Legislation, policy or decree establishes the legal liability of the members of the board for failure to discharge their functions.

The selection process ensures the suitability and competence of the members of the board. The term of office of a board member and the basis for its renewal (if renewable) are clear and well defined.

Legislation, policy or decree provides for the board’s independence from political interference to implement its mandate by prescribing the selection process and by defining the grounds for removal from office solely for just cause.

Should the board delegate its functions to a subgroup of the board, to a subgroup of officers at management level and/or to external service providers, such delegated functions are well defined, documented, time bound and subject to review and approval by the board. Legislation, policy or decree provides for the responsibility of the board members for such delegated functions.

Legislation, policy or decree defines the powers and responsibilities of the board. The powers and responsibilities of the board are clearly delineated from those of the management. 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 board is the group of persons who, under the legislation or by-laws establishing the entity, is given the responsibility to govern the social security programme and to exercise oversight on its administration. The entity could be a government ministry or department, a statutory body or a private entity.

The 21 guidelines for the board support and promote the following five principles of good governance, as applied to social security institutions:

1. Accountability

2. Transparency

The following guidelines are organized in two parts.

Part A, Good Governance Guidelines for the Board and Management, provides some guidelines for the board and the management of the social security institution. The guidelines are aligned with the five identified good governance principles, including suggestions on governance structures and mechanisms to enable the implementation of the guidelines.

Most mandatory social security programmes are created by legislation, decree or some official act of government, to define the mandate of the institution that is responsible for the implementation of the programme. The mandate often draws a distinction between the “board” and “management”, with the board as the governing and policy-making body of the institution and the management as the body that administers the programme and implements the resolutions of the board.