The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recognized the exemplary performances of local government units (LGUs) during its annual Culminating Activity conducted last August 27, 2013 in Legazpi City.

Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), one of the poverty alleviation projects of the national government implemented through the DSWD, is currently being implemented in 20 municipalities throughout the region. which started last April 2012.

More than 30 awards were given out to municipalities and personalities who contributed to the project’s success on its first lap of implementation.

The highlight of the event was the awarding of the best group of community volunteers, given to Barangay Pagao in Bombon, Camarines Sur. The prize was given based on compliance with standards, efficient implementation of the sub-project, effective fiduciary management, facilitated improvement in the local policy environment, and management of the formation of a strong association for sustainability.

Bombon was also recognized as best municipality in disbursing funds. They were able to facilitate release of grant funds, deliver the required LCC as planne,d and complete utilization of project funds within the given timeline. The municipality managed 94% funds utilization as of April 2013.

Bombon was also awarded as the best municipality in gender mainstreaming. It was able to successfully mainstream women in sub-project implementation, strike a balance at community volunteers and committee leadership composition and capacity building. The municipality also attained the highest percentage of women in paid labor in the sub-project implementation.

The barangay sub-project which was considered the best in terms of compliance with standards, technical specifications, budget, technology, and strategic benefits to the communities was given to Brgy. Tapol, Baao, Camarines Sur.

Palanas, Masbate was awarded as the municipality with the highest percentage of local counterpart contribution based on the Local Counterpart Contribution (LCC) Delivery Plan to support the sub-project implementation within the Cycle 1 Timeline. The LGU delivered 96 % of LCC for Capacity Building and Implementation Support and 95% LCC for SPI as of April 2013.

Libmanan, Camarines Sur won the award for the municipality able to mobilize the Provincial Local Government Unit for LCC support and for Capacity Building and Implementation by providing a team of 10 Provincial Community Facilitators. It also got an award as the Best Municipal Coordinating Team (MCT), wherein the municipality provided the requisite MCT complement following the standard ratio and qualification standards. A total of 28 MCT staff members were provided by the LGU. The project also ensured complete logistics to ensure functionality of the team based on the terms of reference and plans formulated by the LGU and meet the targets set by the project management.

The municipality of Irosin, Sorsogon has successfully mobilized technical, logistical and manpower and moral support from the Municipal Inter-Agency Committee and their staff members in the planning of activities, monitoring, performance assessment and resolution of project issues and was recognized in this aspect. It also received the award for Best Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Mainstreaming because the municipality successfully integrated DRR in the planning and implementation of poverty alleviation interventions, integrated the DRR baseline data of the barangays with the community level planning in Kalahi-CIDSS, and shared in addressing the bigger issue of Climate Change Adaptation and DRR.

DSWD field staff were also recognized for their accomplishments and commendable contributions to Kalahi-CIDSS. Rudynen Elaurza, Diana Glenda Tesorero, Eric Balines and Janet Bellen were awarded as Best Community Facilitator (CF), Best Municipal Financial Analyst (MFA), Best Deputy Area Coordinator (DAC) and Best Area Coordinator (AC), respectively

What is Kalahi-CIDSS?
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. CDD is a globally recognized strategy for achieving service delivery, poverty reduction, and good governance outcomes. It aims to improve local governance by employing the participation of the people in the communities in the development process.

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.

It is one of the core social protection programs of DSWD along with Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid) and Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP). ### with reports from Marrel Wong, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer IV