The powers and responsibilities of the Head of Management and senior officers are clearly defined. There are no areas of ambiguity, dilemma or conflict of interest.

Legislation, policy or decree defines the powers and responsibilities of the management. The powers and responsibilities of the management are clearly delineated from those of the board. There are no areas of ambiguity, dilemma or conflict of interest.

The principle of accountability is at the heart of good governance. At a political level, it means making rulers accountable to the ruled. To enforce accountability, governance structures and mechanisms are needed to enable the principals to hold their chosen trustees legally responsible for their acts and decisions.

The management is the group of persons who, under the legislation or by-laws establishing the entity, is given the responsibility for the administration and daily operations of the social security programme.

The 23 guidelines for the management support and promote the following five principles of good governance, as applied to social security institutions:

1. Accountability

2. Transparency

3. Predictability

4. Participation

5. Dynamism

The leadership of the board motivates and inspires the institution to propose and work on innovations that would increase operational efficiency and improve the implementation of the mandate of the programme.

There is enough flexibility within the legal framework to allow the institution to introduce innovations and improvements in the administration and implementation of the social security programme, without having to amend the legislation, policy or decree establishing it.

Dynamism is the governance element of innovation or positive change, the effect of which is to henceforth improve the efficiency of an organization.

Governance may well be in accordance with the principles of accountability, transparency, participation and predictability. The principle of dynamism improves on the status quo and enables the institution to be more faithful to its mandate and to respond to the evolving needs of its members.

Legislation, policy or decree provides for the balanced representation of the different stakeholders on the board of the institution.

Participation refers to the effective involvement of stakeholders in the institution’s decision-making process to protect their interests and to support the social security programme. It is a way of building partnership between the board and the institution’s stakeholders, allowing better policy-making, improvement of trust among stakeholders and the enhancement of transparency.

Decisions of the board are applied consistently.