As a strategic pathway for change that is firmly anchored on a rights-based approach, social accountability informed the emergence of Oxfam Pilipinas as a new national civil society group in the country with a global footprint in the Oxfam confederation. Social accountability refers to citizen-driven monitoring and assessment of public policies, programs and services as well as constructive and critical engagement with powerholders to claim their rights and demand accountability.

In its new country strategy “Patas na Bukas 2022-2027,” Oxfam Pilipinas, along with program partners, stressed the critical role of active citizens in nurturing truly transformative social change by pushing for more accountable governments that invest adequate resources and effectively implement policies and programs relevant to the needs of women and marginalized groups.

Midway through their current joint programming, 30 leaders from Oxfam Pilipinas’ four portfolio teams and 11 partner organizations that have carried out or are implementing various social accountability actions with other civil society organizations, sectoral groups and vulnerable communities in the country convened on January 22-23, 2025 in Manila to take stock, draw out insights, and forge new priorities and ways forward.

The learning event gained significance with the rise in recent years of populist, authoritarian, sexist, anti-human rights and elitist political regimes in the country that present new challenges to the work of achieving more inclusive and accountable governance. This brief outlines processes that the partners and Oxfam Pilipinas program teams went through, the emergent insights and consensus initially reached and further learning questions posed during the Social Accountability Summit.