By Thiago Santos March 3, 2023 The members of USAID and CHANGE at Safe Space and Trust Building in Governance for Trainers at the Sinsayan L...
March 3, 2023
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| The members of USAID and CHANGE at Safe Space and Trust Building in Governance for Trainers at the Sinsayan Lounge of the Batangas City Sports Center. (Photo from Batangas City LGU) |
BATANGAS CITY - To support the city's strengthened democratic governance, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with Cities for Enhanced Governance and Engagement (CHANGE) to launch a partnership with the local government here to train more government employees and accredited Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) in the city using the Safe Space approach.
USAID Senior Democracy, Rights, and Governance Program Manager Gerardo Porta led a training session for trainers on Safe Space and Trust Building in Governance at the Batangas City Sports Center's Sinsayan Lounge recently.
The training was attended by city government employees and accredited Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the city, including media, academe, business, and vulnerable sectors.
Porta said mainstreaming Safe Space in the local government system will help the local governments in making more responsive decisions. It also empowers CSOs to participate in governance.
"Safe Space in governance is defined as a physical or virtual venue for a gathering of people where government and non-government stakeholders can communicate freely, guided by principles of diversity, inclusion, equality, and accessibility.' Porta said.
Porta emphasized the significance of the information gathered from the participating safe spaces training. He stated that safe spaces provide everyone with the openness, strength, and confidence to speak their minds and participate in governance activities. Safe space promotes social change that benefits everyone, especially the marginalized sector.
At the same time, the information gathered will foster an environment in which people can meaningfully participate in governance.
"The goal of Safe Space in governance is enhanced collaboration, co-creation, and collective action, and eventually meaningful decentralization and democratic governance.
USAID, CHANGE takes a four-tiered approach to improving the current culture of practice in Cities Development Initiative cities that is consistent with and supportive of democratic governance goals.
These are Trust-Building Skills, People Skills, Technical Knowledge, and Collaborative Skills. Each tier is made up of interconnected and reinforcing capacity-building modules that are tailored to the needs of each city and are based on the CHANGE governance principles of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
USAID also met with local government officials in Batangas to discuss critical issues such as economic recovery, good governance, and healthcare access. The Cities Development Initiative of USAID promotes the development of cities outside of Metro Manila as inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and resilient growth engines.
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