2018 – 2020 Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen..., CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... #3

Inefficiencies in South Cotabato’s procurement process led to delayed completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... or hold up on implementation of 95 percent of planned infrastructure projects in 2017. A lack of publicly accessible information on the real-time status of projects hindered accountability on the issue. Historically, the status of projects has only been reported quarterly to a few civil society organizations and members of the government’s Provincial Project Monitoring Committee. However, citizens cannot access information on completion or repairs of infrastructure projects, which hinders their ability to plan their commutes, transport goods, and access social services. This disproportionately impacts citizens living in rural communities in South Cotabato and presents challenges for rural-urban integration.

After consultations with contractors, the business sector, and civil society, South Cotabato aims to proactively disclose the status of infrastructure projects on a near real-time basis through the provincial government website and social media channels. These initiatives will create opportunities for citizens and civil society to provide feedback and post recommendations so that issues on project implementation delays, quality concerns, and poor use of public funds may be addressed. The online and offline mechanisms seek to bolster citizen engagement to hold concerned government officials and contractors accountable for delays in project delivery.

Photo Credit: South Cotabato Facebook Page