Participatory Review & Analysis Processes (PRAPS)

Review of 2012 Retreat and 2013 Review of 2012 Retreat and 2013 General Assembly CommitmentsGeneral Assembly Commitments

by

Constant GNACADJA,

WANEP/ECOWAS Liaison Officer

27th Feb. 2014

Beige Village

Eastern Region, Ghana

Outline

1- Issues discussed during the 2012 retreat

2- Issues discussed during the 2013 AGM

3- Permanent Issues

REPORT OF THE RETREAT OF THE WEST AFRICA NETWORK FOR PEACEBUILDING

13th – 16th February 2012, Accra – Ghana

MENSVIC HOTEL

Theme: “Consolidating WANEP’s Institutional Capacity for Peacebuilding in West Africa”.

Retreat 2012ISSUES:

Governance Programming NetworkingBudgeting Submission of Budget of national networks LiquidationCapacity building for WANEP National Networks/ Training for National Network Accountants on WANEP proceduresInstitution capacityPoliciesPolicies that need to be developedAction points 

Governance

Importance for Networks to do their best to comply with policies that are put in place

Oversight responsibility of the network by the board

Appeal for all national networks to follow the procurement procedures to ensure that all records are clear and straight forward

Appeal for the NN and the board to be on the same page in the governance system of the organisation

Networking

 In terms of membership, organisations joining WANEP should believe in the philosophy of WANEP and their programme areas should be considered.

Regional Secretariat is ready to be present at national AGMs and therefore urged NNCs to inform the regional in advance.

Budgeting

Submission of Budget of national networks  

Stressed the need for National secretariats to submit their approved annual budgets to the regional secretariat although this does not mean that the budget would be financed by the regional secretariat but is a recommendation from the SIDA audit.

Liquidations  

For purposes of accountability and audit, original receipts from suppliers/supporting documents must be attached to all liquidations of funds sent by the national networks.

National secretariats should keep their pro-forma invoices and other related documentations of the transaction for future references and audit purposes and send only the final invoice/receipt of the purchase.

 

Liquidations

It is not recommended to transfer funds into an individual/staff personal account. It was clarified that all liquidations must be submitted to the Regional Coordinator, Network Development. Some NNCs urged regional secretariat staff to educate them on the various line items under which the liquidations should be done in order to facilitate the process.

Audit

The need for National Networks to conduct annual audits and conform to donor requirements

Training for NNCs/Accountants

Training for National Network Accountants on WANEP procedures:

NNCs suggested that a forum/training on accounting procedures and liquidation be organised for national networks accountants to take them through the financial regulations and compliance as they (NNCs) may have challenges in debriefing their respective accountants. 

Appraisal

NNCs are requested to submit their completed appraisal forms;

Each NNC should also appraise staff operating in NN secretariats

Institutional capacity 

The professionalization of the boards

The need to reinforce the governing role of the national board

The need to always have a monitoring system in place and a functional governance/control system that will help the organisation to strengthen its institutional capacity.    

Policies

Need for the regional secretariat to pull out the gender policy from the HR manual and make it a stand-alone gender policy.

Policies

Policies that need to be developed:Gender policy, Procurement policy, Risk management policy, Resource mobilisation and fundraising policy, Fraud policy, Financial regulation policy.

Actions points

Appeal for exchange visits among networks to be institutionalised to encourage and strengthen one another.

Action points

The Executive Director called on WANEP-Senegal as a matter of urgency to speedily initiate the process of registering the network.

WANEP Niger and WANEP Mali will be set up since the ban has been lifted.

General Assembly (GA) 2013

GA 2013

Matters arisingWANEP Niger / WANEP Mali / WANEP Guinea

Liquidations to be sent through DHL Code of Ethics / Communication PolicyInvolvement of Zonal Coordinators (ZCs) in Monitoring of National NetworksProfessionalization of National Boards Audit National Reports  

GA 2013 Funding by National Governments – Fundraising Timely submission of National reports Networking Development of Database of Expertise Financial Regulations and Compliance Resolutions for General Assembly Approvals Argument for the professionalization of national

boards Constitutional Amendment Appointment of Audit Firm  Professional Board at the National Networks

Matters arisingWANEP Niger / WANEP MaliThe General Assembly was informed that:

WANEP- Niger had been set up and the NNC Haruna Salifou and the Board Chair Halima Amadou were introduced to the General Assembly. WANEP – Mali had been set up but was not operational because of non-performance of the former NNC. Amadou Cissé, the new NNC has been introduced to the Assembly. WANEP GuineaDelegates enquired about the status of WANEP-Guinea following the issues raised at the last General Assembly. ED responded that WANEP-Guinea has been re-organised and a New NNC recruited. The network has since been operational and is very active.

Accounting software

Participants were interested to know whether the Regional Secretariat had been able to acquire accounting software, which can be used by all the networks.

Only the Regional has updated its software which is not yet the case of NNs.

Code of Ethics / Communication Policy

Since the reflection during the retreat, a draft code of ethics has been developed for board members, for national and regional but was yet to be approved by the Regional board.

Involvement of ZCs in Monitoring of National Networks

WANEP is in the process to recruit 3 ZCs whiles the ZC for zone IV would be helpful in assisting the regional office in monitoring visits.

Professionalization of National Board

Discussions for board professionalization are still in progress at the national level since it is a strategic decision made by 3 different external evaluators.

Liquidation/ DHL

Liquidations should be sent by DHL to meet deadline and to avoid the loss of important documents.

Liquidation

Comments were made on liquidations and it has been agreed that there would be no more negotiation on liquidations. National Networks who fail to meet the criteria will have their record captured in the WANEP Sustainability Index and informed decisions will be applied to these networks. Such networks will not access funds from the Regional Office; rather, the regional Secretariat will directly implement activity in these networks.

