Background 

The Strategic Direction was an output of the Strategic Planning workshop facilitated by Ms. Angelita Gregorio-Medel last Oct 3-5, 2022 with 22 leaders from the 12 CODE-NGO Member Networks and 10 members of the CODE-NGO Secretariat. 

The strategic planning process began in 2021 with the mid-term assessment of the Strategic Plan 2018-2022, two generative conversations, and the enhancement of the CODE-NGO Covenant on Philippine Development and Code of Conduct. The 2022 Elections scenario building workshops and an assessment of the Advocacy Program of CODE-NGO also contributed to the process in 2022. Altogether, around 180 leaders from the Board, member networks, and the secretariat participated in the process.  

What We’ve Scanned

External Environment 

In recent years, we saw the rise of and broad support for authoritarian populism. The eroded space for democracy shrank civic spaces further and polarized the members of the CSO sector. This made CSOs’ general failure to forge a clear and strongly unified stand viz critical national political issues more complex. In the face of intensified state harassment, it became challenging to mobilize the CSO sector to exact accountability from the government, or to increase the visibility of its role as commitment holder of national development. Thus, we were unable to gain traction in establishing the legitimacy of NGOs and counter the growing mis/disinformation in social media. 

While it remains unclear and unimaginable how the 4^th Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, will impact and change our lives and our society, and we are uncertain how to explain the presence of 74M Filipino internet (2021) users, it remains a fact that one-third of the Philippine population do not have internet access.  There are disparities in the quality of digital infrastructure and access to bandwidth as remote learning and virtual work increase the demand for such. That is our digital divide. And side-by-side to it, CSOs have limited knowledge, skills, and resources to maximize the use of online platforms and technology moving forward.  

Although the victory of Marcos Jr. in the May 2022 elections is highly attributed to the rise of fake news, historical revisionism, and disinformation in social media, at the heart of the election results is the Filipinos’ leader-centric political value system which is characterized by deep political reliance on leaders, paternalism, or patronage politics. Duterte’s sustained popularity through his six-year term is a manifestation of that psyche. His popularity also showed that we CSOs lack a good understanding of Filipino voters. 

But it is clear that Filipinos are currently living in a tight economy and poverty incidence is on the rise because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and mounting national debt. Agriculture is one of the most neglected and affected sectors, and there is severe unemployment and underemployment. CSOs continue to suffer the financial crunch as we face fewer funding sources.  

Globally, the impact of extreme weather events, climate change, and vulnerability to environmental hazards and climate-related risks is already felt and experienced. It is high time that mitigating disaster risks and building climate resilience incorporate issues on renewable energy and food supply. Development NGOs seem to be resolute in addressing DRRM and CCA issues, but knowledge and skills for advocating CCA are still wanting. 

Internal Environment 

The CODE-NGO network was influential in specific policy areas such as Participatory Governance, but its voice on national issues vis-à- the populist and polarizing policies of the Duterte government might not have been audible enough. The effects of polarization on the CSO sector led to generative conversations within CODE-NGO and a review of its Basis of Unity, which were very instrumental for all the processes we underwent in 2022. 

There was a lack of deeper context analysis for advocacy work, succession planning, and mentoring with and for our members. While the NGO Leadership Competencies Framework could provide valuable guidance, improving the capacities of our members required additional resources. Especially during the pandemic years 2020-2022, resource generation proved to be very challenging.

The CODE-NGO Secretariat supported the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2018-2022 and its Balanced Scorecard. Among the four perspectives on organizational performance, there was limited progress in Learning and Growth, specifically the development of management information systems, competency framework, and performance management systems. Newly instituted or enhanced policies and systems lacked regular implementation. Building CODE-NGO’s knowledge and skills in communications, media relations, and knowledge development and management were recognized as important. Again, those required more resources. 

What We’ve Set

Based on the analysis of our Contexts, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, we will prioritize a Protective Strategy to leverage our strengths and address the threats. A protective strategy is proactive, resilient. It utilizes our comparative advantages to secure our role and place. It reduces the threats at the cost of taking minimum risks. 

In the next five years, the coalition aims to: 

1. Strengthen the capacity of CODE-NGO and its members to pursue informed and shared policy advocacy where we have competent catalysts (focused on themes), strong sustainability of resource base, powered by a dynamic, digitized communications system, and expanding/deepening membership and engagement with the youth sector; and 

2. Strengthen the organization and improve the resource and financial sustainability of CODE-NGO and its members

A critical aspect of strategic planning and management that helps CODE-NGO adapt and adjust effectively to shifting circumstances is anticipating scenarios. Today, CODE NGO has to overcome constraints that prevent it from achieving its vision, but many of these constraints might have evolved or changed. Scenario planning allows CODE-NGO to recognize threats (even the invisible ones) as opportunities and be strategically prepared to adapt to them if they occur, while still moving steadily toward its mission and vision. 

Strategic planning is positioning ourselves strategically to take advantage of a predicted or probable turn of events. It’s more about preparing ourselves for the future versus putting something in place.  

What’s Next

1. Revisit and revise the Vision-Mission-Values 
2. Detail the strategic interventions from the strategic objectives and strategic goal into projects, plans and activities
3. Identify the risks and some mitigation measures
4. Draft the budget
5. Ratify the Strategic Plan 2023-2027 at the 32^nd General Assembly, May 2023
6. Develop the Execution Strategy