Harnessing Youth Power in Integrating Open Government Values and Mechanisms to Respond to Local and Community-Interest Issues in the Province of South Cotabato (PHSC0001)

Commitment ID

PHSC0001

Commitment Title

Harnessing Youth Power in Integrating Open Government Values and Mechanisms to Respond to Local and Community-Interest Issues in the Province of South Cotabato

Problem

Problems brought up in the multi-stakeholder meetings can be classified into three:

• Lack of Information- Lack of data about the youth coming from the barangay level:
  • Social-Education
  • Tourism- more aggressive info drive focusing on countryside farm tourism
  • Flow of information about the power outages from SOCOTECO
  • Increased in cyber-related crimes involving the youth (education about cyber safety)
  • The youth leaders in the province having very little knowledge when it comes to the concept of Freedom of Information and Open Contracting.Lack of Capacity - Governance-SK- to be more equipped to do their duties/capacitation in terms of procurement, education on open legislation, and in governance:
  • Governance-DILG’s Public Financial Management-Barangay-level
  • Lack of opportunity for the youth to increase their capacity/no follow-through on OC FOI and other OG initiatives
  • The youth having limited access to government information and having limited or no access to the internet.
  • Introducing the concept of Open Government and establishment basic deliverables for the commitments take time.

  Need for Increased Citizen Participation - Lack of participation in good governance

  • The low number of qualified voters for the youth
  • Ambassadorship (75 ambassadors)
  • The youth sector being underrepresented
  • There is no existing advocacy youth groups in the area that focuses on Freedom of Information and Open Contracting.

    Status quo

    • The provincial government was able to successfully get the support and involvement of major civil society players in the province, including those involving the Provincial Development Council.
    • The government has started its efforts to engage the youth but is having some difficulties in doing a follow-through with the students and educators because of the pandemic.

    Action

    In the next year, the situation is primed for the Provincial Government of South Cotabato to work with civil society, youth leaders, and other members of the private sector in engaging the youth on their OGP Local program commitments. Therefore, they commit to do the following:

    • To educate the youth by introducing the concept to them by going to schools and communities.
    • To involve the youth by increasing their participation in the Open Government consultations and activities.
    • To converge the youth by supporting the creation of new advocacy youth groups and by creating spaces and events for the youth interaction and collaboration.
    • To lead the youth by providing opportunities for the youth leaders to speak on Freedom of Information and Open Contracting by providing space for them to initiate Open Government campaigns and activities on Freedom of Information and Open Contracting.
    • To the academe, local advocacy groups, community leaders, business sector, and tech groups based in the province.

    How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

    What are the expected outputs and outcomes once the commitment has been implemented?

    • Output 1 - Open Government Youth Ambassadorship Program Outcome: At least 50 ambassadors trained on open government values, processes, and best practices.
    • Output 2 - Issue-Based Freedom of Information Activations Outcome: At least three issue-based activations tied to need for better access to government information facilitated.
    • Output 3 - Issue-Based Open Government Capacity-Building Activities Outcome: At least three capacity-building activities related to locally relevant issues and Open Government values facilitated.
    • Output 4 - Issue-Based Citizen Participation Drives Outcome: At least three success stories on improving citizen participation in Open Government-related initiatives and locally relevant issues highlighted.

    What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

     

    To manifest the youth’s important role in establishing and sustaining an Open Government that promotes both transparency and accountability. This movement also aspires to inspire other local governments to engage their youth in their undertakings to better our society.

    Primary Policy Area

    Open Contracting, Open Data

    Primary Sector

    Education, Private Sector

    What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?

    Access to information	For Open Information, Open Contracting and Open Legislation would aim that everyone would have access to the information.
    Public Accountability	Moving individuals especially the youth by educating them would really be an important move to capacitate them and for them to find the value of becoming involved.