Governance Structure, Advocacy, Lobbying and Networking

Governance and policy making are very important dimension in the nomenclature of any organization. The organization developed vision and objectives with the participation of all stakeholders.
Governance structure of any organization shows its commitment and association with democratic norms and values. Policy making and setting up of a road map for the development of marginalized communities is prime task of the top governance structure.
DDAT has a well-placed governance structure comprising on its Board, Management and the professional staff. Its Board consists of 8 persons having and diversified background and expertise. Its members are experts of their respective fields and the board has a one third women members including members belonging to indigenous marginalized communities. Development experts and businessmen and philanthropist contribute a good deal in decision making. The members elect/select the President, General Secretary and Treasurer through consensus, if consensus is not developed then with a majority vote. Chief Patron is a very experienced member of civil service with good service background in Tharparkar. Executive Director ED is selected by BoD.
Management comprises on a team led by ED through General Manager Programmes. Professional staff and sections assist the management in formulating policies and procedures as well as setting correct direction and place of the operation. Most of the staff members are young local professionals.
Policy making process in DDAT, is very well placed and transparent process. Professional section gets first-hand information and feedback of the communities through social mobilization staff working in the field. Proposals are presented before senior management for the further discussion. After a comprehensive homework those proposal is placed before the Board for final approval.
The Board meets quarterly or on the need basis. During those meetings, the proposals are discussed at length and strategies are also finalized. After that top-level decision making, the Board directs the management to implement those decisions in true letter and spirit. Periodical reviews by the management are made to assess and evaluate efficiency of the operations. Lessons learnt are shared with the staff for further refinement.
Networking and linkages have been remained the main focus and the organizations bridges the gap between service providing agencies (public sector as well private sector) and the communities with a focus on poor, less developed and marginalized segments of the society.
All the financial approvals are made by the Board and cheques are issued with joint signature mechanism—ED and General Secretary Board has constituted a committee comprising on ED, GS and Treasurer for all financial transactions.
During the reporting period, the BoD did 6 ordinary meetings and 2 extraordinary meetings to discuss and decide about various strategic and policy matters. All of those meetings reflect excellent discussions in a democratic manner.