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PTF is delighted to report on the initiation of four new projects in the past three months valued together at more than $ 1 million.

The India Development Relief Fund (IDRF) has partnered with PTF to play a leading role in three Health Transparency Initiatives (HTIs) in India. The first, a Quality Improvement of Public Health Services in Thrissur, Kerala, India is being implementing by the CSO, Jananeethi, over 3 years (2018- 2020). The first year of the project is being supported by a grant of $28,000, of which, $20,500 is being provided by the IDRF and $7,500 is being provided by PTF. This project will: (a) support community engagement with local governments and public health clinics for greater transparency and improvement services; (b) help government mandated Hospital Management Committees provide more effective oversight; and (c) establish and put into operation an independent community body – a Health Watch Committee to hold duty bearers accountable. The second initiative is focusing on Improving Maternal and Child Health Care Services (MCH) through Citizen Engagement in Odisha State. This project, approved in March 2019, will be the first phase (2019-2020) of a longer-term program and is made possible by the continued partnership of the IDRF and PTF. The IDRF is granting the majority of the funding for the Initiative ($36,000, 64% of the total) and PTF is contributing $14,000 (25%). The Indian CSO, Youth for Social Development (YSD), is implementing the project on the ground and contributing 11% of the total cost. The Initiatives objectives are: (a) to enable beneficiaries to constructively engage with authorities and demand better quality and more accountable MCH services; (b) to develop a community score card process and other social accountability tools for MCH services; and (c) to collaborate with researchers on improving outcomes under SDG-3 (health), SDG-5 (gender) and SDG-16 (governance) through citizen engagement. A third project for “Reducing the Maternal and infant Mortality Through Community Participation and Civic Monitoring” in Rajasthan State, India, is at the concept stage.

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM FLYER (701 KB) Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF) founder Barry Metzger worked tirelessly to promote justice in some of the world’s poorest countries. The “Rule of Law Initiative” bearing his name is designed to respect the humanitarian and legal values that Mr. Metzger promoted throughout his life as General Counsel of the Asian Development Bank, a distinguished lawyer in private practice and Board Member of PTF. Everyday, tens of millions of poor people in developing countries face extortion that violates their dignity. Barry Metzger was quietly driven to volunteer with PTF, as are the Advisers that continue his work, because he understood these devastating impacts were in large part a result of weak rule-of-law. The ambition behind the Barry Metzger Rule of Law Initiative is to contribute to the development of more transparent and predictable government institutions. Through the Metzger Initiative, PTF supports citizen-led action in developing countries to make governments transparent, accountable and free of corruption by strengthening civil society institutions and developing the next generation of leaders advancing good governance and rule-of-law. Metzger Initiative Projects Regional Gender-Based Violence Legal Training The Metzger Initiative partnered with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) and the Hogan Lovells law firm to deliver a training program for licensed advocates and CSOs to increase their capacity to represent clients in cases involving gender-based violence and discrimination [...] Review23 - Regional Rule of Law Network in the Western Balkans ReView23, founded in 2015, is a regional network of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Western Balkans (Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro) which share common goals linked to the rule of law, specifically to judicial reform. The long-range vision for the Network is to strengthen the rule of law in fighting corruption to bring about judicial and human rights reform in the region [...]   Regional Trial Monitoring Program in Eastern Europe In order to ensure that the law is being properly applied in the courtroom, the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) in Serbia partnered with the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to develop a regional trial monitoring program [...]  

