RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE ACCREDITATION OF NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION (NGOs) PARTICIPATING IN DAR PROGRAMS

I
Rationale

The participation and involvement of non-government organizations in
development is guaranteed by the Constitution. Section 16 of Article
XIII provides that the right of the people and their organizations to
effective and reasonable participation at all levels of political social
and economic decision-making shall be respected. To this end, the NEDA
Board, in Resolution No 2, Series of 1989, has prescribed general
guidelines for Government Organization and Non-Government Organization
(GO-NGO) collaboration.  The resolution likewise specifies that all line
agencies at various levels of government shall be made responsible for
accrediting NGOs.

Conformably with the spirit of the Constitution and the aforestated
Board resolution and to provide the DAR with information on the
technical and professional capabilities of NGOs for purposes of their
involvement in the implementation of the programs and projects of CARP
these rules and regulations on accreditation of NGOs are hereby issued.

II
Objectives

1.  To identify NGOs that will best respond to the needs of CARP implementation;

2.  To establish an active file of NGOs based on their technical and professional expertise;

3.  To enhance GO-NGO partnership in programs that benefit the beneficiaries of the CARP.

III
Definition of Terms

Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) refers to a
broad category of private non-profit organizations that are committed to
the task of socio-economic development and established primarily for
service. Cooperatives shall be considered as NGOs for purposes of this
definition.

Accreditation of NGOs refers to the process of
identifying and screening NGOs for purposes of classifying and
categorizing these agencies according to area of operation, target
clientele, field of expertise and complementarity of programs with that
of the CARP.

IV
Accreditation Criteria

As a tool for the accreditation of NGOs the following set of criteria shall be adopted:

1.       Duly registered with an appropriate government body.

2.       Track record in any or a combination of the following:

—      rural development
—      agricultural development
—      livelihood and entrepreneurship
—      community organizing
—      cooperative formation and development
—      education and training
—      advocacy, research and policy studies
—      area development
—      environmental protection
—      other projects involving the rural poor

3.       Complementarity with the overall vision and concept of
CARP. This shall refer to the unanimity of the NGO’s philosophy with the
basic principles of agrarian reform.

4.       Must possess a minimum management capability with appropriate technical and professional support staff.

5.       Target clientele are preferably farmers or farmer
groups, landless peasants, tribal Filipinos, upland tillers, plantation
farmworkers, seasonal farmworkers, share tenants, and other special
groups provided for under Section 40 of R.A. 6657.

6.       Preferably willing to share in the developmental costs
and open to providing equity participation in the project either
monetary or otherwise.

7.       Preferably with the capability to sustain its presence in the locality whenever called for.

V
Operating Procedures

In accrediting non-government organizations, the following steps shall be followed:

1.       DAR through the Bureau of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries
Development (BARBD) shall issue an invitation, individually or through
the press, requesting NGOs who may wish to participate in the planning,
implementation and evaluation of the CARP, to register with the DAR by
filling up a standard form that shall be provided them.

2.       Accomplished forms shall be returned/submitted to the BARBD through DAR official channels.

3.       Filled-up forms shall be collated and assessed vis-a-vis
the accreditation criteria by BARBD for review and approval of the NGO
Accreditation Committee.

4.       Thereafter a list of accredited NGOs according to their
target clientele areas of operation, and field of relative expertise
shall be prepared by BARBD for dissemination to the Regional Offices.

5.       A periodic assessment of the performance of accredited NGOs shall be done every two (2) years.

VI
Coordinating Mechanism

1.  An NGO Accreditation Committee composed of representatives of
the DAR’s Planning and Policy Office Field Operations Group and Support
Services Office shall be created to be chaired by the Undersecretary for
Planning and Policy.  The Committee shall review and approve the list
of NGOs submitted by BARBD for accreditation.

The BARBD shall serve as the Committee Secretariat.

This Order shall take effect immediately, and all other orders and
issuances inconsistent herewith are hereby amended or revoked as the
case may be.

Adopted: 26 April 1989

(SGD.) PHILIP ELLA JUICO
Secretary

Effective: 26 April 1989