Meetings and Activities
The Supervisory Board meets regularly throughout the year to review how War Child performs against set objectives. In 2023 the Board held four regular meetings - and an additional special meeting in January to discuss the proposed governance structure for the War Child Alliance.
The structure, governance and composition of the War Child Alliance would come to dominate the Board’s discussions throughout the year. The Supervisory Board took in the lead in advising on the selection process for the new CEO and issues related to the registered trademarks and brand ownership of the Alliance.
These issues were further explored in three additional online meetings. These meetings saw the composition of the Supervisory Board for both the Alliance and new body War Child Netherlands discussed - with increased representation from programme countries and states in the southern hemisphere identified as a priority.
This process concluded with the CEO, structure and management team of the War Child Alliance all confirmed and a financial contribution model between the various War Child entities making up the Alliance agreed.
The year’s meetings also saw close examination of our day-to-day operations. Efforts surrounding the process of localization within the organisation were identified as a priority. This process aims to empower local organisations to both deliver and lead programmes on our behalf. The Board requested clarity on what this would mean in real terms for our programming - together with an analysis of potential challenges and opportunities.
The scaling strategy that will see the various evidence-based interventions developed by our Research and Development team made available to other organisations was also closely examined. An assessment of the progress made so far - and ways in which that progress could be intensified - was provided. Members were also interested in how intervention quality could be maintained while working towards maximum scaling capacity.
The outbreak of armed violence and aerial bombing in Gaza during October - and War Child’s immediate response - was discussed during that month’s meeting. Members were addressed by our Middle East regional lead and our Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
The Board’s ongoing activities also encompasses meetings of our Audit Committee. The committee is responsible for monitoring War Child’s overall financial performance, financial reporting and risk management and provides legal oversight of these activities. The Audit Committee also provides the organisation with expertise and advice in addition to supervision - reinforcing overall accountability.