European Public Health Alliance

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) is a European non-profit association registered and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Its membership consists of 89 non-profit organisations active in public health in 21 European countries.

EPHA's stated mission is to: "bring together the public health community to provide thought leadership and facilitate change, to build public health capacity to deliver equitable solutions to European public health challenges, to improve health and reduce health inequalities". EPHA stated aim is to "collate the perspectives from [sic] the many sectors its members represent and contributes them to European policy dialogues".

EPHA is the largest civil society platform of organisations working together to protect and improve public health in Europe.

Structure
EPHA is an international non-profit organisation (NL: IVZW, FR: AISBL) under Belgian law. Its statutes are approved by its General Assembly, composed of representatives of its members.

EPHA is composed of two governing bodies, the General Assembly and the Management Board. Both are chaired by the President of EPHA. The General Assembly is the governing body through which members discuss and decide on the strategy of EPHA on the basis of proposals from the Management Board.

The General Assembly consists of all members, each entitled to a vote at the General Assembly. Only members who have duly paid their membership fees can exercise their right to vote.

The Management Board is vested with the powers of management and administration of EPHA and is authorized to carry out all acts and take all decisions that are necessary or useful for the realisation of the purpose and activities of EPHA. In particular, it is responsible for:


 * the preparation of the General Assemblies;
 * the drawing up of the Strategic Priorities (once every 5 years) and the annual Business Plan for approval by the General Assembly, and the programming of EPHA’s activities;
 * overseeing the financial management of EPHA and the fundraising;
 * overseeing the work of the Secretariat;
 * deciding on the admission, suspension and exclusion of EPHA members.

It appoints the most senior employee of the Association (whether called Director General or by any other title) to see to the daily management of EPHA, and to enlist the support of members.

The EPHA Board is composed of 3-7 representatives elected by members of the EPHA for a 2-year mandate. As of April 2024, Jean-Paul Zerbib is the President of the board.

History
The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) organisation was established in 1993 after the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 which for the first time gave the European Community responsibilities in health protection. The European Community Amsterdam Treaty Article 152 extended EU competence to promoting health of European citizens, in addition to protecting it as in Article 129 of the Maastricht Treaty.

Anonymous Allegations
In February 2024 allegations of nepotism, toxic work culture and organisational mismanagement were made anonymously to the board. The Board subsequently appointed the Belgian Law firm Thales on February 7 to investigate those allegations. The scope of the investigation also included specific questions on recruitment and promotion processes for top managers as well as the new salary system.

At the end of March 2024, it was announced that the President, vice president, Treasurer and an additional Board Member would resign from their positions. The positions of President and Treasurer were then appointed from the remaining board members still in office.

The Board received Thales’ final report on April 18 and thoroughly analysed its conclusions. The investigation found no evidence of discrimination based on nationality or gender in recruitment, promotion, dismissal, etc., as per the Antidiscrimination Act of 2007 nor of moral harassment based on the 1996 Act.

Thales made recommendations about EPHA’s governance and overall organisation to strengthen its future. The Board has adopted these recommendations, which focus on:
 * Redefining the roles and missions of the Management Board and the Secretariat.
 * Reviewing the composition of the Secretariat and its management team, with the departure of one of the managers.
 * Improving communication and transparency between the Management Board, the Secretariat and the member organisations.
 * Implementing actions to address staff wellbeing.

The Board has also reiterated its support and confidence in all staff, management, and EPHA’s Director General, Mrs. Milka Sokolovic, who has made important contributions to EPHA in recent years. This is most evident in the comprehensive accountability report listing the growth and achievements in strengthening the organisation in the period since the appointment of Milka Sokolovic up to the end of 2023.