Audit project in PHL shortlisted for governance award in UK

A transparency project from the Philippines is among the shortlisted initiatives for an international prize for the most inspiring examples of how open and accountable government is changing people’s lives.

The country's Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) project will be vying for the Bright Spot award along with six other initiatives from Chile, Estonia, Georgia, Indonesia, Montenegro and Romania, according to a statement from the British Embassy in Manila.

The CPA was recognized for "exploring ways in which citizens can be directly engaged in the audit process for government projects and contribute to ensuring greater efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public resources," the statement said.

According to the British Embassy, the seven shortlisted initiatives "show how governments in Open Government Partnership countries are working with citizens to sharpen governance, harness new technologies to increase public participation, and improve government responsiveness."

The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

The winning project, the Bright Spot, will be known on November 1 during the final plenary session of the two-day Open Government Partnership summit in London. Participants in the summit will vote for one of the shortlisted projects. — KBK, GMA News