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Events Calendar Tabs
Island Garden City of Samal (February 2-3), Quezon City (February 9-10), Maasin City (February 23-24)
What does it take for Filipino youth to take the lead on accountability in the Philippines today?
Young Filipinos have always had the historical role of being the “hope of the motherland” having led the biggest movements that made the difference in the country: the fight for independent, anti-Martial Law struggle and unseating of a corrupt president.
New Green City Hall, Puerto Princesa City
Government Watch (G-Watch) is formerly a social accountability program of a university founded in 2000 that is currently rebooting, in transition to being an independent national action research organization embedded in constituencies of civic and advocacy-oriented organizations all over the Philippines aiming to contribute in the deepening of democracy through the scaling of accountability and citizen empowerment.
University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College
The 2012 World Risk report ranked the Philippines third out of 173 countries in terms of disaster risk. It has ranked 4thin the 2016 Germanwatch Climate Risk Index Report and 1stin 2013 after typhoon Yolanda – the strongest storm to make landfall in recent history – hit the country. The country is prone to multiple recurring hazards such as cyclones, floods, earthquakes, and landslides. Already today, 20 typhoons at least hit the Philippines every year.
Best Western Plus Lex, Cebu City
G-Watch will be holding its National Meeting and Learning Exchange in Cebu City. The said event will bring together key leaders of G-Watch sites/ hubs and partners all over the country for an annual updating and strategizing, as well as key ally civil society organizations and government offices for learning exchanges.
This year's edition of the annual event hopes to achieve the following:
Manila; Naga City; Puerto Princesa City, Dumaguete City; San Miguel, Bohol; Tacloban City, Southern Leyte; Cebu; Bacolod City; Island Garden City of Samal
Simultaneous activities (forum, radio-hopping, exhibit, fund-raising, concert, pageant, sportsfest) in different sites of G-Watch all over the country that will create awareness on the importance of transparency, participation and accountability, especially given today’s context. The events will also kick off the various monitoring initiatives of G-Watch in different localities and it action research on key poverty reduction programs.
Why is G-Watch conducting an Awareness-Raising Campaign?
Balay Kalinaw, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City
Ako, Ikaw, Tayo May Pananagutan 2018
G-Watch's Awareness-Raising Activity
Government Watch (G-Watch) has been one of the pioneers of citizens' monitoring of government performance, acting as an independent watchdog to hold government to account and improve governance. We have monitored procurements as well as several key service delivery and programs on education, health, social services, infrastructure, to name a few.
Astoria Plaza, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
The roundtable discussion is a space for stakeholders and actors of open government in the Philippines to reflect and discuss the impact and lessons of the Philippine experience on key open government reforms in recent years, especially in light of political transition.
Puerto Princesa City
On October 4-6, 2017 in Puerto Princesa City, a number of new potential cadre recruits will undergo the G-Watch's Citizen Action for Accountability Training that the G-Watch Center is currently developing. Part of the training is the pilot run of a budget tracking of the Community Development Fund (CDF) of barangays deemed critical to be engaged by the Community-Based Sustainable Tourism (BSCT) leaders, who are the lead constituencies of G-Watch-Puerto Princesa.
Astoria Plaza, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
The Philippines is home to some of the known approaches and innovation on Transparency-Participation-Accountability (TPA). It has received numerous international recognitions for its TPA work; and some of its leaders are known international actors in the TPA field.
Sibagat, Agusan Del Sur (May 8), Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte (May 11), Tagbilaran City, Bohol (May 17), Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental (May 24), Tacloban City (July 21), Maasin City, Southern Leyte (July 24)
What transpired in the country's politics in the last months requires deep reflection and introspection on what have governance reforms achieved and not achieved, its unintended consequences and the possible ill-effects of how it was popularized and practiced under the previous administration.
