Regional: Deepening Civil Society Engagement for Development Effectiveness - Deepening ADB–Civil Society Engagement in Selected Countries in Southeast and South Asia (Subproject 2)

Public sector management / Public administration

The TA will have the following outcome: CSO participation in ADB operations strengthened. SP2 will support the last two outputs of the overall TA cluster.

Output 1: Demonstration activities through effective CSO engagement conducted. Under this output, aligned with output 2 of the TA cluster, funds will complement South Asia Department (SARD) and Southeast Asia Department (SERD) ongoing and/or upcoming projects by strengthening the quality and depth of the consultative and participatory approaches with a broad range of stakeholders, on projects and/or programs to be identified in consultation with the respective regional departments.

In the Philippines, Subproject 2 will finance the nongovernment organization (NGO) BRAC to implement a productive inclusion program, called the graduation approach, in one of the poorest regions of the Philippines, Negros Occidental. ADB is drawing from the experiences of other countries to implement an innovative graduation program under an ADB-supported large-scale targeted social assistance program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, which has reached 4.4 million poor families identified by a national poverty targeting system. The program will strengthen local civil society by forming and supporting local associations and providing them with group-based asset transfers, training, and coaching to implement group-based enterprises. Further details of the background and the scope of the work is available in Attachment 2.

In addition to the support to the graduation approach, Subproject 2 will support at least 4 CSO engagement demonstration activities in a range of projects in SERD and SARD DMCs. It is expected that the projects, spanning the processing to evaluation stage, will receive support for complementary activities implemented by civil society. These projects will be identified during the implementation of Subproject 2. SARD and SERD will each support two in-depth CSO engagement demonstration activities. SDCC will seek governments' concurrence as needed prior to the implementation of each identified activity. Examples of activities include financing a set of consultations with CSOs during processing to help improve project design, such as with road safety groups for road projects or parent teacher associations for education projects. A women's organization may be engaged to assist with the implementation of additional activities to a project's gender action plan, which result in stronger project results. Provision of a CSO to monitor a project's impact at the community level is another example. Subproject 2 will support two outreach, communications materials, and/or related activities to engage with advocacy and operational NGOs involved in ADB-financed projects in South and Southeast Asian countries.

Output 2: Knowledge products about effective CSO engagement in ADB operations generated and shared. Output 2 of Subproject 2 mirrors output 3 of the TA cluster. Documentation and sharing experiences of effective CSO engagement and lessons provide valuable information for DMC and ADB staff for future opportunities. Under output 2, Subproject 2 will support the publication of a guidance note on CSO engagement in ADB operations, which includes case studies, practical tips, and contextual background updated to align with Strategy 2030; four knowledge products on innovative approaches in civil society engagement in ADB-financed projects, which may be used for face to face training and e-learning modules for CSOs, ADB staff and DMC officials; and revisions to 2 CSO briefs published in the ADB series. The CSO Briefs series, published by the NGO and Civil Society Center (NGOC), provides an overview of the civil society landscape in 27 DMCs and are a useful tool for DMC officials to identify opportunities for CSO engagement. The TA subproject will support revisions of CSO briefs in two selected DMCs. Although digital publication is ADB's default approach, some publications may be printed to reach specific target groups, such as civil society groups with poor internet access.

Demonstration activities through effective civil society organization engagement conducted

Knowledge products (KPs) about effective CSO engagement in ADB operations generated and shared

ADB will engage all NGOs and individual consultants following the ADB Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and its associated project administration instructions and/or staff instructions. Under output 1, ADB will engage two national NGOs to conduct CSO demonstration activities in selected DMCs. These organizations will be engaged using a simplified technical proposal and quality cost-based selection using a performance-based contract with payments made upon acceptance of deliverables.

Individual consultants will be contracted to conduct outreach in-country consultations and write the CSO-engagement-related knowledge products and events, including the CSO engagement publication and CSO briefs.

The TA subproject will require 79 person-months of national consulting firms, 7 person-months of individual international, and up to 10 person-months of individual national consultants. The services of national and international consultants will be recruited to strengthen the design and delivery of selected capacity building activities and knowledge products. An estimated 6 person-months of national individual consulting services will be used in a flexible manner to support the TA implementation of proposed or ongoing ADB-financed projects supported through higher-level CSO engagement.