Audit

WANEP advertises for audit services for its accounts. Shortlisted firms should be presented to General Assembly for selection and approval before a contract is awarded. Thus the need to wait for the assembly for this new procedure. However the GA was informed that plans were far advanced for auditing to begin by 15th April 2013.

National reports

National reports have been improved however participants suggested that the allocation for the presentation of reports was inappropriate since reporting constitutes the life of the network.Delegates suggested that adequate time should be allocated for the Assembly to facilitate fruitful discussions and sharing of experiences.

Funding by National Governments

There were diverse opinions on engaging National Governments to fund WANEP. While some argued that, just like in the West, Governments support NGOs in their country and outside, National Governments should also fund NGOs such as WANEP. Others were of the opinion that if national Governments gave WANEP funds, WANEP could lose its credibility since national governments try to buy organisations that they fund.  

Funding by National Governments

Mr. Awinador added that it was possible for WANEP to access funds from the various Ministries of Foreign Affairs as ECOWAS member states contribute funds that are available in those ministries for Peace and Security issues.

The meeting could not agree on the way forward but NNs were asked to brainstorm on the issue at different levels.

Fundraising

NNCs were concerned about funding issues. They expressed their frustration with raising funds. Responding to this issue, the Director of Programs said the Regional office is doing its best to raise funds to support networks but urged NNCs to look for funding opportunities whenever they attended meetings.

Timely submission of National reports

An appeal was made to NNCs to send annual reports a month ahead of time to allow enough time for the reports to be collated and streamlined before it is translated and then published.

Networking

The meeting encouraged more collaboration among national networks. Participants noted that there was disconnect in some instances between the regional and the national networks and also between national networks and its members.

Development of Database of Expertise

WANEP Regional was asked to develop a database of Peacebuilding Expertise in WANEP Networks.

Financial Regulations and Compliance

oTimely and accurate submission of liquidation

oSupport liquidation with relevant and genuine documents

oClassification and numbering of receipts

oBalances of liquidation to be sent back to the regional office

oBalance not sent will be deducted from subsequent transfer

oAdditional transfers will not be made to national offices that have not liquidated previous funds transferred

oLiquidation should be done according to budget lines

Financial Regulations and Compliance

National offices must audit their accounts and ensure that they adhere to the financial regulations embedded in the WANEP accounting manual and send a copy to the regional office for documentation.

Argument for the professionalization of national boards

The meeting again discussed the need to professionalize all national boards. This had become necessary due to the numerous conflicts and tensions being created by boards that were put in place by the tenets of the old structure in which the board members were representatives of member organisations.

 

Argument for the professionalization of national boards

It was explained that having a professional board would reduce the tension and would attract high calibre of people to the board who will not compromise on governance issue. Networks who have already embarked on the exercise shared their success story on the practice so far.

Constitutional Amendment

During the last GA, the proposal for the amendment of the tenure of the Regional board as stipulated in the WANEP constitution was adjourned in order to fulfil the constitutional procedure for amendment. The 2013 General assembly was informed that the required period of notice for constitutional amendment had been met.  

Constitutional Amendment

The new proposal was then put forward follows: “the Board’s tenure should be for 4 years for a maximum of 2 terms” - meaning 4 years term, renewable once making a total of 8 years in service) or

the board tenure should be 2 years for a maximum of 3 terms.” – meaning 2 years term renewable twice.

Constitutional Amendment

After a long debate on the proposal to adopt, the General Assembly proceeded to vote.The GA chair informed the meeting that based upon the decision which had been taken about the constitutional amendment regarding board tenure in office, two members of the current Board, Dr. Lydia Umar and Mr. Michel Mian needed to be replaced on the board since they have already served for six (6) years. National networks were asked to propose names from which 2 will be elected onto the board.

Constitutional Amendment

In order not to leave these positions vacant till the next GA in 2015, delegates to the General Assembly were asked to make a proposal. After consultations, the GA decided that the two board members stay in the board until the next general assembly. This decision was moved by M. Malcolm Joseph, Board Chair of WANEP-Liberia and seconded by Ms. Edelfride Barbosa, Board Member, WANEP-Cape Verde.  

Constitutional Amendment

However, just after this decision was taken, some delegates observed that by the next GA in 2015, all the 7 board members would have served for 6 years and would have to be changed, meanwhile, per the constitution, two board members of a previous board are supposed to stay for the purposes of continuity. The GA deliberated on the issue and resolved to still keep two members of the current board while headhunting for the other 5 members. National offices would be informed well in advance for the process to begin before decisions are made at the next General Assembly.

Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs &ECOWAS Vice President with WANEP Board

Appointment of Audit Firm

As part of the SIDA recommendations, WANEP has engaged the process of recruiting an audit firm. WANEP used to work with KPMG but the policy in that domain now is to appoint an audit firm every four (4) years to audit WANEP’s accounts. Unfortunately, only one application was received at the time of the meeting and so there was no shortlist of firms to be presented to the GA. The issue was discussed thoroughly and the members of the General Assembly empowered the Regional board to do the selection of the auditing firm when more applications are received.

Professional Board at the National Networks

The GA resolved that each National Network must have a professional board as stipulated in the Regional Constitution.

All national constitutions must be amended to include this.

Recurrent points from the 2 meetings

REPORTS SUBMISSIONS

LIQUIDATION

PROFESSIONAL BOARD

POLICIES

NETWORKING

GOVERNANCE

Improvement and Challenges

o Reportso Liquidationso Resource mobilizations

o However some NNs are still hanging behind;

o Only hard work pays and we encourage you to take example from NNs which are having success stories.

Thank You