WB officials visit Kalahi-CIDSS project in Saranggani

KORONADAL CITY - High ranking officials from the World Bank have recently conducted a two-day visit in the different Kalahi-CIDSS projects implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in towns of Kiamba and Maitum, Sarangani Province, an agency official said Friday.Gemma N. Rivera, assistant regional director of DSWD-12 said that the activity was part of the 4th implementation support mission in the country of the said international financial institution to look into the implementation of the projects, utilizing the community-driven development (CDD) as a strategy for poverty-reduction, empowerment and improvement of governance. It was an honor for us to be chosen as part of the support mission of World Bank as a great opportunity to showcase what we are doing and at the same time, gain insights on things we need to improve in terms of implementing Kalahi-CIDSS projects,” Rivera said.The World Bank officials, headed by Washington-based Patricia Fernandes, senior social development specialist, visited the remote villages of Kalaneg and Maguling in Maitum and Nalus and Gasi in Kiamba. The idea of this visit is to understand how the program as it being designed, is implemented in the ground and to have an exchange of ideas with the people in the frontline of the Program,” Fernandes said. Fernandes, together with other WB officials including Michael Anthony Roscitt, Luis Alberto Velez Pretelt, consultants for open contracting program, Ma. Loreto Padua, senior social development specialist, and Rene Manuel, senior procurement specialist, had focus group discussions with the community volunteers, barangay and municipal officials who have first-hand experiences in terms planning, implementing and sustaining their community projects including constructions of school building and hanging cable footbridge. Aside from WB officials, representatives from various national agencies also joined the activity including National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), and other organizations.World Bank is the largest funding agency in the scaling up of the community-driven development (CDD) in its expansion into a national scale of operations through Kalahi-CIDSS, covering 847 poor municipalities, including those typhoon Yolanda-affected areas. Of the Php43.9 billion, World Bank has committed to finance the Php19. 4 billion in the implementation of the Program from 2014-2019, target to cover some 5.3 million households in the country.In Region-12, DSWD is implementing 162 various community projects amounting to Php302.44 million in 17 towns, covering provinces of Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.Kalahi-CIDSS, otherwise known as Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-A Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, is one of the three core programs of DSWD, aiming to empower poor and disaster-affected communities to improve access to services and to participate in a more inclusive local planning, budgeting, implementation in programs and projects and in the overall affairs of the government. (Hilbert T. Estacion, Regional Social Marketing Officer, DSWD-12).