On its fifth year of implementation, CODE-NGO’s Knowledge Development and Management (KDM) Program has pursued to facilitate more meaningful learning exchange among civil society organizations (CSOs). This was realized through the Communities of Practice (CoP) online forums, creating knowledge products on CSO activities, updating the CODE-NGO members’ database, and regularly communicating development efforts of CSOs through the CODE-NGO website, Facebook page, Twitter account, e-newsletters and Annual Report.
The syntheses of ten (10) online forums from 2013 to 2016 were compiled and transformed into infographics under four (4) thematic areas: Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, CSO Good Governance, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Citizen-led Monitoring Program. These publications may be downloaded from the CODE-NGO website (www.code-ngo.org). This year, two (2) online forums were organized among communities and CSOs: “Volunteer Management” and “Board-ED Relations”, via the CODE-NGO Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/caucusofdevelopmentngonetworks) and an email group. Co-organized with the Volunteer and Membership Programs, several member networks (MNs), member base organizations (MBOs), and partners of CODE-NGO, coming from different regions and sectors in the Philippines participated in these online forums. The syntheses of these forums will also be converted to infographics and published online. As an offshoot of a face-to-face peer learning exchange last fiscal year, a Guidebook on “Building Capacities Towards CSO Network Sustainability” was produced (https://code-ngo.org/2017/01/building-capacities-towards-cso-network-sustainability/).
FY 2016-17 was prolific for CODE-NGO’s KDM Program as it produced additional eight (8) publications through online and print: CODE-NGO Annual Report 2016; Higit Pa 25th Anniversary Book; Civil Society Organizations Sustainability Index (CSOSI) 2015 Report; Perception Survey of CSOs on Government and Civil Society 2016; Storytellers’ Journey: Volunteer Stories on Social Development; Strength in Unity: The Citizen’s Monitoring of LGU Performance Project Experience; Addressing Concerns Overcoming Challenges: A Handbook on CSO Participation in Government Planning and Budgeting 2016; and Scoping Study on Surge Capacity of Philippines CSOs (Advancing CSO Engagement in DRRM-CCA). These materials are accessible at the CODE-NGO website www.code-ngo.org. Additional copies of the
CSO Assessment of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-16; Development and Reform Agenda (DRA) 2016-19 (popular and full versions); and the Capacity Assessment Tool (CAT) for CSOs were printed and distributed to network members and partners. The CODE-NGO e-Library has also been updated with 53 additional CODE-NGO publications (from 1991 to 2013) available for downloading at https://code-ngo.org/publications/.
To update the profiles of the networks’ member base organizations, the survey responses of 654 MBOs have been encoded, cleaned and processed. With a directory of more than 700 cooperatives added, the CODE-NGO database now runs at 1,408 MBOs. The data was mapped out and initially uploaded to the CODE-NGO website (https://code-ngo.org/network-members/). A second batch of profiles are currently being encoded and processed and will be uploaded to the website as well. This database was developed primarily for mapping and programming purposes. The contact details will be updated every year, while the full survey will be run every 3 years after the national elections.
With CODE-NGO’s celebration of its 25th Anniversary, two (2) videos were produced to launch the coffee table book, Higit Pa (https://code-ngo.org/2017/01/higit-pa-reaching-beyond-aim/) and capture the highlights of the 25th celebration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4r7egJ_vk4). With the conduct of the first ever Youth Video Awards in November 2016, five (5) profile videos have been produced by the youth of some member networks and a base organization to showcase what they do for social development (https://code-ngo.org/2017/01/socdev2016-youth-video-awards-winners/). The CODE-NGO History/Timeline was also converted into infographics and presented during SocDev2016.
Further, through the DRRM Fund Watch Project, the online platform CODE-NGO DRRM iHub was developed (http://drrm.code-ngo.org/) to “better monitor local government units and how they manage and use their local budgets for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management”. The 2016 round of the CSO Sustainability Index (CSOSI) for Asia research (wherein CODE-NGO spearheads the Philippine report) was also conducted to “measure the strength and viability of the CSO sector in the following dimensions of sustainability: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, infrastructure and public image”, and will be published soon.
To communicate its accomplishments to the public, CODE-NGO has continuously updated its website to feature member, project and program activities and events, posting 44 articles and statements in the past year. It released six (6) issues of the e-Newsletter, which has more than 2,600 recipients. As of July 2017, the CODE-NGO Facebook page got 3,677 “likes”, a big increase of 1,382 from July 2016. It met the target of 2-3 posts per week, and went beyond target during activities and events.
As the Strategic Plan 2018-2022 will be ratified in the coming fiscal year, CODE-NGO’s KDM Program is up to another challenge and evolution in gathering and producing data and lessons from the work of the network and its partner organizations to contribute to building a body of knowledge on CSO development work in the Philippines, particularly on civil society’s contributions to and impact on national development.