Governance

The INDEPTH Secretariat is organised to build on the work of independent research centres managing HDSS sites. It is structured to help facilitate cross-site studies through a set of Working groups and Interest Groups.

The Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting is the overall forum for discussing organisational matters of the Network, electing officers, reviewing reports from the Executive Director and gauging progress of work at the Resource & Training Centre.

Board of Trustees
The primary role of the Board to provide oversight and accountability for the activities of the Resource & Training Centre and the Network as a whole. It consists of the following members: six elected members representing the HDSS centres and are elected by them; three appointed members to reflect key donor perspectives; the Chair of the SAC as co-opted member; and the Executive Director as an ex-officio member. The members elect their Chair and co-Chair. 

Centre Leaders
INDEPTH membership is given to institutions that run health and demographic surveillance systems (HDSSs). These are the parent institutions which we refer to as member centres of INDEPTH. A director of such a centre or his/her designee is referred to by INDEPTH as a centre leader. However, some centres have two or more HDSS field sites. Each of these HDSSs may have heads (field station managers, for example). INDEPTH considers these heads as Site Leaders. ALL centre/site leaders receive communications from the Secretariat. 

Secretariat
INDEPTH is co-ordinated by a permanent executive body (‘the Secretariat’) headed administratively by a full-time Executive Director appointed by and accountable to the Board of Trustees. The Executive Director is supported by full-time staff, comprising both scientific and non-scientific personnel working collectively as a team.

The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)
The SAC consists of 15 members selected on their personal merits. It advises INDEPTH on matters relating to the scientific activities of the Network thereby assisting it to focus on health, population and social issues of greatest potential policy impact. It is the SAC’s responsibility to ensure that the highest scientific standards are upheld.

Strategic Groups/Working Groups/ Interest Groups
INDEPTH actively utilises Strategic Groups/Working Groups/ Interest Groups dedicated to key issues of interest to the Network to act as generators and incubators for multi-site research and development projects. Each  Group is chaired by a leader who is responsible for reporting on the group's progress and is also accountable to its  members and participating HDSS sites.