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Calling on NYC, DILG, DBM, COA, CHED and DepEd to Advance the Full Implementation of the SK Reform Law
Three years after the passage of the SK Reform Law in 2016, the law has not been fully implemented. The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) lacks implementation details and SKs and stakeholders have yet to be oriented on it. Most SKs have yet to comply with the requirements for them to receive and utilize their budget. There is confusion among SKs, local government officials and national government agencies on mandates vis-à-vis the SK Reform Law implementation. The status of the SK budget is unclear and the trainings conducted have been lacking in substance and form.
Support the SKs to Access and Use their Budget to Serve the Youth
To date, the Sangguniang Kabataan (SKs) have yet to receive their budget over a year already since they got elected.
Upon the request of the SKs that Government Watch (G-Watch) are engaging in Empowering Youth to Lead Accountability (EYLA), G-Watch has sent a letter on March 28, 2019 to concerned agencies, namely:
- Department of Budget and Management (DBM)
- Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
- Commission on Audit (COA)
- National Youth Commission (NYC)
The letter says this:
Enabling G-Watch Monitoring in BARMM -Soft Launch and Briefing-Orientation of Volunteer-Monitors
G-Watch is exploring to set up a multi-sectoral and multi-level citizen monitoring of key government programs and services in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) learning from the three-decade old experience and knowledge of G-Watch adapted and customized in the unique context of BARMM.
On April 20-22, G-Watch conducted a soft launch of the initiative ‘Enabling G-Watch Monitoring in BARMM’ and briefing-orientation of volunteer-monitors from Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.
Planting the Seed of Accountability in Muslim Mindanao
By Francis Isaac
We were in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on the afternoon of 10 March 2018, where Joy gave a presentation on the concept of accountability to more than 100 Moro youth leaders of the Coalition of Moro Youth Movement (CMYM).
It was an uneventful 30-minute drive from Cotabato City; and after passing through a checkpoint manned by combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), we entered a compound where we were greeted by members of CMYM.
G-Watch Citizen Action for Health Accountability in Tobacco Control
G-Watch is taking part in a new undertaking that holds government to account in protecting public’s right to health that is endangered by interference by powerful private corporate actors in health-related policies and in public conscientization. The specific private corporate interest we look into are the powerful tobacco industry players whose strong and innovative lobbying work compromise public health.
G-Watch’s Multi-Level Involvement in International Anti-Corruption Day
G-Watch has reaffirmed its commitment to the fight against corruption by engaging in various activities at different levels to advance G-Watch’s anti-corruption agenda and approach. Central to this approach is the engagement of citizens and the use of multiple approaches and actions at various levels to hold power accountable.
G-Watch at the 18th International Anti-Corruption Conference
Government Watch (G-Watch) Director-Convenor Joy Aceron attended the 18th International Anti-Corruption Conference on 22-24 October 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she spoke in two panels, Public Sector Excellence and Preventing Corruption, and Trends and Strategies to Protect and Reclaim Civic Space.
The new G-Watch launches its first book and logo
Within one year since its official spin-off into an independent national action-research organization, G-Watch soft-launched its first full book, and its new logo to go with its rebranding efforts. The said unveiling was made on May 24 in the presence of leaders of G-Watch local sites, civil society and government partners, and its Advisory Board, who were gathered in Cebu City for the 2018 National Meeting and Learning Exchange.
Snap Interview #GPSAForum2017 with Joy Aceron
G-Watch Director-Convenor, Joy Aceron, on the importance of open, accountable, and inclusive societies in addressing violence and conflict in fragility. Snap interview during the Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) Global Partners Forum 2017 in November 2017 in Washington, DC.
Snap Interview #GPSAForum 2017: Joy Aceron, Convenor-Director of G-Watch from theGPSA_org on Vimeo.
Is Technology Transforming Social Accountability?
By Aga Khan Foundation (Originally posted on www.thegpsa.org)
At the recent Global Partners Forum 2017 in Washington, DC, civil society groups gathered to review the field of social accountability. In a session titled Civic Tech: Is Technology Transforming Social Accountability? a panel representing experiences from Africa and Asia assessed recent uses of technology to enhance the social accountability of governments to their citizens.