Board Decisions

GF/B03/DP09

Approved by the Board on: 10 October 2002

Board Meeting Principles

1. The Board will have three regular in-person meetings per year, two to be held in Geneva and one to be held in a recipient country (with optional visits, as appropriate, to programs supported by the Global Fund before or after the meeting). The location of the recipient country of Board meetings will rotate appropriately between regions. Meetings will generally be kept to two days in length. Committees will normally meet before and/or after the Board meetings, at the discretion of the committee chair and depending on their program of work. When deciding on the location of meetings, due consideration will be given to ensuring that delegations are not faced with any difficulties in visiting the selected country, especially as regards visa requirements.
2. The Board Chair/Vice Chair are empowered to make decisions on matters within their discretion between Board meetings . These decisions will be presented to the Board at its next meeting. (Legal advice will be sought on whether the implementation of this decision requires a change to Article 17 of the By-Laws). The Board will review and may modify or reverse these decisions during the next Board meeting. If, in exceptional circumstances, the ED and Board Chair/Vice Chair determine that a pending issue requires Board input, and the issue cannot wait until the next Board meeting, the Board Chair/Vice Chair will consult with Board members. (Such Board input will, wherever possible, take the form of consultations that inform the decision of the Board Chair/Vice Chair, rather than formal Board decisions).
3. The Board Chair/Vice Chair will be able to call an in-person emergency Board meeting, in extraordinary circumstances only (e.g. major financial, legal and/or ethical issues, loss of confidence in leadership), and only with support of at least one-third of the members of the Board. Any Board member, or the ED, will be able to suggest the need for an emergency meeting to the Board Chair/Vice Chair. The Board Chair/Vice Chair will have reasonable discretion, as required under the circumstances, to change the normal procedural guidelines for Board meetings for an emergency Board meetings (e.g., provision for delegations, translation services, etc.).
4. The Secretariat and Board Chair/Vice Chair will develop the Board meeting agenda, which will be approved by the Board at the beginning of each meeting.
5. The Secretariat will prepare synthesized options, recommendations, and supporting rationale (maximum of ten to fifteen pages per agenda item) and distribute it three weeks in advance of the Board meeting. Items requiring decision will be clearly identified and prioritized.
6. The Governance and Partnership Committee should develop a few basic, enforceable procedural rules for consideration by the Board at the January Board meeting