Our KALAHI-CIDSS “Graduation”

Thursday, 05 August 2010 04:04

By Anabel Calapiz, Project Preparation Team Chairperson
Barangay Alegria, Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay

“It’s a waste of my time,” one of my friends reacted when we were first called to attend a barangay assembly for the KALAHI-CIDSS Project in September 2006.

It wasn’t a surprising reaction. KALAHI-CIDSS was a project of the government, and as such, initially held no interest to us. Government projects do not spark any feeling and did not make us feel involved.

Indifference, not having a voice

Alegria is a poor community. We lack many facilities, even those that other people take for granted. For most us, life was difficult. People were struggling to survive because livelihood opportunities were scarce.

People in my community weren’t refusing to participate in assemblies for the sake of it. Finding means to get by day to day weighed more than meetings. In response to invitations to assemblies, you’ll likely hear sentiments like “If they have those projects, what do they need us for? It’s their job. Ours is to break our backs and harvest our crops to earn.”

Yes, Alegria has received a few government projects before – the lot of which were decided wholly by officials themselves. I am sure other common citizens could relate when I say that we have never been engaged by our government before KALAHI-CIDSS.

Read more..

KC’s Mid-year Assessment: Able and Ready for Scale-Up

Friday, 02 July 2010 06:12

The flagship anti-poverty community development project of the country, the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services: Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay (KALAHI-CIDSS: KKB or KC) Project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) held its Mid-year Assessment and Planning activity last June 29.

The said activity which involved the Regional Project Managers (RPMs) and was facilitated by the National Project Management Office (NPMO) aimed to appraise the Project’s implementation status, most especially for the 16 New KALAHI-CIDSS Areas.

Heightened study and documentation

Director Camilo Gudmalin, National Project Manager started the one day assessment, presenting the Project’s regional and nationwide status – highlighting the speed of implementation (for the 16 New Municipalities), assessment (of the 14 New and 40 Makamasang Tugon Municipalities) and overall directive compliance. An updated timeline for the KALAHI-CIDSS’ Scale-up which will comprise two financing agencies – the World Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was also imparted.

“KC has gone a long way”, remarked Director Gudmalin, challenging the attendees to “support anecdotal claims with empirical evidence”. He is pertaining to the activity’s aim for a heightened documentation and study of the KALAHI-CIDSS, so that the Project’s design of economically empowering communities can be further enhanced.

Read more..

Presidential Citation Conferred to DSWD’s KALAHI-CIDSS

Friday, 11 June 2010 03:41

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was conferred with a Presidential Citation by Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last June 2, 2010 at Malacañang Palace, Manila.

The said citation was given in recognition of the Department’s “outstanding contribution“ to the poverty alleviation endeavors of the administration, particularly the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services: Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay (KALAHI-CIDSS: KKB) Project, being its core program in community empowerment, and for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

KALAHI-CIDSS has been cited for its provision of “capacity-building, implementation support and community grants to 4,583 barangays in 200 of the poorest municipalities across the country thereby improving the lives of Filipinos by empowering them to chart the directions of their local development”.

Secretary Celia Capadocia-Yangco received the award together with Undersecretary Alicia Bala, Assistant Secretary Parisya Taradji, Assistant Secretary Ruel Lucentales and KALAHI-CIDSS’ Director Camilo Gudmalin.

The Secretary in a Department Memorandum encouraged the DSWD family to “be proud” of the recognition and to continue “striving for excellence to provide better and quality programs and services to our countrymen”.

Other anti-poverty agencies awarded that day include the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth).

MCC Meets with KC, Deems it an ‘Excellent’ Project

Thursday, 10 June 2010 05:34

“It interests us not just of its economic, but also of its social capital building potential,” said the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Vice President for Compact Development Darius Teter. This remark pertains to the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS or KC) Project made during the Pre-Compact Meeting of the two teams held at KC’s National Project Management Office (NPMO) at the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s central office last June 8, 2010.

Compacts, an operative term of MCC refers to large-scale grants that are made available to countries that passed MCC’s eligibility criteria. The country was declared eligible last March 2008 with KALAHI-CIDSS considered as one of the projects fit for the Compact Program Assistance late last year.

The said Pre-Compact meet was conducted in order to peg the details of the Project’s expansion dubbed as the KALAHI-CIDSS-Operations for Barangay and Municipal Assistance (KC-OBAMA). This expansion is a commitment towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by the year 2015. KC-OBAMA will cover a total of 193 municipalities with 4,400 barangays in the 28 provinces of Luzon and Visayas.

Read more..