TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has allocated at least P960 million to carry out anti-poverty projects in Eastern Visayas this year.
Sareth Tingson, DSWD regional social development unit head for Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program said Friday, this year’s allocation is slightly lower than the P1 billion in 2022.
“The objective of the project is to empower communities, improve the access to basic services, and participate in inclusive local planning budgeting and implementation,” Tingson said.
The region has the lion’s share of the PHP2.4 billion national budget for this year’s anti-poverty program.
Projects include community water systems, school buildings, health stations, electrification, footbridges, access roads, footpaths, pre-and post-harvest facilities, small-scale irrigation systems, flood control systems, sea walls, artificial reef sanctuaries, soil protection structures, and eco-tourism projects.
Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the poverty alleviation programs of the national government being implemented by the DSWD and uses the community-driven development (CDD) approach.
CDD helps communities in poor municipalities identify challenges around reducing poverty and make informed decisions on a range of locally identified options for development, including how this is made and in what form.
It also gives control of resources to address local poverty.
The approach likewise builds the capacity of both governments and civil society stakeholders to provide assistance and respond to calls for support from poor communities as they implement development initiatives.
(with reports from Ading Riodeque, OJT/PNA)
