The ARD works through its member organizations across Liberia. Majority of the ARD member organizations community-based organizations (CBOs) or county level organizations. The others include informal business organizations, trade unions, and national organizations. A golden thread that runs through all these organizations is advocacy for human rights including, in particular the economic, social, and cultural rights of communities, vulnerable or marginalized groups and the Liberia population broadly.
Structure of the ARD
The ARD has three (3) administrative structures: Meetings of Heads of Member organizations/Annual Meeting; Coordinating Steering Committee; Coordinating Secretariat. A synopsis of each of the structures follows.
Meetings of Heads of Member organizations/Annual Meeting
This meeting is the highest decision and policy making body of the network. It is a meeting of all ARD member organizations and is designed to meet annually on a rotational basis, from one county of member organization(s) to another.
Since February 2010, the Bi-Annual meeting has become the lead Community Assembly regularly bringing community leaders and under-represented groups from diverse backgrounds across Liberia to share lessons, opportunities and emerging challenges in exercising economic, social and cultural rights in the new Liberia.
The Policy Dialogue, at each meeting, creates opportunities for policy makers to openly interact with community leaders, pro-poor enterprises, informal institutions, labor unions, elders, youth and women groups on policy formulation and implementation across Liberia.
As an established tradition, speakers are encouraged to roll out their plans and activities on public service delivery, in Liberia, and then participate in the interactive floor discussions on the opportunities and substantive challenges in realizing them.
Coordinating Steering Committee
The Committee meets quarterly and is composed of 7 members. The committee members include, for example, 4 representatives of communities from the four geographic regions into which the ARD has divided the county, one representative of the unions, one representative of the informal businesses organizations, and one representative of Green Advocates. The Steering Committee is responsible for setting up Ad-hoc committees; preparing draft rules, procedures and by-laws on membership, governance and management of the Network for approval by the Meetings of Heads of member organizations for approval.
Coordinating Secretariat
The Secretariat is headed by a Coordinator selected by the Steering Committee and endorsed by the meeting of Heads of member organization and is charged with managing the day to day activities of the Network. Green Advocates currently hosts the secretariat of the ARD.