Definition of Steering Committee

The first Steering Committee is the governing body of ADA and shall consists of the person whose names are given in the memorandum of association. The first Steering Committee shall hold office until new elections are held.

Composition

1. The SC shall consist of 7-9 persons elected by ADA members to represent ADA members in all sub-regions- South Asia, Southeast Asia, North Asia and Central Asia on fairly basis principle or not more than 3 representatives to be elected from each sub-region.
2. ADA will thrive to have 50 percent of the SC members consist of women or LGBTIQ community

Terms of Office:

1. The elected Steering Committee shall elect/appoint a Chair, two Vice-chairs, Treasurer, Auditor, and member-at-large from among itself for a period of 2 years with 1/3rd of them to be resigning voluntarily after one year, to give space to the new members and then the SC works normally and finish their terms.
2. The ordinary term of the Steering Committee shall be 2 years after which election will be held. In case, the election does not take place after 2 years for any reason whatsoever the office bearers of the previous shall continue to act as such for a period of maximum one year thereafter.
3. The Coordinator is appointed by the Steering Committee as an ex-officio member of the Steering Committee.
4. One SC member can get his/her new terms renewed for maximum one more term, should she/he shows willingness and approved by the rest of the SC.
5. The maximum stretch for a Steering committee member in the Steering Committee shall be of 4 years (2 terms) and the person is liable for re- nomination only after 4 years of completing his/her two terms.
6. Specific roles and responsibilities of the Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Auditor will be defined in a separate document as Annex: 3.

Casual Vacancies

1. Any steering committee member may resign from the duty by giving notice in writing to the chair and/or vice -chairs of the Steering committee with a copy to the other steering committee and the ADA secretariat office and his/her resignation shall take effect from the date of its acceptance by the Steering Committee.
2. In this case, the Steering Committee shall have the power to appoint any member of the network who has duration of membership of at least 3 years to fill the vacancy for the remaining term.

Elections

1. Elections shall be held once in a 2 years. No member shall be eligible to cast his/ her vote in any election if he/ she is in arise of his/ her subscription or other shall be questioned/ audited in the general body meeting of the society.
2. Voting in all elections of the society be through secret ballot (either paper or online based). Detail procedure of election and related SC will be developed in annex 2.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Steering Committee

The Steering Committee shall be responsible for making necessary amendments in the memorandum of association or by- laws or constitution or name or location of the ADA with a majority of 3/5. They shall

1. Approve ADA annual work-plan, budget, and reports
2. Pass the financial audit report
3. Be responsible for the fund raising in coordination with the secretariat
4. Connect the secretariat to the potential funders/donors
5. Support/ guide the secretariat in writing/bidding for funding proposal
6. Invest the funds of the ADA to strategize future plans and programs and activities to be pursued by the ADA
7. Recruit/appoint and remove Coordinator, and provide leadership, guidance, and manage performance of the Coordinator
8. Approve new members of ADA as per the regulations of the society
9. Recruit and/appoint Advisors to support Steering Committee. Term of Reference for Advisors can be found in Annex 4.
10. Form (if necessary) and Chair of Sub-Committees. The Term of Reference for sub-committees will be developed and approved by the SC.