Title: Governance in Civil Society - The Realities

Speaker: Ms. Rezwana Khan, Senior Faculty Capacity Development Programme, NGORC

Venue: NGO Resource Centre
D – 114, Block 5, Clifton, Karachi – Tel 5865501-2
Thursday – June 19, 2008


NGO Resource Centre (a project of Aga Khan Foundation) in collaboration with Human Resource Development Network (HRDN) organised a half-day workshop on “Governance in Civil Society - The Realities” here on Thursday. It was part of the Development Forum activities of the NGORC.

Ms. Rezwana Khan, Senior Faculty Capacity Development Programme, NGORC conducted the workshop. About 20 participants from different civil society organizations attended the workshop.

Good governance is the key to the health and success of an organization and is therefore high on the agenda in all sectors; public, private and voluntary. As civil society organizations working for public benefit, they are increasingly held accountable for their outcomes and expected to demonstrate how well they are governed. Efficient and transparent systems of governance really are of paramount importance today.

The workshop covered topics like introduction to governance in civil society, capacity areas of governance/ roles and responsibilities and guidelines for effective governance.

Ms. Khan said one goal of good governance is to enable an organization to do its work and fulfil its mission. Good governance results in organizational effectiveness. Good governance is about both achieving desired results and achieving them in the right way.

She explained key functions of the boards and CEOs. Talking about CEOs, she said CEOs play a very important role in governance. Although they cannot serve as trustees, they work closely with the board to provide leadership.

The relationship between the chief executive and the board, especially the chair, is the key to good governance. The CEO implements board policies and is responsible for executing the board-approved strategic plan. The board in its turn hires and manages the chief executive. Both must be committed to good governance for the organization to operate safely and effectively, she added.

During the workshop the participants actively participated.