By Edwin Fernandez/Philippine News Agency
MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Region 12 (Soccsksargen), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), turned over an PHP800,000-worth daycare center to Barangay Malamote here Tuesday.
DSWD Assistant Secretary for specialized programs Rhea Peñaflor led social welfare officials and UNDP representatives during the turn-over program.
Peñaflor said some 30 school children will no longer walk for about five kilometers to the village proper come class opening in June with the completion of the daycare center in Purok 6, Barangay Malamote.
“This partnership between DSWD and UNDP is a pilot project in Asia under the sustainable development goal to bring together national governments, the international community, civil society, the private sector and other actors of development,” Peñaflor said in a statement.
Peñaflor also led the turnover of early childhood care and development (ECCD) kits amounting to PHP575,000 that will benefit 17 daycare centers in this town.
The 17 daycare-beneficiaries received flat screen televisions, complete sets of chairs and tables, sanitation kits, and various visual learning aids.
The project in this town is one of the many poverty alleviation projects resulting from the DSWD-UNDP partnership.
Already completed are PHP13.18-million worth of infrastructure projects that have been helping villagers in the region access basic social services.
Bonifacio Selma Jr., DSWD 12 assistant regional for operations, said 11 community projects have so far been completed including daycare centers, schools, centers for children with special needs and senior citizens’ building during the first quarter of this year.
“These are projects identified by communities as their pressing needs and funded under the bottom-up budgeting (BUB) of the government with UNDP as our partner service provider,” Selma said.
He added that the completed projects were under the monitoring and supervision of the agency’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) Program.
“On the top of these projects is the empowerment of villagers which means they were given the opportunity to actively be involved in the identification, implementation and sustainability mechanisms,” Selma added.
Meanwhile, Pamela Susvilla, DSWD-12 convergence focal person, said under the DSWD-UNDP partnership, there are still 14 community projects that are set to be completed in the coming months amounting to some PHP23 million.
“We are fast-tracking the completion of the remaining projects in order to benefit villagers, especially in those geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas,” Susvilla said.
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