Legazpi City–The key officials of the national government agencies (NGAs) and DSWD’s development partners visited two towns in Bicol for the Third Implementation Support Mission last April 9, 2015 to look into the enhancements of Kalahi-CIDSS program of DSWD.
Members of World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) together with the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) and Department of Education (DepEd) split up into two groups who simultaneously interviewed stakeholders at the community and municipal level in Donsol and Gubat, both Kalahi-CIDSS areas in the province of Sorsogon.
The visit is part of the oversight activities for the monitoring and evaluation of Kalahi-CIDSS program. The activity aimed to achieve the following:
1. Determine progress in meeting covenants/agreements from the last mission including compliance to fiduciary and safeguards requirements;
2. Identify key implementation lessons and challenges and their implications to operational policy, operational systems and procedures and project support;
3. Consult stakeholders including partner NGAs on policy enhancements to support implementation.
According to Dir. Arnel Garcia, DSWD needs the commitment of different partners and stakeholders to support Kalahi-CIDSS to meet the needs of its partner-beneficiaries in a timely manner. He said that the mission is an integral part of improving systems and policies of the program.
The mission jumped-off with a consultation dialogue with the mayors and their department heads who gave feedbacks on Kalahi-CIDSS’ implementation.
Mayor Josephine Alcantara is grateful of the programs and projects they receive from DSWD and other NGAs.
“The local government unit is the poorest branch of the government but we appreciate all their support being poured into our municipality,” she said.
Head of the mission commends a community
A focused group discussion (FGD) ensued at the community. Marilou Padua of World Bank, the head of the mission, lauded the resolute commitment of residents in Brgy. Gura, Donsol.
The said village proposed the construction of a school building in 2011 under Kalahi-CIDSS however, Brgy. Gura gave way to other communities since the grant fund can only suffice to 15 projects. Despite of this, they freely accepted and completely understood the result because it was based on criteria they have agreed on.
“Brgy. Gura demonstrated empowerment because they suspended gratification for the benefit of others,” Padua said.
Moreover, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), a development partner of Kalahi-CIDSS supporting the national government’s thrust to provide basic education and reduce poverty, funded the construction of their school building last year. World Bank and Asian Development Bank are also funding partners of the program.
The members of the mission in Bicol comprise Ludy Anducta, Danilo Lapid and Tomas Sta Maria of World Bank, Alice Tiongson of ADB, Gloria P. Madayag and Emer Rojas of NAPC, Rowena dela Cruz of DepEd; Amante Sabangan and Engr. Abe Cea from the National Project Management Office of Kalahi-CIDSS also joined the team.
Kalahi-CIDSS is a DSWD program that seeks to help alleviate poverty through community-driven development (CDD).
The operations of the community-driven development (CDD) approach expanded into a national scale, which was tried and proven effective by Kalahi-CIDSS. 101 poor municipalities in Bicol are under its expansion from 2014 to 2019 with a total of grant of Php4,497,448,178.
CDD puts power back in the hands of the people by giving them the opportunity to make informed decisions on locally identified options for development and manage resources to implement sub-projects that address needs identified by communities themselves.