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Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF-2) is a development project funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Poverty Alleviation Fund in Nepal. The project’s objective is to improve living conditions and empower the rural poor, with particular attention to groups that have been excluded based on gender, ethnicity, caste or geographical location. The Poverty Alleviation …

Forest Action, a local Nepalese CSO, has successfully engaged communities to tackle the problem of willful mismanagement of forest resources in the Morang District in Nepal. Through its targeted intervention, balancing constructive engagement, awareness raising and capacity building of citizens and community members to meaningfully participate in the management of …

The new development paradigm embedded in the SDGs, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (COP21), and the Addis Ababa development financing framework reflects the emerging world view that civil society has an important role in development, and societal development challenges can be addressed only through a collaborative effort by government, civil society, the private sector, and official development assistance providers. The implication for ADB is that opportunities for supporting more and deeper collaboration with CSOs will increase as its DMCs pursue partnerships with CSOs in implementing the SDGs. ADB's current commitments and policies for supporting DMC collaboration with CSOs remain relevant and will be strengthened to deepen collaboration throughout ADB operations. In early 2016, the NGO and Civil Society Center (NGOC) reviewed the current state of CSO engagement in ADB policies and operations, in view of the regional and global trends and the changing role of civil society in poverty reduction and sustainable development. In addition, lessons from TA for Civil Society Participation for Development Effectiveness concluded that deeper CSO participation will improve development outcomes and increase the inclusiveness of programs and projects, including by (i) increasing access to and the responsiveness of health, education, and social protection services; (ii) accessing and leveraging the effects of infrastructure investments; (iii) improving public sector governance and reducing corruption; (iv) helping implement sustainable natural resource management; and (v) improving economic inclusivity through interventions that target poverty. Also, the study recommended the following: (i) demonstration pilots should be supported to deepen CSO engagement in selected DMCs that have proactive CSO engagement policies and programs, (ii) sector and thematic groups should take the lead in developing partnerships with CSOs and support results-oriented CSO engagement in sector lending operations, (iii) country partnership strategies should integrate the new development paradigm on the role of CSOs, and (iv) a strategy for financing CSO engagement in ADB operations should be developed. PTF provided technical assistance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen CSO participation in the Banks' operations. The assignment included two outputs: Output 1: Capacity for effective civil society organization engagement in the design, implementation, and monitoring of ADB projects improved. The TA cluster will seek a DMC-based solution to enhance CSO engagement and identify areas for skills enhancement. A capacity gap assessment of skills and knowledge on CSO cooperation will lead to (i) development of a learning program to build the capacity of DMC officials and CSOs on effective engagement in key sectors such as climate change, disaster risk management, gender, water, urban services, energy, health, education, and social protection; and (ii) country-specific strategies, such as CSO engagement in fragile and conflict-affected situations. To improve the skills for enhanced CSO engagement of DMC project officials and CSOs, capacity building methods and outputs will include (i) classroom training and learning-by-doing (on-the-job training, mentoring, and cross-learning visits); (ii) networking and peer learning programs; and (iii) e-learning and blended-learning courses. The TA cluster will also support regional capacity building through workshops and the use of appropriate information and communication technology (ICT) platforms. Output 2: Demonstration activities through effective civil society organization engagement conducted. TA cluster outputs will focus [...]

PTF’s Health Transparency Initiative (HTI) provides support to civil society organizations (CSOs) in developing countries to improve health outcomes. Its projects aim to raise citizen engagement with government officials and service providers, thereby controlling corruption, and improving health sector performance. Projects supported under HTI are listed below. Quality Improvement of Public Health Services in Thrissur, Kerala, India The HTI’s pilot project was a study undertaken by Indian-based CSO, Jananeethi, intended to help reduce corruption in health service delivery in Thrissur by shining a light on the district’s public health facilities. The study confirmed suspicions that vested interests were undermining public health services to push patients towards higher-cost private clinics they can ill afford. Jananeethi is now implementing a three-year project (2018-2020) to systematically address the shortcomings identified in the report be generating greater citizen engagement in ensuring quality public health services. Improving Maternal and Child Health Care Services (MCH) through Citizen Engagement in Odisha State in India MCH has been identified as the top priority in the recently issued Indian National Health Policy. This project is the first phase (2019-2020) of a longer-term program to be implemented by the Indian CSO Youth For Social Development (YSD) and co-financed by the India Development Relief Fund (IDRF). The project objectives are to: enable beneficiaries to constructively engage with authorities and demand improved access, better quality of MCH services and hold them accountable; improve access to and quality of MCH through the use of community score card process and other social accountability tools; and collaborate with researchers to contribute to evidence on improving outcomes under SDGs-3 (health), SDG-5 (Gender) and SDG-16 (governance) through citizen engagement. Health Transparency Initiative for Uganda (HTI-Uganda) The first HTI-supported project in Africa, approved in November 2019, aims to influence reforms that improve public health services in Kasangati, Uganda. The project will apply social accountability approaches with the aim of producing a robust collection of data-points on the efficiency, quality and availability of public health services as well as influencing contextual factors. This information will then be triangulated with mechanisms for change surrounding the management of public health services to produce data on the effectiveness of interventions. The initial year-long project will monitor the operations of Kasangati Health Center IV, serving approximately 100,000 citizens, to test the impact and overall viability for national-level coverage. It will be implemented by the Anti Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) with support from the Kasangati Rotary Club.

