IM Swedish Development Partner drilled its NGO partners on how to strengthen Board governance for development. This was done at a dissemination workshop facilitated by The Institute for Policy Research and Social Empowerment (IPRSE) who were contracted by IM to do the Needs Assessment and Performance of partners’ Boards and training the same on the findings. The training workshop took place on Monday, 15^th March 2021 at Ufulu Gardens in Lilongwe, Malawi.

The issues that were covered in the assessment by IPRSE included: Composition of the Board and Appointment of Members; Knowledge of functions and roles of the board; Collaboration between Board and Executive Management; Board meetings and minutes; Oversight and Policy Direction;  Board Development, Evaluation and Succession and Resource Mobilization. This was part of Capacity building on governance for IM partners who included Council for NGOs in Malawi – CONGOMA, Civil Society Education Coalition – CSEC, Women’s Legal Resources Center  – WOLREC, Center for Youth Empowerment and Civic Education – CYECE and Center for Environmental Policy and Advocacy – CEPA. The purpose of the assessment was to identify areas that require interventions for enhancing the development and performance of the Boards.

Among other things, on the Composition and Appointment of the Boards, it was recommended that Boards should have diverse skills to be able to perform their roles i.e. Finance, Management, HR, Programs, legal etc. and that there should be a criteria for appointment of members- spelt out in constitution or Articles of Association or similar constitutive or founding instruments.

Recommendations were also made in the assessment report which included;

1. Improve on sharing of minutes and other board documents before the meetings to give enough time to board members to read for effective contributions.
2. Improve on board development to ensure members have requisite skills to run board business.
3. Improve board engagement in resource mobilization. (More resources will entail regular meetings are conducted).
4. Start board self-evaluation to enhance board performance.
5. Promote diversity of skills on the boards. (For boards that are elected).

Some of the participants of this dissemination and training session made comments and observations.

Mr. Simekinala Kaluzi of CONGOMA said that the workshop had exposed some gaps in the way the institutions were conducting themselves especially in governance, therefore they have a role to play in making sure that proper procedures are followed in electing board members and how boards complement NGO operations. Kaluzi said there is a lot that they have learnt through this assessment and the institutions will have to strategize and reorganize themselves in pursuit of the shared practices.

Tawonga Kayira, who is the Regional Chairperson for CONGOMA for the Northern Region attended the training and observed that CONGOMA needs to take ownership especially in setting out criteria and ensuring gender mainstreaming as a key part in the board selection process. As much as CONGOMA cannot change how elections are conducted, it still needs to lay down criteria to influence the process. For example, 60/40 rule on affirmative action as outlined in the Gender Equality Act and SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.