Posted on December 19, 2012

Ford Commits $3 Million to Global Partnership for Social Accountability

The Ford Foundation has announced a $3 million commitment to support the World Bank's Global Partnership for Social Accountability.

The funds will be used to help develop a global platform that enables nongovernmental organizations working to improve government transparency and responsiveness to exchange information and research. Funds also will be used to support social accountability activities such as budget literacy campaigns, citizen-driven government report cards, grievance redress mechanisms, independent budget analysis, expenditure tracking, participatory budgeting, procurement monitoring, campaigns to increase public access to information, and user management committees.

The foundation made the announcement in conjunction with the first meeting of initiative partners on Monday. Governments that have opted-in to the effort include Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Malawi, Moldova, Mozambique, the Philippines, and Tunisia.

"This partnership will encourage citizens and civil society organizations around the world to play an active role in improving their governments and their societies," said Ford Foundation president Luis Ubiñas. "We know the benefit to communities when transparency and accountability in governance are strengthened. Efforts like this have the potential to exponentially improve the lives of the poorest and most marginalized around the world, and we commend the World Bank for focusing on how it can better engage civil society in its work with governments."