"Bayanihang Eskwela" featured in the UNDP global report on civic engagement
by Amihan Perez
Date Published: 05/06/2010

The Ateneo School of Government's Bayanihang Eskwela Project under the Government Watch (G-Watch) Program was chosen as a notable example of civic engagement in accountability in the latest UNDP global report.
 
Below is the write-up featured in the report:

"In the Philippines, UNDP worked with the Ateneo School of Government  the graduate school of leadership and public service of the Ateneo de Manila University) to address the problem of leakages in the construction of school buildings (2009). The UNDP Country Office supported the social monitoring of school building construction, involving members of school communities. School heads, parent‐teacher associations, and representatives of Girl and Boy Scouts were trained in the use of a monitoring tool to monitor the bidding and construction of their school building. The tool includes indicators such as adherence to specific procurement rules, quality of materials used, and presence of specifications included in the contract. It covers all stages of school building construction, from procurement to post‐construction. This initiative has made critical government procurement processes transparent and helped to prevent corruption. Contractors became more responsive to Government and community needs by rectifying errors detected by volunteer monitors. Community involvement was vital in ensuring quality public services and in educating citizens of their important role in good governance. The initiative targeted 30 school building project sites in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Maguindanao, Batangas, Quezon and in cities in Metro Manila, and improved the quality of newly built school buildings."

The global report also featured civic efforts done in Zambia, Timor Leste, Brazil, Niger and Nigeria.