DSWD-7 intensifies advocacy on CSO accreditation

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 has intensified its advocacy on Civil Society Organization accreditation as it conducted a series of orientations in the region on the new guidelines.

In a statement, DSWD-7 said that under the new guidelines, CSOs can now be beneficiaries or implementing entities of government or public funds, provided they are qualified under the newly-released guidelines for accreditation.

To be accredited, a CSO must meet the following criteria: must have operated for at least three years, no derogatory record with any government agencies, must not be in default or delay in liquidating any funds received from any government agencies, and must not be related within the fourth civil degree of affinity to any DSWD official involved in the processing of its application or any official of the funding government agency.

The accreditation of CSOs shall be valid only for a period of one year from the date of issuance, unless revoked sooner.

The advocacy activities were conducted in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment-7 and attended by 298 representatives from different CSOs in the four provinces in Central Visayas.

The orientation was conducted with the aim at helping the CSOs understand the new guidelines of accreditation issued through Joint Resolution 2014-001 by the DSWD, Department of Budget and Management and Commission on Audit in recognition of the government of the important role of CSOs in national development.

The issuance of this Joint Resolution was based on Section 66 of the 2014 General Appropriations Act and Section 68 of the 2015 GAA, which direct the three agencies, in consultation with other concerned agencies, to jointly issue guidelines for the accreditation of CSOs.

CSO  is defined as domestic non-stock, non-profit corporation, organization or association, labor organization, workers’ association or cooperative, expressing the interests and values of their members or others, based on socio-economic, ethical, cultural and scientific considerations, duly re-gistered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Cooperative Development Authority. —/NSA (FREEMAN)