WASHINGTON, December 19, 2013 – The Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) today announced a $750,000 grant to the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA) for its project CheckMySchool (CMS) in the Philippines. With the grant, ANSA will scale up the CMS initiative to include 46,000 schools in the Philippines. This will help students and parents to access accurate information and give feedback about the educational services they receive; and establish local partnerships between government, parents and students.
Launched in 2011, CMS is participatory monitoring initiative that works to improve education services in public schools by promoting transparency and social accountability. It helps to address the issue of limited information and coordination on procurement in schools, by improving the coordination between school needs and government allocation of resources. CMS builds on a strong partnership with the Philippines Department of Education. The successful initiative combines the use of technology through social media and mobile phones with community mobilization of education stakeholders at national and local levels.
“For almost three years, CheckMySchool has proved its effectiveness not only in raising and resolving school issues, but also in strengthening citizens' stakes in these issues,” said Dondon Parafina, Executive Director of ANSA-EAP. “With the GPSA grant, we can now establish CMS as a long-term program. We hope to benefit from the knowledge and learning exchanges and capacity building opportunities that GPSA offers to achieve self-sustainability for Checkmyschool."
The grant for CheckMySchool complements the support GPSA is giving in the Philippines to the work of the Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Governance, which will monitor the delivery of services, including education under the Conditional Cash Transfer program. On October 2 this year, the GPSA announced the first round of grants for 13 social accountability projects by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in 11 countries.
Funds for the ANSA project will be provided by OSF, which joined the GPSA as a Global Partner earlier this year. The OSF has committed a total investment of $3 million in parallel funding to the Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA). Through such parallel funding, the OSF leverages the reach of the GPSA.
“Our partnership will encourage citizens and civil society organizations around the world to play an active role in improving government accountability,” said Chris Stone, president of the Open Society Foundations. “Our joint effort with the World Bank has the potential to improve the lives of the poorest and most marginalized people and help strengthen justice, rights and governance.”
The GPSA is moving forward swiftly into its next phase and issued its 2nd Call for Proposals on November 18, 2013. As a signal of the momentum that is building around the program, 34 countries across the world have already signed-up so that their civil society organizations can benefit from GPSA financing. CSOs can submit proposals until January 2014.
“In developing countries, we need to build the capacity of civil society organizations to work effectively with governments and help governments respond to citizens’ feedback, so we can continuously improve services to the poor,” said World Bank Group Vice President for Change, Knowledge and Learning, Sanjay Pradhan. “As a GPSA Global Partner, OSF brings considerable experience in promoting stronger governance in all parts of the world. I’m delighted at its generous support which will significantly broaden the reach of the partnership and help CheckMySchool carry on its important work in the Philippines to support schools and families particularly after the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan.”
About the GPSA:
The GPSA supports civil society and governments to work together to solve governance challenges, building on the World Bank’s direct engagement with public sector actors and a network of Global Partners. The program works to “close the loop” by supporting citizens to have a more articulated voice, helping governments to listen, and assisting government agencies to act upon the feedback they receive.
By early 2014, the GPSA will launch a Knowledge Platform on social accountability, which will facilitate knowledge exchange and research among CSOs working on improved government transparency and responsiveness.
About OSF:
The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Working with local communities in more than 100 countries, the Open Society Foundations support justice and human rights, freedom of expression, and access to public health and education.
