World Board’s Mission
The mission of the World Board is to contribute to the continuation and growth of Narcotics Anonymous. The Board serves as a primary resource for the NA Fellowship by providing the support needed to carry our message, while ensuring that the service and support provided are of the highest quality possible. 

Accountability Statement
The World Board is the service board of the World Service Conference. As such, it is accountable to the World Service Conference and ultimately to the final authority within our service structure as stated by our Second Concept—the groups, who retain the final responsibility and authority for all NA services. In accordance with the principle of delegation described in our Third Concept, the World Service Conference, on behalf of the groups, delegates to the World Board the authority to provide effective services. 

Purpose of the World Board
The purpose of the World Board is to: 

• Carry the message of recovery to addicts who still suffer from addiction. 
• Provide support to the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous in their efforts to provide the opportunity to recover from addiction. 
• Oversee all the activities of NA World Services, including the Fellowship’s primary service center, the World Service Office. 
• Provide service to individuals or groups of addicts seeking recovery from addiction and assist the public in understanding addiction and the Narcotics Anonymous program for recovery from addiction. Such assistance may include direct and indirect communication with addicts, organizations, agencies, governments, and the public. 
• Ensure that no resources generated from Trust Properties are utilized to engage in any activities or exercise any powers that do not further the primary purpose of Narcotics Anonymous, which is to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. 
• Hold and manage in trust for the Fellowship the income produced by any World Services activities in a manner that is within the spirit of the TwelveSteps , Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Concepts of Narcotics Anonymous. 
• Hold in trust for the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous the rights to the exclusive control, use, printing, duplicating, sales, and use of all the intellectual properties, logos, trademarks, copyrighted materials, emblems, or other intellectual and physical properties of the WSC, or the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous as a whole in accordance with the will of the WSC. 
• Control and manage the exclusive production, printing, manufacture, or reproduction of the properties, or the licensing for production, printing, or manufacture of the properties of the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous, and offer these properties for sale to the Fellowship and the general public.

General Duties
The duties of the World Board shall be understood to be administrative in nature. So that it can fulfill its mission and the will of the WSC, the general duties of the World Board are to: 

• Communicate all World Services activity to our membership in accordance with the principles embodied in our Eighth Concept. 
• Oversee the operations of the Fellowship’s primary service center, the World Service Office. 
• Administer the activities necessary for the successful operation of the World Convention. 
• Hold our Fellowship’s intellectual properties in trust in accordance with the Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust. Provide support and administration for all World Services meetings. 
• Plan and budget for basic service provision and project development. 
• Be accountable for all World Services budget responsibilities. 
• Select members for project development and completion. 
• Oversee activities associated with how our Fellowship and service structure interact with society. 
• Oversee development of new literature, periodicals, and translations. 
• Develop and approve service-related information pamphlets and tools for distribution to the Fellowship. Address philosophical issues and questions about our Traditions and Concepts, developing position papers when necessary. 
• Make necessary decisions affecting NA World Services when the World Service Conference is not in session, always mindful of the priorities previously established by the World Service Conference.

Membership
The World Board will consist of up to fifteen members elected by at least 60% of the World Service Conference. These conference-elected members will have equal participation rights, including voting on the Board and at the World Service Conference. Board members may not, however, vote on items that have been submitted to the groups in the Conference Agenda Report or on any other items of Old Business at the World Service Conference. 

Membership Qualifications
In addition to the qualities expressed in Concept Four such as humility, integrity, trustworthiness, and strong commitment to open communication, the following qualifications for nomination and election to the World Board are written to express the variety of skills and experience necessary to the Board’s optimum operation. A single individual may not have all of the qualifications listed below. These qualifications should not be viewed as a list of absolute requirements, but rather as an expression of the qualities and experience that will help the Board to best serve our Fellowship: 

• History of both completing work independently and working well within a group. 
• Familiarity with and commitment to the World Service Conference vision of a global fellowship demonstrated through world service or personal life experience. 
• Familiarity with the Narcotics Anonymous service structure. 
• Administrative skills. 
• Experience with plan development and financial forecasting. 
• Organizational and communication skills. 
• Ability to donate sufficient time to attend meetings, travel, and to fulfill the additional commitments of Board membership. 
• A working knowledge of the Twelve Steps, Traditions, and Concepts. 

Cleantime Requirement
All Board members must have a minimum of ten (10) years clean.

Note: This material was excerpted from the Guide To World Services