why your proposed nominee should be the civil

society Alternate Representative (and subsequently Board Representative) on the GAVI Alliance Board (see below).

 

4. Statement from your organization’s leadership that the nominee, if selected, will be able to devote at least 10% of working time to GAVI Board functions.

 

5. Curriculum vitae (CV) of the person you nominate.

 

6. A statement from the nominated individual that he/she has agreed and is willing to serve as Board Alternate and subsequently Board Representative.

 

The application, including CV, should not exceed a total number of 10 pages.

 

Please be sure to include the following information in your statement:

 

1. How would your organization represent the wide diversity of CSOs including large

international organizations, country based indigenous CSOs, CSOs both from developed and developing countries?

 

2. What staff capacity would your organization assign to this task?

 

3. How would your CSO further the development of the GAVI Alliance civil society constituency?

 

4. What activities or approaches could you undertake during your period in office?

 

5. What special strengths would your organization and representative bring to GAVI?

 

6. What partnerships and collaborations do you and your organization currently engage in?

 

 

 

Annex 1      

Functions of GAVI Alliance Board

 

As laid out in Article 13 of the GAVI Alliance Statutes, the GAVI Alliance Board is responsible for the following:

 

“The Board shall be the supreme governing body of the GAVI Alliance. It shall

possess all powers that are not expressly delegated to other bodies in the scope of

the present Statutes or the By-laws of the GAVI Alliance. 

  

“The Board shall possess the highest and most extensive authority concerning

decision-making and administration of the GAVI Alliance.  The Board shall provide

the By-laws and other internal guidelines and procedures necessary for the

administration and management of the GAVI Alliance.  In particular, the Board shall:

- Appoint Representative Board Members and Unaffiliated Board Members in

accordance with Article 10;

- Set policies and strategies for the GAVI Alliance and adopt and amend its Bylaws and other internal guidelines and procedures necessary for the

administration and management of the GAVI Alliance;

- Set operational guidelines, work plans as well as financial and business

planning;

- Determine the employment terms, appoint and, if necessary, replace the

CEO;

- Make major funding decisions, as specified in the By-laws;

- Establish a framework for monitoring and periodic independent evaluation of

performance and financial accountability of activities supported by the GAVI Alliance;

- Coordinate with outside agencies;

- Advocate for the GAVI Alliance, and mobilize resources;

- Approve the annual accounts;

- Appoint the Auditors;

- Create Standing Board Committees;

- Create Advisory Committees;

- Appoint outside legal counsel;

- Execute or authorize the execution of agreements as required to carry out the

purposes of the GAVI Alliance.

 

“The Board shall exercise all other lawful powers required to carry out the purposes of

the GAVI Alliance.” 

 

40762664