RC Batangas Attends 2nd CSO Meeting with USAID

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 billion, USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world and accountsformorethan halfof all U.S. foreign assistance—the highest in the world in absolute dollar term. USAID has missions in over 100 countries, primarily in Africa, Asia, Latin America,andEasternEurope.

The Rotary Club of Batangas, represented by Rtn Aleth Lazarte, attended the 2nd CSO Meeting with USAID held last April 26, 2023 at Sinsayan Lounge of Batangas City Sports Coliseum. Agenda taken were (1) the presentation of CSO Capacity Assessment results and (2) the discussion of USAID CHANGE Project Grant Program especiallyforCSOswhohavereadyproposalorprojectconcept.

CHANGE (Cities for Enhanced Governance and Engagement) aims to (1) improve the environment for decentralization, (2) enhance the service delivery of the local government,and(3)effectivelyengagethecivilsocietyorganizationsingovernance.

Priortothis,the Civil Society Organization (CSO) attended the “Social Accountability as an Approach to Good Governance” training last January 12-13,2023atthesame venue. They showed their support to the USAID CHANGE Project by signing in the commitment board. GSP Arnel Pulla represented Rotary Club of Batangas as one of the accreditedCSOsinBatangasCity.