Director’s
Message
“Effective
self-governance is rooted in moral values. Basic virtues such
as honesty, integrity, and the golden rule, ‘Do unto
others as you want them to do unto you’, are the building
blocks of effective self-governance.”
David C. Richardson, Unorthodox Micro finance: The Seven
Doctrines of Success, The Micro Finance Bulletin, Issue No.
4.
 The
lead article in this issue of New Horizons is based on a presentation
made at the March 2000 Asia/Pacific Regional Workshop on the
governance of National ECLOF Committees. The workshop had
a special emphasis on the role of Board members and management.
A supplementary article on the role of the Chairperson of
a NEC has been contributed by Maria Blanca Juelle, the recently
retired Chairperson of FEDU (ECLOF Uruguay).
With
the introduction of ECLOF’s three year rolling credit
plan, agreed Global Policy Guidelines and minimum standards,
and the consequent greater attention given to performance,
the role of ECLOF boards has come into greater focus.
In
making his presentation, ‘How the Road to Hell is Paved
With Good Intentions’, Mr. Kandasami categorised boards
into rubber stamp boards, representational boards, hands on
boards and multi-type boards.
Experience in many NECs has shown that the more competent
a NEC Board and its office bearers are, the higher the chances
are of a successful credit programme. We have also seen that
without commitment to ECLOF’s vision and values, an ECLOF
Board with qualified and competent board members may still
be directionless. A NEC Board may contain professional and
business people but in some cases their involvement seems
to be to pour out their angst and guilt as they accept mediocre
performance, and allow standards they would never accept in
their offices. There are some NECs who have faced major challenges
but, due to the guidance and environment provided at board
level, they have been able to face up to the challenges and
seek alternative solutions and strategies.
We
have been impressed by one NEC that faced major leadership
problems at Board and Management level. The NEC board concluded
that its President was partially responsible and through a
democratic process removed him from office. After further
review, the NEC made other changes in the top management having
recognised that shortcomings at this level were also a major
contributory factor. Some NEC Boards have not hesitated to
take legal action against Board members and staff who may
have abused their office. This has established a strong sense
of personal accountability.
Some boards have recognised that the problem of non-repayment
of loans by some churches in some countries has been due to
their own failure to be as strict with these churches as they
are with other clients.
The
worst case of the corruptive use of power by a NEC Board is
in India where the Board depreciated a programme vehicle to
zero soon after purchase and subsequently gave it as a retirement
gift to a senior NEC staff. This, plus the fact that the NEC
Board was dragging its feet to incorporate Micro Finance related
NGOs into their membership, finally compelled the ECLOF Geneva
Board to remove recognition of the NEC.
As
representatives of stakeholders and keeping the primacy of
ECLOF clients at the forefront, the hundreds of volunteers
who serve both the Global ECLOF Board and NECs Boards have
a special role to ensure that the resources entrusted to them
are used effectively and in a transparent manner for the fulfilment
of the ECLOF mission.
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New
Horizons