Officials from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the World Bank (WB) have partnered to advance social protection efforts in the Philippines through upcoming pipeline projects.

Undersecretary Adonis Sulit of the Policy and Planning Group (PPG) said the WB has been supportive in strengthening the DSWD’s delivery of social protection services through the Beneficiary Fast, Innovative, Responsive, Service Transformation (BFIRST) Project.

“The BFIRST Project is a collaborative effort between the DSWD and the WB that aims to strengthen the agency’s social protection delivery systems, making them more adaptive and efficient,” Sulit said.

Dr. Alberto Rodriguez, World Bank’s Regional Practice Director for People for the East and Pacific, expressed satisfaction with the partnership’s accomplishments and hopes to further strengthen programs that foster behavioral change among beneficiaries.

“We have a very strong collaboration with [DSWD] that covers not only the social protection side, with the BFIRST [Project]…but also the interaction… with other sectors – the nutrition aspect interacting with the [Department of] Health (DOH), and the interaction of the social transfer program with the [Department of] Education (DepEd),” Dr. Rodriguez said.

Undersecretary Monina Josefina Romualdez of the DSWD’s Operations Group discussed updates on the agency’s upcoming partnership with WB under the Converging Nutrition Efforts for our Children’s Tomorrow (CONNECT) Project.

“The CONNECT Project is a multi-sectoral community-based nutrition service delivery project led by the DSWD and the DOH. It seeks to strengthen the delivery of nutrition-sensitive interventions at the community level by expanding the subprojects, enhancing social welfare information systems, as well as improving convergence mechanisms to address child stunting and malnutrition,” Romualdez said.

The project will prioritize Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) subprojects under the DSWD’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) Program.

Another pipeline project discussed was the Social Protection for Economic Inclusion, Empowerment, and Digital Innovation (SPEED) Project, which aims to expand economic opportunities for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries and strengthen adaptive and digital social protection systems.

The SPEED Project will build on the capacities developed under the BFIRST Project and will be implemented in coordination with partner agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Social Security System (SSS).