The Trust for Voluntary Organizations (TVO) was created
as an indigenous grantmaking 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 bottom-up working of NGOs meant that they
could reach the people who most needed help and the funds
would reach those who needed them the most. TVO was constituted
as the agency to carry out the objectives of the SDF through
the provision of grants, technical assistance and training
for NGOs. The Trust became fully functional in 1992.
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 Finance, Ministry of Social Welfare &
Special Education, 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. The Board is a policymaking institution
and also approves funding for projects.
In
order to facilitate funding of small cases, the Board’s
activities have been decentralized by the formation of the
Regional Committees (RCs) of the Board at Peshawar, Quetta,
Multan, Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad Capital Territory.
Initially these RCs were authorized to approve individual
projects of up to Rs.0.5 million but this was later increased
to Rs.1 million.
In order to extend its outreach to the NGOs of less developed
and remote areas, the Trust has set up twenty Regional Offices
at Quetta, Loralai, Khuzdar, Turbat, Karachi, Hyderabad,
Khairpur Mir, Larkana, Umerkot, Multan, Dera Ghazi. Khan,
Bahawalpur, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Peshawar, Dera
Ismail Khan, Mingora (Swat), Mansehra and Muzaffarabad (AJK).
TVO has also created a network of over 350 partner CBOs
(one each in rural and semi-urbanTehsil of Pakistan) to
make its operations more effective. This network will act
as TVO's main instrument of socio-economic development,
capacity building initiatives, and dissemination of information
at the grass roots level.
