The Philippines is recognized for its strong and vibrant civic culture, with many civil society organizations active in promoting accountability. While there is much innovative and dynamic work, however, many activities run independently, resulting in less than significant impact at national level. A recent WBI workshop aimed to change that by bringing together representatives from more than 50 civil society organizations, government, the private sector and academia to share information and build coalitions for scaling up social accountability initiatives at national level. The National Forum on Social Accountability, held November 12-13, in Tagaytay City, Philippines, was the culmination of an eighteen month program organized by the World Bank Philippines’ country team and WBI to develop capacity for Filipino civil society and governments to mainstream social accountability initiatives into governance and anti-corruption work. The initiative builds on the country teams’ priority of supporting “islands of good governance” and complements directives issued by the Bank’s recent governance and anti-corruption strategy implementation plan. The 110 participants represented a diverse group of civil society organizations, central and local government officials, and mayors brought together by a thirteen member “convenors” group that has been meeting for the past six months to identify ways to build synergies among Filipino civil society organizations, the business community and interested government ministries. Convenors include the Filipino Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Association of Foundations, Caucus of Development NGO Networks, Coalition Against Corruption, Makati Business Club, Transparency and Accountability Network, Ateneo School of Government, The Asia Foundation, Philippines Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas and UP-National College of Public Administration and Governance. This is the first time such a group has been established, and efforts are underway to consolidate it into a more permanent coalition of actors supporting improved governance in the Philippines. During the conference, international and Filipino speakers presented recent local, international and sectoral experiences with social accountability, defined as a process through which citizens are actively involved in exacting government accountability. Typically operating from the bottom-up, social accountability mechanisms include many tools that can be used by citizens, civil society, media, and even governments to hold public authorities accountable. Examples include citizen and community scorecards, social audits, citizen charters, budget advocacy and literacy campaigns, and participatory public expenditures tracking surveys, among others. A preliminary stocktaking of such initiatives presented during the conference, showed a gap in citizen involvement in budget formulation at national level, a lack of sustained involvement beyond one-off pilots and donor supported initiatives, little experience with evidence-based approaches to advocacy, and insufficient focus on the overall public expenditure management system. Many activities have been undertaken at local levels, without taking advantage of a coordinated approach, or using internationally tested methodologies that can strengthen advocacy efforts by being based on quantitative information rather than anecdotal evidence. To solidify the dialogue and cooperation, participants divided into working groups, identified priority areas, and then formulated action plans to direct future work programs. The group focused on four priority areas: anti-corruption activities built around performance-based budgeting and incentives and public expenditure and revenue generation monitoring, institutionalization of access to information through passage and enforcement of freedom of information legislation; judicial and electoral reforms; and integration of anti-corruption measures into educational curriculum. Working groups will submit proposals based on the action plans to the upcoming WB-managed Building Partnerships for Effective Local Governance program, as well as the newly formed regional facility on social accountability based at Ateneo University School of Government. The convenors groups will continue to support collaborative efforts among the group, institute capacity building initiatives, and develop pilot activities on a limited basis. For more information: World Bank Philippines World Bank Institute Socially Sustainable Development Group |
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