The permanent institutional bodies of the EITI Association are:
- The EITI Members’ Meeting, which is held in connection with the EITI Conference;
- The EITI Board led by the EITI Chair;
- The EITI Secretariat led by the Executive Director.
In accordance with the Articles of Association, the EITI arranges a Global Conference at least every three years (article 6). This provides an international forum for EITI stakeholders to further the objectives of the EITI. A Members’ Meeting is organised alongside the Global Conferences with the three constituency groups: countries, implementing and supporting; companies, including institutional investors; and civil society organisations (article 7). The Members' Meeting aims to adopt all decisions by consensus. In the event that a vote is necessary, the votes of the three constituencies are equally balanced. A main task of the Members’ Meeting is to appoint the EITI Board (article 8). Constituencies agree among themselves their membership of the Association and who they wish to nominate to the EITI Board (article 5).
Between these Conferences and Members’ Meetings, the EITI Board oversees the activities of the EITI through regular Board meetings, committee meetings and frequent Board circulars (articles 12-14). The EITI Board has 21 members, with the different constituencies being entitled to representation (article 9). The Board is represented by the EITI Chair (article 11). The current Chair is Fredrik Reinfeldt and the terms of his contract are available here.
The EITI Chair:
- Acts as chair of the EITI Members’ Meeting;
- Acts as chair of the EITI Board Meeting;
- Presents the EITI Board report to the EITI Conference and the EITI Members’ Meeting;
- Represents the EITI Board in external matters;
- Follows up with the EITI Secretariat regarding the implementation of the resolutions of the EITI Board; and
- Seeks to foster collaborative relationships between EITI stakeholders.
The EITI International Secretariat is responsible for the day-to-day running of the EITI Association (Article 15). The International Secretariat is led by an Executive Director who reports to the EITI Board through the Chair (Article 16). A considerable amount of technical assistance is provided to countries implementing the EITI. Much of this is provided by the World Bank. There are many other providers of technical assistance to EITI processes, including German GIZ, the regional banks, DFID, the Norwegian and Australian governments.
The EITI’s governance structure provides stakeholders with a number of tools to voice and act upon grievances.