The Sponsoring Partners give legal legitimacy to the GWPO. They are the states and international organisations that signed the Memorandum of Understanding establishing the GWPO - the international organisation - and thus provide the 'global legitimacy hub'. The Sponsoring Partners effectively 'own' the GWPO and appoint the Chair, members of the Steering Committee and the Auditor.
The first source of legitimacy is the Partners, the registered members of the GWP. They are represented at the annual Consulting Partners' Meeting. At present there are around 1,800 registered Partners across the world. Each Regional Water Partnership has a Regional Council made up of Partner representatives (from different countries) from the region. The Stockholm Secretariat represents Partners from countries that do not have a Regional or Country Water Partnership. The Regional Chair presides over the Regional Council. Regional Councils are thus the 'regional legitimacy hub'. The annual Consulting Partners' Meeting provides 'network legitimacy'. In this strategy period the purpose of this meeting will be clarified and the arrangements improved to make it more representative of the network.
The Nomination Committee provides the third 'legitimacy hub'. It is responsible for nominating the members of the Steering Committee (SC) to bring the Organisation and the network together. The Nomination Committee is therefore essential in securing a balance between the Sponsoring Partners (who approve nominations to the SC) and the Regions (who are consulted in the process of nominating SC members) and in ensuring that the appointment of SC members is the result of consensus across the system.