World services are those services that deal with the problems and needs of NA as a whole and that NA offers to its members, its groups, and to society. The basic purposes of our world services are communication, coordination, information, and guidance. We provide these services so that our groups and members can more successfully carry the message of recovery and so that our program of recovery can be made more available to addicts everywhere. Although all parts of our service structure affect and are affected by NA as a whole, only at this level do we find service bodies designed to deal with problems that involve our entire fellowship

All of the efforts of Narcotics Anonymous World Services are inspired by the primary purpose of the groups we serve. Upon this common ground we stand committed.

Our vision is that one day:

·     Every addict in the world has the chance to experience our message in his or her own language and culture and find the opportunity for a new way of life;

·     NA communities worldwide and NA World Services work together in a spirit of unity and cooperation to carry our message of recovery;

·     Narcotics Anonymous has universal recognition and respect as a viable program of recovery.

As our commonly held sense of the highest aspirations that set our course, our vision is our touchstone, our reference point, inspiring all that we do. Honesty, trust, and goodwill are the foundation of these ideals. In all our service efforts, we rely upon the guidance of a loving Higher Power.

The purpose of the World Service Office (WSO), our main service center, is to carry out the directives of the World Service Conference in matters that relate to communications and information for the Fellowship of NA, its services, groups, and members. The World Service Office achieves this purpose by maintaining correspondence with NA groups and service committees, by printing and distributing WSC-approved literature, and by maintaining the archives and files of Narcotics Anonymous.

Probably the single busiest part of our service structure is the World Service Office (WSO). The WSO is the main contact and distribution point.

One of the most important functions of the WSO is to link our widespread groups and members into a single, cohesive fellowship. The WSO stays in close contact with our groups, areas, and regions. This contact is maintained through correspondence; our quarterly newsletter, The NA Way; and through the delegates within our service structure. The WSO offers considerable aid to new groups worldwide, existing groups with special problems, institutional groups, members who travel extensively, and loners. This aid is in the nature of sharing the experience that other groups and members have reported to the WSO and putting those who seek aid in touch with other groups or members within our fellowship.

The World Service Office publishes The NA Way Magazine: our fellowship’s international journal. The magazine provides both a forum for sharing about NA recovery, unity, and service, as well as information about world services. Produced in English, The NA Way is translated into the primary languages spoken in Narcotics Anonymous. The magazine is distributed four (4) times a year, at no cost to subscribers, to every trusted servant and NA group contact address in the WSO database, as well as any member who asks to be included in that mailing list. The magazine is edited by WSO staff and an editorial board appointed by the World Board.

Another major function of WSO is the publication and distribution of literature, which includes the printing, warehousing, and distribution of all existing literature. The WSO publishes a quarterly newsletter and numerous other periodicals, all World Service Conference material, and new literature in English and other languages. Additionally, we make available a number of kits, such as the group starter kit. In order to provide these publications, the WSO needs financial support.

In order to provide communications, coordination, information, and guidance services, the WSO must keep extensive files of correspondence and other records. These files include letters to and from those who have contacted the WSO; a file of all corres-pondence with each NA group; a record of all starter kits sent out; the name, address, and telephone number of all GSRs, RCMs, and RDs; and the addresses of all general service committees and their officers. Along with these files and records, the WSO keeps the archives of NA's history. These archives contain relevant documents, newspaper articles, photos of original meeting places, etc. Records such as these are necessary so that we may learn from our past mistakes, stay in contact with all of NA, and serve our fellowship.

One of the most difficult jobs of the World Service Office is dealing with public anonymity breaks. Due to the nature of our fellowship, no part of our service structure should ever serve as a disciplinarian. This would not be in keeping with our basic principles. When public anonymity breaks do occur, the WSO functions in an educational role. We try to explain to the individual or group and the media involved that actions of this type are in violation of our traditions and that this type of publicity can potentially cause grave problems that could threaten the survival of our fellowship. It is never our place to attempt to punish—we can only try to prevent the recurrence of this type of problem.

