WASHINGTON, May 13, 2015—The Dominican Republic has become the first country in the global South to join the group of donors who are funding the Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA), a program launched by the World Bank Group in 2012 to strengthen public-sector performance and meet governance challenges in developing countries.
The Government of the Dominican Republic has joined such GPSA donors as the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations and the Aga Khan Foundation USA, in a reflection of the government’s commitment to create stronger social accountability mechanisms and to pursue governance reforms as a means to end poverty.
The GPSA is already active in the Dominican Republic, supporting a $730,000 project by Intermon Oxfam working to coordinate and scale up social accountability processes aimed at improving budget accountability in the education, agriculture, water and sanitation, and public housing sectors. Using locally driven social accountability processes that target issues and problems in specific sectors of the economy and society, the project aims to generate evidence-based and continuous feedback to be used by national authorities focusing on budget priorities and service delivery.
The GPSA project, which was launched in 2014, is helping facilitate dialogue between civil society organizations and the ministries in Dominican Republic to address service delivery problems in the education, agriculture, water and sanitation, and public housing sectors. As a result of this, civil society organizations, community-based organizations, and public sector institutions, are working together to provide citizens with access to information and enhance collaboration between government and civil society in pursuit of improved performance and quality of public spending.
In addition, the Ford Foundation has announced a new contribution of US$1 million thereby renewing its commitment of support to the program. In 2012, after the World Bank’s initial investment of $20 million, the Ford Foundation made a commitment to the GPSA Trust Fund of $3 million. To date, the funds have been allocated toward GPSA’s grants portfolio, as well as toward the knowledge and capacity-building components of the GPSA.
The Ford Foundation has been an active working partner of the GPSA, underscoring Ford’s commitment to worldwide efforts on social change, democratic values, poverty and justice, international cooperation, and human achievement.
44 countries have now opted into the GPSA to date. To see all the countries where the GPSA’s funding component operates, visit Where We Operate.
In these countries, the GPSA is launching its 3rd Call for Proposals on May 13, 2015. Civil society organizations from these countries wishing to apply, should consult the GPSA website.
About the GPSA
Launched in 2012 with a $20 million commitment from the World Bank Group, the GPSA is currently supporting 23 social accountability projects in 17 countries, helping civil society and governments work together to solve critical governance challenges and strengthen public-sector performance. Governments of 44 countries have now joined the program, which allows civil society organization in those countries to gain access to GPSA grants. In addition, the GPSA has developed an extensive knowledge and learning agenda. GPSA grantees and other stakeholders in the field are supported by a strong capacity-building program to enhance the implementation of projects that promote social accountability.
The GPSA’s network of partners includes over 250 organizations from civil society, foundations, private sector, academia and think tanks, as well as multilateral and bilateral institutions. On May 12 and 13, 2015, the network will convene in Washington, D.C., for the GPSA’s Second Global Partners Forum, focusing on the theme of “social accountability for citizen-centric governance, a changing paradigm.” At this occasion, the GPSA will host an Award ceremony to honor recipients of six Regional Awards and a Lifetime Award for Leadership in Social Accountability (see list of Awardees here).
About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please visitwww.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and www.ifc.org.
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