HOAD’s approach is based on proved and tested models of participatory development, with effective partnership between all the development actors in an organized manner. To fill up the vacuum at community level, the NGO assists & mobilizes communities to get themselves organized at grassroots level into self managed, self reliant and sustainable organization capable of undertaking all the development initiatives through managing Natural, Human and Financial resources in a holistic manner. To usher this level of participation, various outreach mechanisms, including village men and women organizations, Jirgas, Hujras, forest owners, non-owners associations and CBOs etc, are used by establishing partnership. It supports local communities’ initiatives for poverty reduction, effective social service delivery & giving voice to the ignored & marginalized segments of the population through their participation in decision making and needs identification to implementation of any intervention. HOAD is basically a technical, facilitating and organizational support institution, providing services to the communities through their legitimate community based forums.
The organization has roots in the partner communities. At every village in the areas of intervention, the organization has facilitated and strengthened Partners in the shape of male and female Community Organizations. At the first tier of the supra-village level, the organization has facilitated the networks of these partners on Olaswali (district) and Villayat (Province) level. Office bearers at the Olaswali or Villayat level partners constitute the General Body of the organization. This general Body of HOAD enjoys a powerful say in the affairs of the organization which are decided on the basis of majority of votes of the body.
To help the partner communities cope with natural disasters, HOAD has organized volunteers in many areas, particularly in Eastern Zone of Afghanistan. The organization regards these groups of volunteers as its main asset and the groups own the organization. HOAD regards coordination with the government and non government stake holders as a secret of programs. Hence a huge weightage is given to coordination and linkages development at all levels. Within the organization, there are various strategies/ policies that are followed in relevant matters. Examples are the HR Strategy, Gender Policy, Environment Policy, Communication Strategy, Social Protection policy, Program Strategies and Exit Strategies for the projects. Reporting lines are strictly followed by the staff. Staff working under various projects, report to the respective Project Managers, who report to the Regional Program Managers. Regional Program Managers report to the Manager Operations who reports directly to the Program Coordinator, Senior Program Manger & Executive Director. In the head office, the staff reports to Program Coordinator & Senior Program Manager who reports to the Executive Director. The Executive Director gets policy guidance from the NGO’s Board of Governors. The NGO also owns an executive committee of the BoG (08 members) i.e. Four male and Four Female. They are part time contributors to provide policy guide lines, training of the volunteers, and projection of the NGO. The Chairman of the board is an experienced development professional with outstanding vision and national and international exposure.