Social Accountability Network Pakistan (SAN-Pk)

Workshop on Social Accountability Success Stories and Case Studies

And
SAN Pakistan Elections
Minutes of the Meeting
4th December, 2014
CESSD Head Office Peshawar

Introduction
A day-long meeting of SAN-Pk. held on December 4, 2014, at CESSD Peshawar, where
the General Body members participated and shared their deliberations.
Participants
Total 12 participants from 9 member organizations participated in the objective meeting.
(Detailed list of participants is enclosed)
Objectives
The detailed meeting focused on the following core agenda/ objectives:

Progress Review/ Updates of SAN-Pk

Elections/ Rotation of Network Secretariat
Expansion of SAN-Pk to other provinces
Reconstitution of National Steering Committee Members
RTI tracker and Case studies of member organizations

Progress Review/ Updates of SAN-Pk

o Mr. Gulbaz Ali Khan (Sr. Manager, Governance & CD Unit-CESSD) moderated the
proceedings of meeting. He opened up the meeting with a warm welcome to the
participants. Mr. Khan shared an introduction/ rationale of the meeting. He also
oriented the participants on the objectives of meeting;
o Through his opening remarks, Mr. Hameed Hasan (Deputy Field Program ManagerCESSD) appreciated the true voluntary spirit and commitment of the member
organizations for taking the SAN-Pk network to the next level. He termed the
occasion as an enduring milestone for all members where the network was moving
through its first leadership change. The progress so far is encouraging and with this
zeal & dedication it can achieve it due stature form a provincial to national horizon;
o Being an existing secretariat, IRSPs representative (Muhammad Idress, Program
Director- IRSP) shared an overview of the major activities performed during the
preceding year. He summarized that IRSP contributed its best possible support for
SAN-Pk but still much more could be done for its strengthening. IRSP maintained a
coordination role, facilitated the network meetings, raising membership and all other
support for the network development. However, more resources would have resulted
in more desired development for SAN- Pk;
o Other network members also shared their views and concluded that SAN-Pk shall
prioritize its organizational development and the primary task shall be the registration

of SAN-Pk. After having a due structure and operation, the network can effectively
raise its resources by tapping the funding opportunities.
Elections/ Rotation of Network Secretariat
Through the second part, the scheduled elections of SAN-Pk held through a participatory
process. First, interested organizations furnished their candidature for the election, then the
contesting organizations presented their vision and strategy to strengthen & promote SANPk. And finally, all the participating organizations casted their votes through secret balloting.
Two member organizations, IRSP & Pak Women, offered their candidature and contested
the elections. Total 9 votes were casted by the member organizations, where Pak Women
secured the highest votes (7) and thus declared as the new SAN-Pk Secretariat. Ms. Azra
Hussain (CEO, Pak Women) took the charge as the new Chairperson of SAN- Pk.
Fig.1.1: Results of SAN-Pk Elections 2014
S#

Contesting Organizations

Votes Secured

IRSP

Pak Women

Later, Ms. Azra Hussain thanked all member organizations for showing their confidence in
her to lead SAN-Pk towards the accomplishment of its desired objectives. She assured all
her due support for furthering the cause of SAN- Pk. She termed that Pak Women would
spare due technical and financial support required to run the important affairs of SAN-Pk
Secretariat.
Expansion of SAN-Pk to other provinces
Discussions were held on expansion of SAN-Pk to other provinces and regions. Most of the
network members argued that this network should not only be expanded to Punjab, Sindh,
Baluchistan and Islamabad but also to FATA, AJK and GB. In first phase of expansion,
members agreed to appoint Regional Coordinators to spread its message across the
regions and attract more members based on mutual interest of promotion of good
governance in Pakistan. Indus Sustainable Development Foundation (ISDF) in Punjab and
Sustainable Development Centre (SDC) in Islamabad have been given responsibilities to
steer the network process in their respective regions.
Reconstitution of National Steering Committee Members
National Steering Committee has reconstituted and following members have been approved
during the meeting:
Integrated Rural Support Program (IRSP)
Sustainable Development Centre (SDC)
Participatory Rural Development Society (PRDS)
Organization for Human Development (OHD)

 Indus Sustainable Development Foundation (ISDF)

United Rural Development Organization (URDO)
Mohmand Community Empowerment and Development (MCED)
RTI Tracker and Case Studies of Member Organizations
While having a follow up on RTI tracker & case studies, Mr. Khan explained that being a
ready support to the RTI commission, SAN-Pk members should deliver regular RTI
requests on important public affairs to gauge the effectiveness of this newly enacted law in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Also, the member organizations shall develop relevant case studies
of pertinent governance/ accountability issues in their respective areas. All such important
information would appear on SAN-Pk website and publicized through the national press as
well.
Action Points
As first & primary step, SAN- Pk Secretariat- Pak Women would convene a day-long
consultative workshop for working out the future course of action. Ms. Azra would issue
an email for the early schedule of the strategy workshop;
For effective Secretariat operations, Pak Women would reserve and utilize due
technical and financial resources. Initially, an amount of PKR 600,000/ per annum
would be dedicated for covering the due expenses of SAN- Pk Secretariat. A minimum
of two staff, one program officer & one IT officer, would be taken on board for handing
the essential activities of Secretariat;
IRSP will formally handover all the operational and financial documents including
registration forms, reports, and membership fees to Pak Women. In continuation of the
documentation process, some of the members have submitted forms but has not yet
approved and/or notified by the steering committee. New SAN-Pk secretariat is tasked
to complete the documentation process as the earliest.
SDC and URDU would act as the advisory panel for peer strategic review and support
with the SAN- Pk support.
All records and activities of Secretariat would be properly documented and made
available via website and through network meetings. A communication mechanism
should be developed and shared with the member organizations for smooth sharing
and ultimate feedback.
All the network members should follow CESSD pattern of documenting success stories
and send through its own editorial committee (SDC&URDU) for onward submission for
final editing, printing and dissemination.
All the SAN-Pk members are encouraged to send RTI requests to district and provincial
departments to seek information, specifically in primary education, basic health and
rural water supply schemes.
SAN-Pk secretariat would compile all the RTI information request data and conduct
critical analysis in consultation with CESSD governance team.

Attendance Sheet

Pictures