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ICA is a decentralized organization, democratically governed by their members.
The General Assembly is the highest policy-making body of the ICA, bringing together representatives from all member organizations every two years.
The General Assembly:
approves the ICA work program and budget
elects the President, members of the Board and of the Audit and Control Committee
ratifies the election of the Vice-Presidents
ratifies the appointment or removal of the General Director on the recommendation of the Board
The latest General Assembly was held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, in September 2005. In 2007, the ICA General Assembly will be held in cosmopolitan. For more information see >>sitio web del evento.
ICA is invited by one of more of its members to hold its General Assembly. In this way, ICA member representatives are able to meet a wide range of co-operators from the host movement, sharing experience and knowledge. Holding an ICA General Assembly also provides an opportunity for the host movement to engage in dialogue with government representatives and engage national and local media coverage as a means to further promote co-operatives in their country.
The ICA Board - President, four Vice-Presidents, and fifteen members - develops and monitors a global strategy for ICA and oversees the functioning of the ICA. It decides on all membership application and related issues, establishes sectoral and thematic committees of the ICA, and appoints the General Director. este enlace del sitio web de la ACI Mundial.
The Regional Assemblies for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe take place every second year, alternating with the General Assembly. The functions of these assemblies include:
implementing General Assembly decisions at the regional level
establishing regional work programs, and
electing their President who serves as ICA Vice-President
In many regions, the statutory Regional Assembly meeting is held in conjunction with a Regional Conference or Forum focusing on a particular area of interest to co-operators in that region. For example, in 2004, the Americas focused on "Co-operative Integration", Asia on "Re-engineering Co-operatives in the Globalised Economy", and Europe on "Building a Co-operative Europe - Thriving in a competitive economy".
Each region has its own regional ‘board’ composed of a President, Vice President and other members elected by the Regional Assembly for a four-year term. Known in Africa as "Executive Committee ", in the Americas as the "Comité Ejecutivo", in Asia and the Pacific as the "Standing Committee" and in Europe as "European Council", these boards work within the policy guidelines and decisions laid down from time to time by the ICA Board and more particularly, provide recommendations on membership applications from its region to the ICA Board, implement and monitor activities and programs in the region, oversee regional finances and budgets, approve an annual budget and work plan prepared by the Regional Director before it is submitted to the Director-General and ICA Board for final approval.
The Audit and Control Committee monitors the financial situation of the organization, and submits reports to the Board and General Assembly on issues that it deems important for efficient management and operations.
