On Jan. 20th the Coalition of Women Business Associations in Romania (CAFA) organized their first event in 2012, a half-day workshop on governance principles for business associations. Camelia Bulat, CIPE, was invited to give a presentation on the topic and to facilitate discussions among participants.

The workshop was hosted by Business Opportunities for Women, a CAFA association member that has just taken over the Secretariat function for the year 2012. The event targeted mainly executives and Board members of women business associations. Fifteen participants representing seven women business associations from all over Romania were in attendance.

During the workshop, Camelia Bulat introduced the audience to the publication titled “Governance Principles for Business Associations and Chambers of Commerce”, which CIPE and the World Chambers Federation (WCF) have developed in order to facilitate good governance within business associations. Bulat looked together with the audience at how these principles translate into reality at the level of each association, as well as at the coalition level. The participants spoke about their organizations’ structure, the way in which their Boards of Directors have been elected and about members’ rights and responsibilities within their associations. The participants also highlighted the need for each organization to have a code of ethics specifying rights and obligations, which every member should be familiar with.

Since CAFA aims at continuing to develop as a coalition of strong women business associations, its members view the implementation of democratic governance principles as a critical factor for their sustainability. The event was unanimously regarded as a very important step forward on the path towards further improving governance both within each member association and at the level of the Coalition.

Carmen Stanila
CIPE Regional Office

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