Capitol-led initiative to recognize civil society groups

Local

THE contribution of civil society groups in community development will be recognized in an initiative launched by the Cebu Provincial Government.

Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro signed an Executive Order (EO) creating the Katilingbanong Serbisyo Award (KSAW) or the "Ato ang Sugbo KSAW."

The initiative aims to recognize exemplary partnerships between local government units (LGUs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in community development.

Among the EO’s prime objectives of the EO is to recognize i outstanding contributions of CSOs in local governance and development, institutionalize a results-based and evidence-driven award system; strengthen LGU-CSO partnerships; promote innovation, inclusivity, sustainability in development initiatives; and enhance grassroots participation in governance processes.

Under the EO, civil society groups are classified under three categories, namely People's Organizations (POs), or community-based groups; Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), or institutional organizations; and cooperatives, or registered cooperative entities.

Each of the organizations will be evaluated separately and will have corresponding awardees.

Under KSAW, 13 flagship and special awards will be given to various CSOs that will pass the requirements and evaluation.

Among these awards are the Outstanding LGU-CSO Partnership Award; Resilient Communities Governance Award; Inclusive Social Governance (ISG) Award; Participatory Governance Excellence (PGE) Award; Sustainable Development Partnership (SDP) Award; Local Economic Development (LED) Catalyst Award; Innovation in Public Service Award; Grassroots Empowerment Award; and Capacity Development and Advocacy Award.

There will be also recognition awards for Women's Empowerment Champion; Youth Leadership and Civil Engagement; Health Governance; and Education Development.

Each award will have three parallel winners representing the three categories of POs, NGOs, and Cooperatives.

Eligible for these award initiatives are registered CSOs, NGOs and Cooperatives operating in the Province; organizations accredited and/or participating in Local Special Bodies; entities with at least one year of program implementation; and organizations with established partnerships with an LGU.

Disqualified are those organizations with pending legal cases of fraud or misuse of funds; purely profit-driven initiatives without community impact; and political organizations. They can be nominated by an LGU, DILG field offices, accredited CSO federations, and/or through self-nomination.

The qualifiers will undergo the nomination process from the initial screening to provincial technical evaluation, final deliberation, and field validation by the Provincial Awards Committee chaired by the governor.

Qualifiers will be scored based on the following standard criteria: relevance and alignment (15%), impact and results (25%), participation and inclusivity (15%), innovation and replicability (15%), sustainability (15%), and partnership and collaboration (15%).

KSAW awardees may receive both monetary and non-monetary incentives, subject to the availability of funds and applicable laws.

These may include a plaque and certificate, official provincial citations, cash rewards, capacity development opportunities, endorsement to national awards, and inclusion in the Best Practice Compendium.

Funds for the program will be sourced from the annual budget of the provincial government or other available funds authorized under the law.(MyTVCebu)