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Step Up Consulting services was contracted by the Philippine Commission on Women to conduct a training workshop on results-based management for approximately 30 participants. The training was held at Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City, Manila and was attended by no less than PCW Executive Director Emmeline Verzosa.

Step Up Managing Director was the facilitator for the three-day training conducted on 12-14 May 2011. The participants very much appreciated the training approach which consisted of theoretical discussions interspersed with applications on case studies which Mr. Canares has written.

Step Up Managing Consultant Michael Canares attends two evaluation presentations for World Vision assisted projects in the country.  He went to General Santos in April 29 to attend the evaluation results presentation of ADP Saranggani at Casa Luisa as part of his task as coordinator of the national evaluation team.

On May 6, 2010, he also attended the evaluation results presentation of ADP Iloilo held at the Iloilo Grand Hotel.  Mr. Canares spearheads the evaluation report preparation of eight area development programs across the country,  four of which are scheduled to be completed end of May, this year.

Step Up conducts data analysis training workshop for World Vision Development Foundation, Inc. in Cebu City last April 6-8 2010. The workshop was attended by representatives of four area development programs from Saranggani, Iloilo, Aklan, and Cebu.

The workshop was facilitated by managing consultant Michael P. Canares and Jocelyn Mariscal of World Vision. Marijoe Narca also handled a session on data consolidation using an excel-based analysis tool. Documenters were Hedz Paredes, Step Up research associate and Jayneil Nacorda, Step Up trainee.

The FAME Project intends to review organizational systems of BUSWACC-assisted projects in Bohol in order to improve financial management, auditabiity, and management arrangements of these associations.  Consequently, it also seeks to enhance the community outreach program of Holy Name University College of Business and Accountancy by allowing its teachers and students opportunity to greater community involvement.

In 2006, Michael Canares, head of Step Up Consulting Services and this project’s coordinator implemented the “Building Capacities for Financial Management of Water Users Associations in Bohol Province”. The project aimed to analyse the financial competencies of water user associations and help build their capacities for financial management. The engagement consisted of three major components; these were training and facilitation, management consulting, and documentation.  The outputs of the project were an accountings systems manual and standard financial reports on the part of the people’s organizations.

The first round of this project, THE FAME PROJECT 2010, takes off from this particular engagement. The particular interest of the first phase of the  project are the organizations currently implementing livelihood projects.  These POs were assisted by BUSWACC (Bohol United Sectors Working for the Advancement of Community Concerns) through the ACCESS Project.

The FAME PROJECT 2011 continues to support BUSWACC and four of its assisted organizations, more particularly, Catarman Mother’s Association, Bohol Local Development Foundation, thefairtradeshoppe – Tagbilaran, and Albur Calamay Makers Association.

The donation of Step Up is used to defray exhibit and partner expenses, as well as prizes to the winning teams.

Managing Consultant of Step Up Consulting Services together with Research Associate Jean Celeste Paredes assists World Vision Philippines in the end-of-phase program evaluation of 4 area development programs (ADP) across the country.  These ADPs are located in Saranggani, Iloilo, Aklan, and Cebu province.

The consulting engagement kicked off with a series of meetings in Manila and Cebu in January and February.  The first inter-ADP activity was held 3-5 March 2011 at Century 21 Hotel in Iloilo City.

The Philippine Commission on Women hired the services of the managing consultant of Step Up to facilitate a module development workshop on proposal development using the RBM approach.  The activity, participated in by consultants coming from the provinces of Quezon, Naga, Iloilo, Davao, Bohol, General Santos, Ifugao, and Leyte, was held last January 18 – 22 at Orchid Garden Suites Manila.

Step Up Consulting Services recently completed a consulting contract with SIMAG Foundation based in Silay  City, Negros Occidental. The Board of Trustees of the Foundation were thankful to Step Up for its work in clarifying the strategic directions of the organization.

The presentation to the Board was conducted last 12 January 2011 at Richmonde Hotel in Silay City.

Fundacion Ipade, a nonprofit organization based in Spain and implementing projects across the globe, hired Step Up Consulting Services to undertake the midterm evaluation of a project it is currently implementing in Southeast Asia. The contract runs from November 2010 and is due to be completed at the end of February 2011.

In line with the banner program of Gov. Edgar M. Chatto for transparent and accountable governance, the Provincial Government of Bohol, supported by the Provincial Roads Management Facility (PRMF), anAustralian Government Aid Initiative, conducted a two-day workshop at the JJs Seafood Village last Jan. 6-7, 2011.

About 35 provincial government participants attended the two-day gab to review and fine-tune the risk assessment matrices prepared by the Provincial Engineering Office (PEO), the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), the Provincial Treasurer’s Office (PTO), the Provincial Budget Office (PBO), the Provincial Accounting Office (PAccO) and the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).

The workshop, according to Jerome Maniwang, Head of the Provincial Internal Audit Office (PIAO), aims at identifying risk zones in the business processes of the six pilot offices. These risk zones, once identified and accepted, will lead to particular risks that need be managed and controlled so that provincial government transactions remain open, transparent and accountable.

From this workshop, an Audit Plan for 2011 will be formulated based on an Internal Audit Operations Manual that will be formulated by the PIAO. The first office to be audited by the PIAO, once the Operations Manual is approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, is the PEO road maintenance activities for 2010.

Providing coaching and mentoring assistance to the PIAO staff is Consultant Michael Cañares, an international evaluation/assessment consultant and faculty member of the Holy Name University who was awarded as Most Outstanding Finance Instructor in the Philippines in 2009. (from Bohol Chronicle)

DISOP Philippines once again hired Step Up Consulting Services to conduct a baseline study update of its 10 partners in the Philippines. The contract was recently approved by DISOP office based in Brussels early this month and the work will be done up to April 2011.

DISOP, Dienst voor Internationale Samenwerking aan
Ontwikkelings Projecten or Organisation for International Co-operation on Development Projects, is a Belgian private non-stock, non-profit organisation established in 1961 and recognised as a Non-Governmental Organisation for Development Aid. In the course of the years, DISOP managed to build up a firm and dynamic supportive group in Belgium as well as in other parts of the world.

In the Philippines, DISOP has been assisting several projects geared towards “integrated sustainable development of disadvantaged groups.”