National Community-Driven Development Program to prioritize Yolanda-hit areas

From the Department of Social Welfare and Development

The Philippine government will launch on June 23 in Ormoc City the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services-National Community-Driven Development (KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP) that will empower communities in over 800 municipalities nationwide to participate in the planning, budgeting and implementation of community-level projects that help reduce poverty.

Implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the project will prioritize more than 500 municipalities heavily affected by Typhoon Yolanda.

Using the community-driven approach, KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP will empower poor communities to organize themselves, analyze their own situation, prepare project proposals to address their common problems, and compete for block grants to finance their own projects.

These projects may include local infrastructure such as water systems, school buildings, day care centers and health stations, as well as roads and bridges. Community members will also be responsible for implementation and maintenance of these projects.

“By giving citizens the opportunity to come together and decide among themselves how to address their poverty situation and providing them with the technical and financial support to do so, we are ensuring that their needs are addressed effectively. When we involve residents of the poorest communities in the development process, we are ensuring that no one is left behind,” Secretary of Social Welfare and Development Corazon Juliano-Soliman said.

Funding

Sec. Soliman said that areas devastated by Yolanda will receive higher allocation from this P43.9-billion project. Implementation of projects in these areas, she said, will use accelerated procedures.

Funding for this project will come from the national government with P9.3 billion and financial support from the World Bank ($479 million) and the Asian Development Bank ($372.1 million).

“Typhoon Yolanda is a game changer because it forces us to rethink how we can use opportunities like this new program to strengthen not just our response but resiliency to disasters. By covering ‘Yolanda’-affected municipalities, we are ensuring that the immediate needs of these communities are addressed. More importantly, we are also helping to protect them from falling further into poverty by restoring and sustaining their access to basic social services,” Sec. Soliman said.

Expanded version

KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP is the expanded version of the Kalahi-CIDSS or the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services piloted by the government in 2002 and launched in 2003 to alleviate poverty in poor rural communities using a community-driven development (CDD) approach.

Supported by the World Bank, Kalahi-CIDSS has financed close to 6,000 local projects worth US$265 million, benefitting over 1.6 million households in the poorest municipalities and provinces in the Philippines since 2003.

“Last week, we announced the new World Bank Group Partnership Strategy for the Philippines anchored on supporting the Philippines’ efforts to end poverty and promote shared prosperity. NCDDP is an integral part of this strategy,” said World Bank Acting Country Director Chiyo Kanda.

“There is also another good reason why we are all supporting this project. it will prioritize municipalities affected by the disaster which devastated Central Philippines in November of 2013. The use of community-driven development approaches in post-disaster situations has shown to be effective in accelerating community reconstruction and efficiently putting money for priority needs of communities around the world,” Dir. Kanda said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), on the other hand, is a new partner of DSWD in CDD implementation and will assist the government apply the CDD approach in restoring basic social services and rebuild community affected by ‘Yolanda’.

ADB has also provided technical assistance projects to DSWD to assist in addressing the capacity development needs for KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP implementation as well as in enhancing provincial local government engagement in CDD processes.

We believe that KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP will boost the country’s poverty reduction programs and can also be effective in post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation efforts in Yolanda-affected areas. Similar community driven approaches were effectively used in countries such Indonesia to help communities recover following major natural disasters between 2004 and 2010. Through the program, Yolanda-affected communities will be engaged in determining their needs and priorities to help ensure a locally relevant and sustainable response. The approach also ensures the transparent use of public resources in communities”, ADB Country Director Richard Bolt said.

Using the 2009 National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Small Area Estimates, KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP originally targeted 670 of the poorest municipalities in the country.

When ‘Yolanda’ struck, the government decided to align the program to also support rehabilitation of affected municipalities.

A total of 847 municipalities will benefit from the KALAHI CIDSS- NCDDP coming from the following regions: Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Regions I (Ilocos Region), III (Central Luzon), IV-A (CALABARZON), IV-B (MIMAROPA), V (Bicol Region), VI (Western Visayas), VII (Central Visayas), VIII (Eastern Visayas), IX (Zamboanga Peninsula), X (Northern Mindanao), XI (Davao Region), XII (SOCCKSARGEN), and XIII (CARAGA).

Of this number, 554 municipalities were affected by the said disaster.

Aside from target coverage, the program design incorporates integrated disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM). It also includes enhancements so that CDD can better capture desired results around gender, peace, indigenous peoples’ development, and environment and social protection.

KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP will be implemented from 2014 to 2019.

dswd.gov.ph