The World Bank and Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan signed a historic partnership agreement that establishes the academic institution as a Knowledge for Development Community (KDC) Wednesday, August 26.
KDCs are schools, policy and research institutions in the Philippines that share knowledge and engage citizens on development challenges in their communities and in the entire country.
“Xavier University has been active in conducting research and social outreach programs on issues in governance, asset creation and distribution for the poor, environmental stewardship, and peace and development in Mindanao,” said XU president Fr Roberto C Yap SJ. “With this partnership we look forward to more collaborations in helping advance peace and prosperity in Mindanao.”
World Bank country director Motoo Konishi said the Bank is partnering with XU because the university’s research and social outreach programs are aligned with the Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for the Philippines.
“If you look at our Country Partnership Strategy 2015-2018, you can see that both the World Bank and Xavier University are practically talking the same language,” Konishi said.
With the tag line “Making Growth Work for the Poor,” the CPS guides the Bank’s work in the Philippines, has the following engagement areas:
• Transparent and accountable governance;
• Empowerment of the poor and vulnerable;
• Rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth;
• Climate change, environment, and disaster risk management; and
• Peace, institution building, and social and economic opportunity.
“Under this CPS, we are focusing on areas with the highest poverty incidence, where the magnitude of poverty is severe or in areas with high vulnerability. We support programs and projects that are transformational, or those whose impact are far-reaching in terms of poverty reduction,” Konishi added.
In preparation for the upcoming World Bank Mindanao Jobs Report, XU is among the partners in this research, with Yap being a member of the Advisory Group and a team of XU researchers conducting the value chain analysis on Mindanao vegetables.
Konishi said this is an example of how a partnership could work on the ground in pursuit of the common goal of promoting peace and development in Mindanao.
According to Konishi, the World Bank looks at good governance as the exercise of power by the authorities and public institutions to efficiently provide public goods and services, including the delivery of basic services, infrastructure and a good investment climate for job creation.
“Implicit in this view is the role of the citizens in actively demanding good governance. The KDC can be a good platform, not only for sharing knowledge and solutions, but for engaging and rallying citizens to the common cause of ensuring good governance,” Konishi said.
Under the partnership agreement with XU, the World Bank and the KDC will jointly organize knowledge sharing activities to discuss development challenges and solutions highlighting people’s participation.
With this new partnership, XU becomes the 18th member of the network of KDCs nationwide, and is one of the three in Mindanao. The KDC network includes the World Bank, University of the Philippines Diliman School of Economics, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, National Economic and Development Authority, Asian Institute of Management, House of Representatives - Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department, Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, De La Salle University - Jesse M Robredo Institute of Governance, St Paul University Philippines, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Ateneo de Naga University, Palawan State University, Central Philippine University, University of San Carlos, Siliman University, University of Southeastern Philippines, and Notre Dame University.