Seeking to empower more communities and ensure people-centered development, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has officially launched the Additional Financing (AF) of the Kapit-Bisig sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services - National Community-Driven Development Program (KALAHI CIDSS - NCDDP) for the Luzon Cluster in Albay.
During the AF launch held on July 22, DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista cited the role of the community and its members in attaining and sustaining inclusive development. The launch was held at the Hotel St. Ellis in Legazpi City, Albay.
“As our partners in implementing the program, our community members experienced first-handedly how community-driven development can ignite active community participation and kickstart local development. The program has been instrumental in giving community members a voice in the local development process,” Bautista said in his message.
Bautista is the current national program director for KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP.
He noted that the additional financing was made possible through the DSWD’s loan agreement with the World Bank.
The funds will be used for the implementation of the Disaster Response Operations Modality (DROM) to assist communities responding to and recovering from the social and health impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the DSWD chief said.
Expected to be covered by the DROM implementation are 676 municipalities in 62 provinces across 16 regions. It will run from 2021 to December 2023.
KALAHI-CIDSS is one of the poverty alleviation programs of the DSWD, along with the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPISC), Supplemental Feeding Program (SFP), and Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP).
It seeks to empower barangays to achieve improved access to services and to participate in more inclusive local planning, budgeting and implementation.
The DSWD noted that a total of 2,860 sub-projects have been completed under the KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP from 2020 to 2021, benefitting more than 1.4 million household beneficiaries across the country.
“KALAHI CIDSS - NCDDP uses the community-driven development strategy to ensure people-centered development by providing assistance, capacity-building, and implementation support to poverty-disadvantaged and disaster-affected municipalities,” the DSWD said.
“Through the program, community members actively participate to identify and prioritize their community’s problems and allow them to design, implement, and manage solutions to their priority problems,” it added.
On July 16, the same program launching was held in Cebu City for the Visayas Cluster.
The DSWD bared that the launching for the Mindanao Cluster “is also being scheduled."
"The DSWD is committed to continue the gains of the program and ensure people’s participation in local development processes.”