BAGUIO CITY—Many countries in different parts of the world want to replicate the successful implementation of a number of social welfare and development interventions being done by the Philippine government in eradicating poverty in the countryside, the Cordillera office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development revealed.
Naet Armas, DSWD-CAR regional director, said among the social welfare interventions being eyed for replication by other countries include the government’s conditional cash transfer program, community-driven development, and the integration of indigenous peoples practices.
Such programs have contributed to improving the living condition of poor families in the rural villages, even with a small percentage of the reduction of poverty incidence, Armas said.
“Many of our counterparts in other countries have been visiting us to study how we were able to successfully integrate IP practices to the social welfare interventions for them to emulate because, in their own experience, IP practices had been a hindrance to the implementation of their social welfare projects,” Armas stressed.
In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations community, Armas said social welfare and development projects of the government could be considered as benchmarks for similar programs of neighboring countries to improve their anti-poverty programs.
Under the CCT program, the government provides financial assistance to identified poor families in the remote communities of the archipelago to make sure their children attend school and for pregnant mothers to regularly visit the health units for checkup.
The community driver development program ensures the active participation of the community people to complete the various projects that they themselves identified as their priority need.
Armas claimed the mere fact that their counterparts visit the Philippines to benchmark the implementation of our social welfare and development programs means the government was able to craft the proper interventions that help in empowering people to help themselves primarily to move them out from the shackles of poverty within a given period of time.
The DSWD-CAR official underscored that in the Asean setting, the government’s social welfare and development programs is unique in that programs of neighboring countries do not have the CCT and CDD, which were crafted to improve the living condition of poor people, especially those who are in the remote villages in the country.
While the reduction of poverty incidence in the region was only 2 percent in 2015 compared to 2012, Armas explained reports from concerned government agencies previously showed that there had been a drastic increase in the number of children enrolled in public schools and pregnant mothers visiting the various health facilities.