East Visayas agencies ink commitment to make MSAC work

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
November 18, 2011

TACLOBAN CITY Leyte  –  A memorandum of agreement was recently signed by heads and representatives of National Government Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, League of Local Governments, Academe, and research institutions, business sector, policy makers and development partners in order to establish and sustain a partnership for local governance and knowledge management programs, among others.

DILG Region 8 Director Pedro A. Noval, Jr. informed that the signing of the memorandum of agreement was conducted on November 15, 2011 at the DILG LGRRC Conference Hall at Kanhuraw Hill in Tacloban City during the organizational meeting of the Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Council.

The MSAC is a group of individuals or institutions that advocate excellence in governance and practices knowledge management, Director Noval said.

The MSAC is envisioned to pave the way for knowledge management to take off and gather necessary support and commitment from stakeholders who should agree that true knowledge sharing is mutually beneficial and facilitates excellence in local governance, Director Noval added.

The MSAC represents a paradigm shift in DILG’s role from supervision to that of a catalyst and facilitator in promoting excellence in local governance.

The role of the Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Committee (MSAC) is to provide general direction and guidance to the LGRC programs, plans; to formulate policies and guidelines in the operationalization of LGRC and to identify and participate in researches and assessments relevant to LG Knowledge Management.

The MSAC is also expected to contribute local governance relevant knowledge products to the center (explicit knowledge) and the LGRC online; make accessible/available to the LGUs and other secondary users their respective organization's (internal - that cannot be lodged at the center or uploaded in LGRC online) LG knowledge products, website (also through links on LGRC online), experts, etc.; and to initiate steps towards building their respective organizations as KCOs and to influence the shaping of a knowledge sharing culture and the culture of learning within the respective organizations, LGRC and the other stakeholders in the LG sector.

Moreover, the role of the MSAC is to mobilize resources (fund, material, human) to support KM programs and plans; contribute to the development of best practices in local governance and its replication; and to identify and propose areas for convergence so as to integrate and harmonize the various programs of different stakeholders, using knowledge to focus, prioritize, and align various actors according to a common image of regional LG.