Central Visayas Network of NGOs: One with the civil society in working for national development

Aldwin Joseph Empaces

As a coalition, Central Visayas Network of NGOs, also known as CenVISNET, unifies various voices of Civil Society Organizations or non-government organizations in Central Visayas. It also leads the quest to advance NGOs (in Central Visayas) in terms of their capacity in exercising transformative leadership and advancing universal values that evolve around human rights and the environment, among others.

CenVISNET is one of the 6 regional member networks, along with 6 other national networks of CODE-NGO (Caucus of Development NGO Networks) that represents more than 1,600 development NGOs, people’s organizations and cooperatives nationwide. It was formally registered under SEC on June 2007. And as part of CODE-NGO, CenVisNet also carries its mission in having a collective vision for development.

Being organized as an off-shoot of the 1991 Local Government Code, CenVISNET has three provincial network members that are active in local participatory governance – Bohol Alliance of NGOs or BANGON in Bohol; Negros Oriental Network of NGOs or Negornet in Negros Oriental and Kaabag sa Sugbo in Cebu.

CenVISNET’s member networks or NGOs cater to the development of various sectors in the region: fisherfolks, urban workers, farmers, women, children, youth, agrarian reform communities, senior citizens, people’s organizations and the academe.

With its 60 member-organizations operating in Region 7, CenVISNET aids in improving the quality of service provided by NGOs by ensuring transparency and accountability in their operations as well as improving the relationship between their members and various partners and stakeholders.

CenVISNET, along with its members, tirelessly implement projects and activities related to community organizing, sustainable agriculture, cooperative development, enterprise development, agrarian reform, primary health care, gender and development, coastal resource management, water and sanitation, nutrition, basic education, youth and child development and labor advocacy.

Aside from these projects, CenVISNET is also engaging in regional disaster risk reduction management, a move emphasizing how education and awareness can lessen the impact of disasters.

With CenVISNET, what was once a divided development civil society organizations in Central Visayas, are now transformed into one that has a defined collective vision for development with a sheer commitment to observe highest standards of development work.

As many people now notice how NGOs are capable of forming their web of connections for advocacy, lobbying and informational exchange, having them united as one would nonetheless scale up their impact to the national level and would likely improve more lives for a better society.

Aldwin Joseph Empaces is the Regional Coordinator of CenVISNET.