The Caucus of Development NGO Networks or CODE-NGO, an umbrella organization of 12 NGO networks in the Philippines, selected the Project Management Information System (PMIS) of Project Caraga as one of 2008’s Best Practices .

Mr. Paul Baang, Project Manager of Project Caraga made a brief presentation of the features of the PMIS on the occasion of the 2008 Annual General Assembly of CODE NGO held at the Institute of Social Order (ISO) at Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines on December 11, 2008. The presentation highlighted the strengths and potentials of the MIS in promoting transparency and accountability in NGO project implementation.

Project Caraga, official title: Promocion del Tejido Social y Productivo para el Desarollo Integral de Comunidades Rurales en Caraga (06-PRI-229)”, is a consortium or network type project of PhilDHRRA-Mindanao. It is jointly implemented by 3 of PhilDHRRA-Mindanao’s Caraga Region-based member-NGOs, namely, the Associates for Integral Development (AID), Rural Enterprise and Community Assistance (REACH) Foundation and the Surigao Sur Organization for Human Development (SSOFHDEV), and the Mindanao Regional Secretariat thru a Project Management Office. It employs Sustainable Integrated Area Development or SIAD as over-arching strategy.

Project Caraga is a 2-year project aimed at improving the quality of life of marginalized men, women and children in Caraga Region, Philippines. The project, which is funded by Agencia Española de Cooperation Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID) and being implemented in partnership with Intercambio y Solidaridad (InteRed), commenced implementation in April 2007 and will terminate in March 2009.

Project Caraga operates a Management Information System that uses Microsoft Office Access 2007 Database as platform. This database is a relational type of database unlike Microsoft Office Excel 2007 which is a flat type database. Microsoft Office Access 2007 contains features not found in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 in the methods of creating tables, queries, forms and reports.

The MIS contains comprehensive data and information of the 12 barangays covered by the project located in Caraga Region, namely: Bangayan, Songkoy and Poblacion (Municipality of Kitcharao); Mabini (Placer); Alipao (Alegria); Dugsangon (Bacuag); Cayale (Tago); San Jose and Mabuhay (Tandag City); and, Pamaypayan, Coleto and San Antonio (Bislig City).

With the use of the Microsoft Office Access 2007, Project Caraga is able to assign computer-generated Participant Identification Number or PIN to each individual participant of the project. The PIN system hastens the encoding, retrieval, inventory, verification, monitoring and analysis of the data and records, both historical and current, of the individual beneficiaries, clients or stakeholders in the project. The MIS uses the individual profile of the participants as platform of the records.

Thru the MIS Project Caraga has been able to:

1) Record, keep track and analyze the degree or extent of participation of every project beneficiary;
2) Record, keep track and analyze the benefits, results or impact of the project interventions and assistance to the beneficiaries;
3) Adopt and maintain a client segmentation approach in institutional and individual capacity building;
4) Produce quantitative data and information of the extent in which the participation and benefits derived by the beneficiaries redound to the benefit of the household, the promotion and advancement of gender equity, and the promotion of sectoral and community interests;
5) Develop a project management and implementation system that is transparent and at the same time highly susceptible to public scrutiny; and,
6) Develop a reporting and evaluation system that responds to the need for more perceptible and verifiable results.

The 12 NGO networks of CODE NGO include the Association of Foundations (AF), Coalition for Bicol Development (CBD), Central Visayas Network of NGOs (CENVISNET), Cordillera Network of Development NGOs and POs (CORDNET), Eastern Visayas Network of NGOs (EVNET), Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE), National Confederation of Cooperative (NATCCO), National Council of Social Development Foundation of the Philippines (NCSD), Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA), Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PhilSSA), and the Western Visayas Network of Social Development NGOs (WEVNET).

The 12 networks comprise of the following organizations/agencies : 143 organizations (AF); 6 provincial networks, 1 city network, and 4 regional clusters of national networks (CBD); 4 provincial networks (CENVISNET); 5 provincial networks and 6 Baguio-based NGOs, consisting of a total of 2 base organizations (CORDNET); 12 NGOs (EVNET); 12 networks consisting of 440 base NGOs, POs and Cooperatives (MINCOD); 700 primary cooperatives, 5 co-op federations (NATCCO); 160 agency members (NCSD); 238 large, medium-scale and small enterprises and corporations (PBSP); 67 NGOs (PhilDHRRA); 49 NGOs (PhilSSA); and, 6 provincial networks consisting of 84 base organizations.