The World Bank has released the list of finalists for second round of Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) grants. The selection of eight new project countries included Ghana, Uganda, Moldova, Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Mongolia, Paraguay and Tunisia. The grants, totaling close to US$6 million over the next five years, is expected to be used to help set up projects to tackle poor governance in the health services sector in Moldova, monitor social services in the cash transfer program in Paraguay, and make the budget work for citizens in Ghana.

It is also aimed at providing strategic support to projects in which civil society and governments collaborate to resolve critical governance problems in developing countries.  As the final steps in the GPSA grant approval process, finalists are expected to undergo full due diligence assessment, and prepare their project papers for final approval by the World Banks Country Directors, according to World Bank.

The Steering Committee of the program met in Washington on March 10 and 11 to discuss the results of the second call for proposals.  The eight finalists were selected from a pool of 428 applications, based on technical reviews by an international Roster of Experts.  With this round of new grants, the GPSA is now supporting 22 projects around the world.

The GPSA finalists for 2014 include Ghana SEND-GHANA Making the Budget Work for Ghana $ 850,000, Moldova Center for Health Policies and Studies (PAS Center) Implement participatory social accountability for better health in Moldova $ 730,000, Democratic Republic of Congo CORDAID (The Catholic Organization for Relief and Development Aid), Reinforcing social accountability of health services by supporting health committees and the community diagnosis in Bas Congo and South Kivu $ 800,000.

The rest are Mongolia Globe International Center Transparency and Accountability in Mongolian Education (TAME)  $ 650,000,  Morocco CARE International Maroc LEAD Project Linking Education and Accountability for Development $ 720,000, Paraguay Fundación Comunitaria Centro de Información y Recursos para el Desarrollo, CIRD TEKOPORÃ Beneficiaries Empowered to Ensure Social Accountability $ 600,000, Tunisia Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) The National Network of Social Accountability $ 800,000, Uganda Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) Enhancing Accountability and Performance of Social Service Contracts in Uganda $ 650,000.

George Osei-Bimpeh, the Country Director of SEND-GHANA, reacting to the announcement noted that “in the next four years SEND-Ghana will be applying these funds to promote transparency and accountability in the budget of the education and health sectors with the aim of improving access and quality service delivery in the two sectors and the national budget.”

According to him, SEND will be working with its grassroots partners across 50 districts in Ghana on this project. “It is our hope that this opportunity will allow us to continue in our strife to promoting good governance practices and deepening democratic space for effective service delivery, especially to the poor and vulnerable groups.”

SEND-GHANA’s project has three components. They include creating an enabling environment for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) government constructive engagement for social accountability in Ghana, integrating budget monitoring with service delivery outcomes by following where the money goes and knowledge and learning of social accountability practices.

In a related development Sierra Leone and Yemen have joined the GPSA by sending in their opt letters.
The GPSA now officially counts 37 countries among its ‘opted-in’ countries. This allows the program to provide direct funding to CSOs operating in their territories.

The majority of GPSA countries are in Africa, closely followed by the Latin America and Caribbean region, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia.

The extensive range of organizations, from CSOs and CSO networks, to foundations, research institutes, international development organizations and also private sector companies from across the world showcases the growing importance and recognition of the idea that social accountability, through its various tools and approaches, is key in solving the most difficult challenges in development.
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The first GPSA Global Partner Forum for GPSA is slated for May 14-15, 2014 at the World Bank Headquarters, Washington, D.C. to provide an exciting opportunity for all GPSA Global Partners from around the world to share, connect and exchange knowledge on Social Accountability.