Law to sustain anti-poverty strategy urged

Law to sustain anti-poverty strategy urged | Daily Tribune

As the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) marks the 21st anniversary of Kapit bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), its head has renewed calls to institutionalize the anti-poverty program.

“We have done many things but many are still in need, so part of the advocacy of KALAHI-CIDSS is sustainability and institutionalization. These are the bills and measures we are fighting for now,” said Bernadette Mapue-Joaquin, the national program manager of the community-driven development (CDD) approach to addressing poverty, during the DSWD Thursday Media Forum at the Sequoia Hotel in Quezon City on 10 October.

Apart from seeking the support of lawmakers, Mapue-Joaquin said the KALAHI-CIDSS requires help from local government units (LGUs) to expand its reach.

“In the level of LGUs (local government units), they issue ordinances implementing projects using the CDD approach. It means that when they have funds, wherever it came from, the process is still CDD. It reverts to the community. They are identified are trained to implement it,” she explained.

There are three pending bills institutionalizing the CDD approach to poverty reduction. These three versions of the CDD bill include the first one filed during the 18th Congress in September 2019, and the other two that were refiled in the 19th Congress in 2022 and 2023.

According to the KALAHI-CIDSS program director, the approval of the proposed measures will be pivotal in involving community participation in mobilizing poverty-reduction projects.

“We can really empower more people through the CDD approach. Communities are given the freedom to be part of the development process in their locality,” Mapue-Joaquin said.

“They are the ones in control of decision-making, what project is needed, the needs of their community and how this will be addressed,” she added.

KALAHI-CIDSS engages communities in identifying, designing and implementing development projects to address their most pressing needs.

The program also helps communities in poor municipalities identify challenges in reducing poverty and make informed decisions on a range of locally-identified options for development.

Through the KALAHI-CIDSS, the DSWD has provided basic social services to more than 23 million poor, vulnerable, marginalized and geographically isolated households, through 87,987 subprojects.

These projects include access roads, improved water, electrification and lightning systems, medical supplies, tools and equipment, barangay health stations, and child development centers.