By Liza Agoot/Philippine News Agency
BAGUIO CITY – An official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Cordillera region on Thursday urged local government units (LGUs) to adopt a community-based development program.
Director of DSWD-Cordillera, Janet Armas, said the lessons and best practices gained from the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – National Community-Driven Development Program (KALAHI-NCDDP) have been valuable to the community during its 14 years of implementation.
“We are asking our local government units to institutionalize the KALAHI process. The Community-Driven Development (CDD), as a long-term strategy, would enhance participation, transparency, and accountability in governance,” Armas said.
KALAHI was started in 2005 initially funded by the World Bank. It was later implemented with funding from the national government.
Under the CDD concept, the needs of the community are identified by the people, who also propose solutions. Once the program and proposals to address the needs and problems are approved, the community will report the accomplishments and liquidate the money released to implement the programs.
Cordillera’s KALAHI programs involve simple one-water systems that address the issue of potable water, day care centers to start the education of the children, livelihood projects, as well as roads that link remote farms to the main road, which will allow the community to bring their produce to the market in good condition.
The program will end in December.
Armas said they want the LGUs to institutionalize and lay down in the systems of the local government through an ordinance or a resolution. First is the community’s active participation in coming up with the development projects that they need.
“They (community) say what they need and the solution also comes from them,” Armas said in Filipino.
The program will institute accountability and transparency in the use of funds, she added.
“Accountability of all those involved in the project, they have to be very accountable and very transparent. showing how much was really spent,” Armas said.
She said 36 LGUs, 28 civil society organizations, including the region’s highest policy-making body, the Regional Development Council (RDC), have endorsed the adoption of the resolution “urging Cordillera LGUs to institutionalize the community-driven development (CDD) approach in local development planning and implementation of poverty reduction initiatives.”
“The CDD is unique since it is the community itself that identified the projects and sees it through its completion using a tested and standard procedure entitled community empowerment activity cycle (CEAC) activity matrix,” Armas said.
“The adaption of the CDD approach in development planning and implementation of poverty reduction programs and projects by all LGUs will contribute to the people’s realization of benefits from government initiatives, plans, programs, and projects,” she said.
Armas said in KALAHI programs, women’s participation in decision making was 54 percent in the entire implementation. Women contribute 26.6 percent in the labor force.
She said the lesson that KALAHI will leave to the community is that there is a government and they need to help the government so that their communities will progress.
“The sub-projects implemented were water system, footpaths only but it has a big impact on the children who walk distances, the children who used to go to the river to fetch water for their needs who now have water in their homes,” Armas said.
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