The final WSO function we shall discuss is that of public relations. Much of our mail consists of requests for information from individuals, agencies, and other drug programs. It is our policy to answer each inquiry; however, we stress that our function is not informational or referral. Our program is comprised of principles and people. Our relationship with those outside our fellowship is cooperative, and our traditions make it clear that we must stay unattached if we are to survive.

The World Service Office is our fellowship's main service center. To meet our needs as a growing fellowship, our services need to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible within the spiritual principles of the NA program.

The World Board of Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. directly oversees all world service activities, including the World Service Office. Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. is a registered, nonprofit corporation in accordance with the laws of the State of California and the United States Federal Government. Within the bylaws, specific sections state the purpose and relationship of Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. to the World Service Conference of NA and our Twelve Traditions. These bylaws further acknowledge the right of the conference to make specific recommendations to the World Board regarding its general operations.

·     The budget is built around two types of activities: routine operations and variable or non-routine items. “Routine” refers to world service activities that are directly connected to day-to-day operations.

·     Any new non-routine world service project will have been thoroughly planned with an accompanying budget and timeline, and be prioritized and approved by the World Service Conference. No prospective project may be prioritized by WSC participants unless it has been accompanied by a project timeline and budget. Projects created for the routine operations of world services are reported to the conference but are not presented for prioritization and approval.

·     In order to reflect the realities of our service delivery system, all items submitted for budget consideration must be accompanied by an expense estimate that includes a staff-time component.

·     In the budget, provisions are made for the maintenance of a world services operational reserve fund.

·     A three-tiered accounting process is used in which funds are designated as:

1.  Fixed Operational Funds—funds allocated toward world service activities that are recurring in nature and have little to no functional change from budget year to budget year.

2.  Variable Operational Funds—funds allocated toward non-routine world service projects and/or activities that vary from budget year to budget year. This includes those items prioritized by the World Service Conference.

3.  Reserve Funds—those allocations that are set aside to meet current and/or future financial needs. These funds are maintained in both short-term and long-term reserve accounts. Funds are also allocated toward the planned use of cash to offset, the effect of depreciation, improve asset value, provide financial resources necessary to effectively address the intellectual property management called for in the FIPT, and/or to acquire any fixed asset that has a depreciable value.

·     The fiscal year end for Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. is 30 June.

·     In addition to the already established protocols for an annual report and an annual audit, the World Board issues quarterly financial reports to all conference participants.

·     New project proposals can be forwarded from the fellowship and from the board itself. (See the Ideas for World Service Projects Submission Form in Addendum B.) One of the duties of the World Board is to develop project plans, which include budgets and timelines for all prospective non-routine world service projects. The World Board reports to the conference on all ideas that they receive and chooses to propose some of those ideas to the conference for further discussion and eventual prioritization. The board decides which items they believe are desirable, practical, and achievable and develops project plans for these items. These are forwarded to conference participants prior to the WSC for eventual prioritization at the conference. No project proposal will be considered for prioritization or action during the same WSC as it was originally proposed.

·     All project ideas submitted to the board from the fellowship are considered and the board’s decisions as to which projects will be further developed, are reported to conference participants. In the event that conference participants do not agree with the board’s decision to not develop an item for prioritization, the conference may provide direction that a project plan be developed and presented to the next World Service Conference for prioritization.

·     While there is no minimum or maximum number of projects that may be offered and/or prioritized, all project-related decisions will, of course, be limited by available resources, both human and financial. For the purposes of budget development and oversight, the World Board is responsible for determining basic services, which appear under “Fixed Operational Funds” in the budget proposal. The conference then prioritizes projects based on available resources that appear under “Variable Operational Funds” in the budget proposal and finally reviews and adopts the budget for the upcoming conference cycle. At the WSC, project plans are approved individually with the remainder of the budget (fixed operational and reserve funds) approved as a whole. The World Board will inform the conference of any adopted project that it wishes to eliminate.