The permanent institutional bodies of the EITI Association are:

1. The EITI Members’ Meeting, which is held in connection with the EITI Conference;
2. The EITI Board led by the EITI Chair;
3. 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 Helen Clark and the terms of her 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.

As a non-profit, the EITI Association's funds consist of contributions from EITI Members and grants from bilateral and multilateral donors, international financial institutions an dother agencies, organisations and entities. The EITI Association may also operate through voluntary contributions in kind (Article 17). Implementing countries pay for the implementation of their EITI process. More information on the EITI's funding is available here.

The Articles of Association state that "Each Constituency decides on its rules governing appointments of Members of the EITI Association" (article 5.3). Constituencies also nominate Board members (article 8.1(ii)) and alternates (article 9.4). Constituencies and sub-constituencies agree guidelines to steer their nomination processes and often to improve accountability and information-sharing within their group. Where these are made available to the International Secretariat, they are posted and updated below.

The Articles of Association mandate the International Secretariat with keeping an updated Members' Registry at all times (article 15.3). The most up-to-date members' register is available here. Constituencies should let the Secretariat know of any changes to their membership at any time (article 5.4). See also the guidelines for constituencies and sub-constituencies here.

The EITI adopted an Openness Policy in 2013 that sets out how the EITI itself should be transparent. It states as a general principle that the documents of the EITI are public except as concerns a limited number of cases. The EITI Openness Policy can be found in Part II of the EITI Standard.

As the EITI continues to grow in depth and in size, it also continues to improve how it governs itself. The EITI Board has a Committee that presents recommendations to the Board specifically on issues of governance and oversight. The EITI Board regularly conducts internal and third-party assessments of its governance. This also includes proposing amendments to the Articles of Association for consideration by the Members' Meeting when these are necessary (article 19).