N.Samar provincial gov’t, Plan Philippines forged agreement to help address disabilities involving children

TACLOBAN CITY – The provincial government of Northern Samar launched Prevention, Early Identification, Referral and Interventions for Delays, Disorders and Disabilities in Early Childhood (PEIRIDDDEC) which aims to address children suffering from disabilities.
PEIRIDDDEC system is funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and implemented by Plan Philippines and Humanity & Inclusion (HI).
The project aims to address issues and challenges of children with disabilities especially those on the marginalized sector, as well as to refine the system on how to provide sustainable and effective services on the municipal and provincial level to help the children with developmental delays, disorders and/or disabilities.
The target age group of the project are children under 0-4 years of age.
The program started on September 1, 2020 and will end on February 2022 is piloted in four municipalities- Catarman, Lope De Vega, Mapanas and Mondragon, including the coordination and data gathering of the target children.
“Plan will not provide financial support but we can provide trainings, skills and information for the barangay health workers and daycare workers for the awareness on how to identify children with disabilities, disorder, and delays,” Plan Philippines Project coordinator Armand Duque said.
Provincial health officer II Dr. Ninfa Kam, who represented the province in the commitment signing, stressed the need to have a baseline survey to identify the prevalent disabilities in the province.
She also recommended to utilize existing PHO programs such as the “Under 5” to help in the mapping and data gathering.
Meanwhile, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Jenny Darish suggested that the mapping will be conducted by her office.
Also present during the project launch were Unicef health and nutrition coordinator Flory Ann Dycoco, PPDC Engr. Romeo Cardenas, provincial disaster risk reduction management officer Rei Josiah Echano, municipal social welfare officers, among others.(ROEL T. AMAZONA)