The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), a multi-funded project of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), will complete the construction of total 215 community projects this year aiding 2,051 communities.

Covering municipalities in all provinces of Bicol, Kalahi-CIDSS provides poverty-reduction projects to address local needs in the poorest areas in the region.

Kalahi-CIDSS is a community-driven development (CDD) project in the Philippines which strongly advocates the involvement of local communities in the design and implementation of development projects to address the issue of poverty in the country. It aims to improve local governance by employing the participation of the people in the communities in the development process.

Brgy. Sta. Isabel of Baao, Camarines Sur is one of the beneficiaries of Kalahi-CIDSS. The concreting of their 508-meter pathway from Zone 5 to Zone 6 was completed last May with a total funding of P809,211.00.

“Dakulaon ang pasasalamat ko ta maski nagpakasakit kami, nahaman man ang project [We are very thankful because despite all the difficulties, we are able to complete our project],” Emma Capistrano, one of the community volunteers in Brgy. Sta. Isabel.

Community residents consensually decide on what type of poverty-reduction projects they prioritize for funding based from the collective analysis of their needs. Community proposals can vary from public goods/access projects, enterprise or livelihood projects or human development projects.

Kalahi-CIDSS will now expand into a national scale of the operations of CDD which will now be called as National Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP).  NCDDP is a poverty alleviation program of the National Government, as supported by the Philippine Development Plan (2011-2016), was approved last January 18, 2013. In Bicol, it will be implemented in 105 municipalities.###jmarbella