Citizens globally are increasingly concerned with and demanding actions to confront poor governance and corruption. In response, civil society’s role has evolved to meet their needs –from simple watchdogs to constructively engaging with governments to complement their actions from the ground up. Innovative approaches to enhance this relationship, particularly in PTF’s experience, have been proven to be extremely positive in reducing corruption, improving governance outcomes, and enhancing the effectiveness of development programs. However, these gains are being hampered by official donor funding strategies that do not adequately support these efforts.
To emphasize this disconnect, PTF’s Chief Technical Officer, Dr. Vinay Bhargava, made a presentation at an Asian Development Bank (ADB) sponsored learning event on 9-10 September 2014 in Manila on innovations in governance. Attendants and participants included senior government officials from countries in the Asia-Pacific region, private sector executives, leading academics, senior representatives from the development community as well as ADB. The presentation drew public interest as well, as evidenced by a compelling report referencing Dr. Bhargava’s presentation in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Dr. Bhargava shared his thoughts on what is driving civil society led innovations, presented promising categories of innovation, and made few recommendations for civil society, governments, donors and ADB for supporting innovations that make real difference. Click here to read the full text of Dr. Bhargava’s presentation.
