DSWD-Davao expanding KALAHI-CIDSS this year

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 7): DSWD-Davao expanding KALAHI-CIDSS this year

The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) here is gearing up for the upcoming expansion of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) project this year.

KALAHI-CIDSS is a community-driven development (CDD) project of the Philippine government to empower people to improve the quality of their lives. OIC-Regional Director Priscilla N. Razon said this year’s National Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP) will be implemented in 27 municipalities in the region.

The NCDDP is the scaling up of CDD, a strategy that has been tried and proven effective in KALAHI-CIDSS. The CDD gives citizens control over decisions and resources so they can undertake localized solutions to identified community problems. It aims to provide poor communities access to services and increase their participation in more inclusive local planning, budgeting and implementation.

While the DSWD is the lead implementing agency of NCDDP, Razon said they will work with other agencies under the National Inter-Agency Preparation and Implementation Team (NIAPT). These are the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Energy (DoE), Presidential Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP), Department of Finance (DoF), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC).

She said the provincial local government unit (PLGU) engagement with KALAHI-CIDSS will also be implemented this year. In Davao Region, Razon said Compostela Valley was identified as the pilot province in the implementation of the PLGU engagement to be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The province, led by KALAHI-CIDSS champion Governor Arturo T. Uy, demonstrated a strong commitment and support to CDD initiatives through the Assistance Towards Unity for Progress thru Empowerment, Accountability, Cooperation and Efficiency (ATU-PEACE) project. The engagement aims to influence the crafting of PLGU development plans that support poverty reduction, empowerment of poor communities, and implementation of social protection initiatives in KALAHI-CIDSS municipalities.

Additionally, Razon said the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) will be funding non-prioritized KALAHI-CIDSS project proposals exclusively targeting the construction of elementary and high school buildings, and day care centers.

In Davao Region, the municipalities of San Isidro in Davao Oriental and Poblacion Compostela in Compostela Valley were identified to receive the additional AusAID funding.

Earlier, DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said this year’s implementation of NCDDP would cost P81 billion over six years, with the DSWD portion close to P31B. Razon said CDD implementation is on-going in five KALAHI-CIDSS additional financing municipalities and six Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) municipalities.

The additional financing areas are Kapalong in Davao del Norte and Pantukan in Compostela Valley; while the PAMANA areas are Compostela, Maragusan, Monkayo and Pantukan in Compostela Valley; Talaingod in Davao del Norte; and Tarragona in Davao Oriental.

All in all, the program has benefited five million households, 851 municipalities with high poverty incidence, located in 68 provinces from 15 regions nationwide, she said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=495220