The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has turned over three Covid-19 isolation units to the indigenous peoples (IP) communities in Asuncion, Davao del Norte, through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA) Community Driven Development Program for IPs (IP-CDD).

Two of the isolation units were turned over to officials and IP representatives of barangays Camansa and Binansian, while one isolation facility was handed over to local officials and Dibabawon Tribal representatives of Barangay Sonlon.

The DSWD said the isolation facilities in barangays Camansa and Binansian, and Barangay Sonlon amounting to P2.1 million and P600,000, respectively, were built to address the ongoing risks of the Covid-19 pandemic in these communities

The KALAHI CIDSS-PAMANA IP-CDD seeks to empower the communities, including the IP communities, affected by or vulnerable to conflict, and engage them as active partners in development by involving them in culture and gender-sensitive processes of identifying community needs, planning for and implementing appropriate sub-projects, and taking part in monitoring project outputs and results.

Some of the sub-projects that may be supported under the KALAHI-CIDSS include access roads, improved water systems, medical supplies, tools, equipment, PPEs, and facilities for Covid-19 response, barangay health stations, and child development centers.

The DSWD, in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, continues to commit to deliver basic services to the IP communities by supporting the implementation of the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan and strengthen the partnership of local governance institutions and the Indigenous Political Structures and build communities’ resilience to conflict.