Sibagat, Agusan del Sur –  Australian officials expressed their admiration to the beneficiaries of Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services-National Community Driven Development Project (KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP) for their judicious use of project funds.

This came after the foreign officials visited earlier this month the KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP project  site in this town and interacted with the beneficiaries.

KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP is the national expansion of Kalahi-CIDSS, which started in 2003 as the flagship poverty alleviation program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

It enables poor and vulnerable communities to identify their own needs to address their common problems. These include local infrastructures such as water system, roads, bridges, health stations, and school buildings, among others

The visiting officials were Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Assistant (DFAT) Secretary for Southeast Asia Maritime Division Allaster Cox, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Bill Tweddell, Philippine-Australia Community Assistant Program (PACAP) Counselor Geoff King, and Governance Adviser Paul Hutchcroft.

In CARAGA Region,  about 68 community projects comprising of 18 day care centers and 50 school buildings with 91 classrooms worth P88.4 million were partly funded by the Australian Government shelling out P72.74 million.

Amb. Tweddell said that through the visit, the officials will learn more about Australia’s assistance to the development of the country, specifically to the recipient barangays in the province.

“We want to personally look at the completed classrooms and interact with the community beneficiaries,” he added.

El Rio site visit

Accompanied by DSWD-Field Office CARAGA Director Minda Brigoli, the visiting group proceeded to Barangay El Rio.

Community volunteers here showcased a completed school building with two classrooms and other facilities. This project was funded by a grant from the Australian Aid for Development (AusAid), now DFAT.

Amb. Twedell expressed admiration with the improvements in the barangay.

“I am really impressed with the completed classrooms. The grant was apparently judiciously managed by the community volunteers,”  Amb. Twedell said.

Mayor Thelma Lamanilao also expressed gratitude to the Australian Government for entrusting and giving the grant to the municipality.

“The school building project is indeed the basic social service greatly needed by the residents of El Rio as this will provide an avenue of learning for their children,” said Mayor Lamanilao.

Community volunteer Dolores Padin assured the Australian officials that the community has already organized groups which shall be responsible for maintaining the project.

She said that parents have agreed that they will require a collection of P2 per household which will be used for minor repairs of the school building.

Dir. Brigoli also added that the site visit of the development partners affirms the thrust towards convergence as the beneficiaries of the school building are also grantees of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

Seeing the success of Australian funded projects, the Australian Government has provided another AU$12 million to the country for the construction of  day care centers and school buildings through the KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP using the community-driven development approach. ###