The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officially launched the Additional Financing (AF) of the Kapit-Bisig sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services – National Community-Driven Development Program (KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP) for the Luzon Cluster on July 22 at the Hotel St. Ellis in Legazpi City, Albay.
KALAHI CIDSS – NCDDP uses the community-driven development strategy to ensure people-centered development by providing assistance, capacity-building, and implementation support to poverty-disadvantaged and disaster-affected municipalities. Through the program, community members actively participate to identify and prioritize their community’s problems and allow them to design, implement, and manage solutions to their priority problems.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista, who also serves as the National Program Director for KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP, delivered the keynote message at the event. He emphasized the role of the community and its community members in attaining and sustaining inclusive development.
“As our partners in implementing the program, our community members experienced first-handedly how community-driven development can ignite active community participation and kickstart local development. The program has been instrumental in giving community members a voice in the local development process,” Secretary Bautista said.
From 2020 to 2021, some 2,860 sub-projects were completed under the KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP which benefitted more than 1.4 million household beneficiaries across the country.
With the additional financing made possible through the DSWD’s loan agreement with the World Bank, Secretary Bautista said that the funds will be used for the implementation of the Disaster Response Operations Modality (DROM) to assist communities responding to and recovering from the social and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will cover 676 municipalities in 62 provinces across 16 regions and will run from 2021 to December 2023.
A similar launching was held in Cebu City on July 16 for the Visayas Cluster. The launching for the Mindanao Cluster, on the other hand, is also being scheduled.
The DSWD is committed to continue the gains of the program and ensure people’s participation in local development processes. ###
