Manila 2012: We Are Not Only #1 For Fun

May 2-5, 2012 marked a memorable week for the Philippines when it once again hosted the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank (ADB) after almost a decade. Led by the Department of Finance and ADB, the four-day 45th ADB Annual Meeting also included Knowledge Sharing and Partnership Events, Civil Society Organization Events, and Philippine Corporate and Investment Pavilion Events. The ADB Annual Meeting also gave Philippines the chance to showcase investment opportunities in the country, promote locally made products and Philippine tourism.

The Civil Society Program co-organized by the ADB NGO Center and CSO partners was composed of Learning with Partners Sessions wherein best practices in the implementation of social development programs were discussed, and Civil Society Panel Discussions wherein experiences with partnerships, development and ADB policies and projects were shared. The World Economic Forum/ Global Shapers Community, Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation, Plan International, and Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO), co-organized a Learning with Partner session on May 3, 2012 titled “Solutions Market: Innovations Shaping the Future of Development in Asia and the Pacific”. This is a new initiative in this year’s Civil Society Program that brought together international and local civil society organizations and showcased their pioneering “solutions” to development issues in their countries and communities.

SOLUTIONS MARKET: Aflatoun – Promoting Social & Financial Education Children	PANEL DISCUSSION: Multi-sectoral Partnerships for Development Effectiveness	SOLUTIONS MARKET: Budget Tracking for Transparency and Accountable Governance
Photos (c) NGO & Civil Society Center, Asian Development Bank (ADB)

For the Philippine presenters, the event showed the important role the CSOs play in sustainable development, the wealth of CSO knowledge in the host country and provided an avenue for the generation and sharing of ideas that catalyzed new partnerships between the attendees of the Annual Meeting. The CODE-NGO group presented the following programs: (1) Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) Watch: A Civil Society Monitoring Tool of CODE-NGO; (2) Aflatoun: Promoting Social and Financial Education to Filipino Children of the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO); (3) Budget Partnership with the National Housing Agency on Socialized Housing of the Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA); (4) CSO Constructive Engagement: Using Social Contracts to Achieve Participatory and Accountable Governance and Effective Delivery of Services of Iloilo CODE (i-CODE), a member of the Western Visayas Network of Social Development NGOs (WEVNet); (5) Budget Tracking for Transparency and Accountable Governance of Balay Mindanaw Foundation, a member of Mindanao CODE (MINCODE); and (6) Organizing a Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System at Sitio Calvary, Brgy. Damayang Lagi, Quezon City of Trinity University of Asia, a member of the National Council of Social Development (NCSD).   

The Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO) also co-organized a Civil Society Panel Discussion on May 4, 2012 titled “Multi-sectoral Partnerships for Development Effectiveness”. Moderated by Rory Tolentino, CODE-NGO Advisory Council member, the panelists included: Sec. Corazon “Dinky” Soliman of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Rafael Lopa, Executive Director of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Patricia Sarenas, Chairperson of CODE-NGO and MINCODE, Marg Mayne, CEO of VSO International and Netsanet Belay, Research and Policy Director of CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen’s Participation. 

The panel discussion outlined how various sectors interface with each other to create partnerships that enable and sustain development. The discussions tackled how these partnerships of different sectors translate to effective social, advocacy and volunteer programs.  The factors that facilitated and strengthened, as well as those that hindered, such multi-sectoral partnerships were also discussed.

The session included perspectives and lessons from government and CSOs partnering in anti-poverty and participatory governance efforts, from business sector engaged in development work in their partnerships with the government to improve access to basic services like health and education, from a CSO-corporate partnership for a volunteering program and from an international CSO alliance in their partnerships with various sectors in different countries.

To download materials, please visit the ADB 45th Annual Meeting site: http://www.adb.org/annual-meeting/2012/main

In his closing remarks during the May 4 Panel Discussion, Agustin Docena, Board Member of CODE-NGO and Chairperson of Eastern Visayas Network of NGOs and POs (EVNET), said that it is definitely more fun in the Philippines but the recently concluded ADB Annual Meeting demonstrated to our fellow ADB-member countries and other Annual Meeting participants that the Philippines is not only #1 for fun but also in innovative development work where partnerships are built, strengthened, and pushed forward to achieve growth that is felt and seen from the bottom to the top.