US funds available for legitimate NGOs
TACLOBAN CITY—Funding is still available for legitimate nongovernment organizations (NGOs) from the Philippine-American (Phil-Am) Fund of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Victoria Garchitorena, chief of party of the USAID Phil-Am Fund, said the US agency would make available $24 million for seed grants to NGOs focused on entrepreneurial development, antihuman trafficking and education programs for children and adults, among others.
Garchitorena was interviewed by the Inquirer on Tuesday in Makati City during the Partnership for Growth (PFG) program.
The PFG is a White House initiative between the Philippines and the US to promote broad-based and inclusive economic growth in the country.
Based on a handout distributed during the PFG program, the Phil-Am Fund is a five-year program that provides opportunities for local civil society groups, or NGOs, to devise new solutions for many of the Philippines’ “development challenges.”
The fund will support business start-ups and promote innovation through entrepreneurship, advance citizen advocacy for greater accountability and integrity; and support programs geared toward combating human trafficking, technology-based solutions to child and adult illiteracy and improved management of natural resources and biodiversity.
“It (PFG program) is really to support a lot of advocacy that we share with USAID and, of course, the Philippine government,” Garchitorena said.
According to Garchitorena, the NGO beneficiaries could receive seed grants ranging from $100,000 to $500,000, depending on their programs.
Those who wish to seek grants from the Phil-Am Fund have to submit their concept paper to the Gerry Roxas Foundation, which serves as a conduit for the program, Garchitorena said. The foundation won a bidding to become the “manager” of the program, she said.
Garchitorena, however, said the NGOs have to meet several requirements to qualify for funding.
One is to be in existence for three years. Another is to have a good track record. A third requirement is to be run by people capable of implementing the projects listed by the NGOs.
“We will visit them to really see that they exist or have a project on the ground,” said Garchitorena.
This way, only legitimate NGOs would receive the grant, she added.
The country is in the middle of one of the biggest scandals in its history, involving the plunder of billions of pesos of public funds through the pork barrel system and a conspiracy allegedly masterminded by wheeler-dealer Janet Lim-Napoles and legislators.
