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Governance bodies

Who governs Consumers International?

The Consumers International (CI) governing bodies consist of the:

• General Assembly
• Council
• Executive

General Assembly

The General Assembly consists of the Voting Delegates of the Full Members of CI and must take place at least once in any four-year period.

The General Assembly has the following duties to:

• Elect a President, who is the Chairperson of the General Assembly, of the Council and of the Executive
• Elect the Members of the Council to serve until the next meeting of the General Assembly
• Establish the general policies that the Council and the Executive should act upon, and to make resolutions for these purposes
• Approve or to withhold approval from the whole or any part of reports submitted on behalf of the Council
• Amend CI's Memorandum or Articles of Association
• Liquidate CI under the provisions of these Articles.

Council

The Council comprises:

• the President
• 13 members directly elected by the General Assembly, and
• up to six other members co-opted by the elected members.

All members serve four year terms. There are no limitations on re-election/re-appointment.

The Council has two principal tasks:

• It has various specific duties as the Board of the organisation (for example, in financial oversight and reporting, and in appointing the Director General).
• It is also charged with establishing general policies - that is, setting strategic direction and priorities.

CI specifically separates the strategy-setting role of the Council from programme management and implementation, which are functions carried out by the Director General and staff.

Council members are not expected to participate in the day-to-day management of CI. However, they regularly take part in and contribute to CI programmes and campaigns, either as individual experts/representatives of their own organisations or as spokespersons for CI. The Council normally meets once in each calendar year.

The Executive

The CI Executive is a smaller body of eight members, who must meet at least twice a year and have decision-making roles delegated by the full Council.

For details of individuals and organisations that sit on the CI Council and Executive 2007-2010, visit our Who's Who page.