The OECS is administered by a Central Secretariat located on Morne Fortune, Castries, Saint Lucia. The Secretariat is headed by the Director General who is responsible to the Authority. Over the years several subsidiary and autonomous institutions have been created.

The Islands share a single currency, the Eastern Caribbean Dollar ($2.70 ECD = 1 USD). The operation of the currency is overseen by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the monetary authority for the seven OECS governments and the government of Anguilla (The British Virgin Islands uses the US Dollar as their de facto currency).

The Islands also share a common Supreme Court: The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, with its two divisions, the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court is headed by the Chief Justice. High Court judges are based in each Member State, but the judges of the Court of Appeal are resident in Saint Lucia and travel to each territory to hear appeals from the High Court. Final appeals go to the Privy Council in the UK.

The Authority

The OECS Authority is the highest decision-making body of the Organisation. The Authority comprises the Heads of Government (Prime Ministers of the independent countries as well as the Chief Ministers and Premier of the non-independent countries) whose policy decisions direct the work of the Organisation as required.

The chairmanship of the Authority changes every year, rotating alphabetically by country. The OECS Authority meets twice yearly, and from time to time in Special Session as and when required

The OECS Secretariat

The functions of the Organisation are set out in the Treaty establishing the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, which was signed on 18^th June, 1981 in Basseterre, and are coordinated by the Secretariat under the direction and management of the Director General.  A new treaty, The Treaty of Basseterre to establish the OECS Economic Union, will be ratified on 18^th June 2010. The OECS functions in a rapidly changing international economic environment, characterised by globalisation and trade liberalisation, which are posing serious challenges to the economic and social stability of these small island developing states. It is the purpose of the Organisation to assist its Members to respond to these multi-faceted challenges by identifying scope for joint or coordinated action towards the economic and social advancement of their countries.

The work of the Secretariat is constantly informed by considerations of cost effectiveness in the context of the need to respond to the increasing challenges placed on it, taking into account the limited fiscal capacities of its members. The Secretariat consists of four main Divisions namely: Division of the Office of the Director General, Social and Sustainable Development Division, Corporate Services Division and Economic Affairs Division. These four Divisions oversee the strategic direction of the Organisation, as well as the work of a number of specialised institutions, work units or projects located in six countries - Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Lucia, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States of America.

In carrying out its mission, the OECS works along with a number of sub-regional and regional agencies and institutions. These include the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat, and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

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