ARTICLE 1 7 MEETINGS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTOR S 1. 2. 3. 4. The Board of Directors shall hold no less than two ordinary meetings pe r year, and may hold additional special meetings as is necessary . Al l meetings shall be sanctioned by the Chairperson of the Board . The Board shall establish and adopt rules and regulations for th e conduct of its meetings. The quorum at any meeting of the Board of Directors shall be 50 percen t plus one member, and a decision of the Board on any question shall b e by the majority of the members present and voting . In the event of a n equality of votes, the Chairperson shall have a casting vote . The Executive Director of CCARDESA shall be Secretary of meetings o f the Board . ARTICLE 1 8 CCARDESA SECRETARIAT 1. There shall be a Secretariat, which shall be responsible for the day-to day management and technical coordination of the activities o f CCARDESA . 2. The Secretariat shall consist of the Executive Director and such othe r staff as the Board of Directors may deem necessary . The Executive Director of CCARDESA shall recruit and appoint regiona l staff of CCARDESA Secretariat subject to approval by the Board . 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The Executive Director and all other CCARDESA staff shall be national s of States Parties . The Executive Director will be the Chief Executive Officer of CCARDESA. The Secretariat shall implement the policies and the relevant operationa l manuals established or approved by the Board of Directors, and in s o doing shall be responsible to the Board for the operation an d management of CCARDESA and for ensuring that the objectives an d programmes of CCARDESA are properly developed and carried out . The Secretariat shall prepare Annual Plans and Budgets for presentatio n and approval by the Board before the start of each financial year . The Secretariat shall compile and summarize the progress reports of th e regional agricultural R&D activities for presentation and approval of th e Board . The Secretariat shall prepare consolidated Administrative and Audite d Financial Reports for presentation and approval of the Board . 10