Strengthening Citizens Involvement in Mitigating Governance Risks in Local Government Units in the Philippines provided technical assistance to support more effective citizen engagement in the formulation and execution of budgets and procurement processes at the local level. Five sub-projects were developed to address governance risks unique to Local Government Units (LGUs) in the Caraga Region in Northeastern Mindanao. Insights gained from this pilot will feed into a series of reforms undertaken by the Government of the Philippines, including the Bottom Up Budgeting and Open Data disclosure.

In order to ensure that the law is being properly applied in the courtroom, the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) in Serbia partnered with the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to develop a regional trial monitoring program. This coordinated approach fostered knowledge sharing among the organizations, allowing them to benefit from past best practices and lessons learned, as the countries share commonalities in their historical and cultural contexts. During training workshops in each of the countries, experts presented on the relevant court procedures and the monitoring and reporting process to over 80 monitors, including human rights activist, journalists, and citizen volunteers. Once monitoring of cases began, daily reports were published on a web portal, launched during YUCOM’s first PTF-funded project in Serbia, and now expanded to include Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The reports provide observations on the procedure, such as presentation of evidence and handling of objections, with special note of violations. The site, which draws approximately 3,000 visitors each month, also includes hearing schedules and media coverage of the cases. A platform for visitor comments encourages discussion, many drawing attention to unreported corruption. As the pilot project of the Barry Metzger Rule of Law Initiative, this regional network of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina provided important lessons and impacts that can be scaled-up in the future. Impacts and Results Achieved 80 monitors were trained to systematically evaluate corruption trial proceedings, a step toward changing the nature of reporting on corruption cases from sensational and political to professional and legitimate. The capacities of CSOs were strengthened and they developed a new level of professionalism and expertise. Citizen awareness of the fight against corruption was raised through the website, video, and publication of a policy paper. Monitoring increased procedural compliance by introducing a new level of accountability. It also provides evidence that can strengthen future advocacy and data that can help measure the impact of reform on the system. Lessons Learned In Croatia, it was determined that more monitors would be needed for a comprehensive program, as hearings in different cases were often scheduled at the same time. Across all countries, more monitors would ensure a more comprehensive impact. Obtaining information about cases, including the hearing schedules, is one of the most difficult parts of the monitoring process and affects researchers’ ability to evaluate consistently and effectively. Additional efforts need to be made in this regard to ensure officials abide by FOI laws. Sustainability The Metzger Initiative is currently considering plans for a broader regional network in the Western Balkans. This project serves as an important launching point for collaboration among CSOs in the region, and is the starting point of developing best practices for their coordination. In working toward a unified front against corruption, during the course of the project, relationships were built among 20 key stakeholders including journalists, court staff, and CSOs. DOWNLOAD PROJECT PROPOSAL DOWNLOAD Q&A WITH YUCOM DOWNLOAD POLICY PAPER OTHER METZGER RULE OF LAW INITIATIVE PROJECTS Review23 - Regional Rule of Law Network in the Western Balkans Regional Gender-Based Violence Legal Training