Islamabad, November 18, 2019 (PPI-OT): The Trust for Voluntary Organizations (TVO) has been constituted after six years and held its first meeting today. The TVO was created as an indigenous grant making organization in 1990 following an agreement between the Governments of Pakistan and the United States of America to establish a Special Development Fund (SDF), TVO was set up to tap the potential of non-government organizations (NGOs). The purpose was to aid them in the development process and develop a mechanism for strengthening the contribution of NGOs towards a broader goal of improving the quality of life of the neglected segments of Pakistani population.
The Trust became fully functional in 1992. However, for the last six years, its Board had not been constituted, as a result of which, its operations were stalled. Earlier this year, the process of recruiting the Board was initialized in a transparent manner. Through an open advertisement, the Board members were invited to serve on the Board. The Board was finally approved by the Cabinet last month and today its first meeting was held. A 13-member Board of Directors governs the affairs of TVO. The Board consists of three ex-officio members i.e. representatives of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Affairs Division. Also, included in the board are 10 individuals from the private sector who have distinguished themselves in any field of endeavour.
TVO has been revitalized under Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division because it is envisaged to be one of the executing agencies which will execute the programmes under Ehsaas policy action number thirty-six. This policy action is specifically meant to run partnerships with NGOs to upscale successful programmes for the most marginalized segments including orphans, street children, seasonal migrants, transgender, victims of child and bonded labour and daily wage workers. Today, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation addressed the TVO Board to communicate to them, the Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy of the Government.
She said that TVO is meant to serve the most marginalized segments of the society. She, in particular, talked about the Governance and Integrity Policy of the Government and stressed on the need for it to be fully embedded. Following her remarks, the Board met for the whole day and several matters were discussed and decided including appointment of the CEO, functioning of the organization, fiduciary matters and institutionalization of audit.
The Board members sought clarity on the mandates of executing agencies of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division and donor engagement mechanism under Ehsaas. The Board will meet again next month. The newly appointed private Board members include Saeed Chughtai, Chartered Accountant; Dr. Muhammad Islam, Agriculture expert; Chand Bibi, Development Practitioner; Aitzaz Ahmed, Ambassador (Rtd), Muhammad Ghazal, Chief Operating Officer, Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT); Fazal Abbas Maken, Federal Secretary (Rtd); Raja Arsalan Nusrat, Social Sector Expert, Kulsoom Farman, Social Sector Expert; and Javaid Ali Manwa, Advocacy Consultant.
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