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Multilateral organizations, governments, academe and
other stakeholders have joined the Affiliated Network
for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific (ANSA-EAP)
to help address the region’s development challenges.
In a
statement, the World Bank (WB) said it joined the
ANSA-EAP together with the Department of the Interior
and Local Government (DILG) and other international and
local stakeholders. The formation of the ANSA-EAP was
spearheaded by the Ateneo de Manila School of
Government.
The WB
said the ANSA-EAP aims to cultivate among citizens of
Asia the Asian way of pursuing social accountability and
facilitate an exchange of “home-grown efforts” developed
by countries in the region.
“It is
high time that we consolidate these efforts, facilitate
cross-country sharing and exchange and realize the
greater power of regional collective work,” said Antonio
La Viña, dean of the Ateneo School of Government.
“It aims
to help people realize the value of their participation
in governance and further enrich the community of
learning and practice of social accountability,” the WB
added.
At the
recent launch of the ANSA-EAP, Local Government Academy
(LGA) executive director Marivel Sacendoncillo presented
the WB’s Panibagong Paraan competition as a model for
the private sector, civil society, academe and other
groups on how to address the country’s development
challenges.
The LGA
is an attached agency of the DILG providing
human-resource and capacity-development assistance to
the department and the local government units.
“Peoples’ participation at every stage beginning from
decision-making, planning, execution, financial
management and monitoring is necessary for better
implementation of development projects,” Sacendocillo
said.
Panibagong Paraan is a biannual competition where
nongovernment organizations and other groups are invited
to submit their ideas for innovative approaches to
specific topics related to development. The best of
these entries are presented in a development
marketplace.
Winning
entries in the competition are awarded up to P1 million
worth of grant to implement their project ideas within a
one-year period. This year, Panibagong Paraan 2008
received over 500 entries.
Around
100 entries advanced to the semifinalists who will be
presented at a marketplace of ideas on April 9 and 10 at
the SM Megamall. The final winners will be declared at
the end of the two-day fair.
Panibagong Paraan is a project of the World Bank and
DILG-LGA in partnership with the Asian Development Bank,
Australian Agency for International
Development/Philippines-Australia Community Assistance
Program, British Embassy, Canadian International
Development Agency, Caucus of Development NGO Networks,
League of Corporate Foundations, Peace and Equity
Foundation, Philippine Center for Population and
Development, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement,
Team Energy Foundation, The Asia Foundation and the
United States Agency for International Development. |
