Governance

At the end of 2010, IFHP changed its governance structures and procedures and now runs along "Cabinet-Parliament-People" lines, where the Members elect their representatives to the highest authority, the Council, which in turn monitors the Board that operates within an approved annual programme and budget.

More information on the Board Members and Council Members.

The next Council roundtable and meeting will be held on Sunday 9th June, from 10:00 to 15:00 in London, UK, in conjunction with the IFHP Centenary Congress. Read more

IFHP Governance structure in brief

Governance is not a goal in itself but a means to achieving a goal. The goal is to transform and sustain IFHP into its second century - and good governance is one good tool to achieve that.

1. The aim of the new governance structure is to create an efficient and effective organization and to encourage an active membership.

The chosen structure was one of “People-Parliament-Cabinet”: Members elect a Council that elects a Board which manages IFHP affairs within annual financial and content frameworks that are in turn approved and monitored by the Council. The Board appoints a CEO as head of the Secretariat and the CEO operates directly under the authority of the Board.

2. The Council is the highest authority of the IFHP and meets at least once a year - in practice linked to the annual congress. Both the Board and the Council can call extraordinary Council meetings. The Council has three roles: as approver, as supervisor and as sparring partner that provides on-going comments and advice on the running of IFHP affairs. It is up to the Council to approve the Annual Report, the Subscription fees and the Principles of the budget and to elect a President and members of the Board and to elect an Auditor.

The Council elects one of its members as President, who will also be the Chair of the Council and of the Board. The Council further elects 5 IFHP members to the Board - not necessarily members of the Council. The President and Board members are elected for terms of 2 years - the President and two members in even years and three other members in uneven years.

The Council is constituted of IFHP members. Each country can hold a maximum of 3 seats. If a country has a National Chapter, then a representative of that National Chapter will occupy one of those seats. Council members have the role of promoting IFHP activities in their own country.

Council elections are held every 3 years. The procedures for these elections are laid down by the Council in the ‘Council Election Rules’. The first election was in the first quarter of 2011. The subsequent election will be in the first quarter of 2014, right after the Centenary. If there are no more than 3 candidates from a given country they will fill the seats without election.

Any member of IFHP, who fulfils the age requirements and who has been a member for at least 6 months prior to the elections, can stand as candidate for Council membership. All paid up Members at the time of the announcement of Council elections are entitled to vote for candidates for Council membership. Individual members can cast one vote on three candidates and representatives of corporate members can cast two votes on three candidates.

3. The Board, consisting of President, Deputy-President, Treasurer and three members, operates within a set of rules laid down by the Board in the ‘Board Procedure’. It is responsible for the overall management of IFHP activities in accordance with the ‘Articles of Association’ approved by the Council.

4. The CEO as Head of the Secretariat is responsible for the day-to-day management of IFHP in compliance with written ‘General Instructions to the CEO’ laid down by the Board. The Board is also obliged to meet at least twice a year, but in practice meets 4-5 times.

DOWNLOADS

Strategic Plan: English | French | German

Strategic Action Plan (2011-2013) Seven Pillars: English