What is in for year 2012 for the DSWD ?
DSWD Field Office Eight Regional Director Leticia Diokno pointed out that the challenge for the Department nationwide is lifting the 2.3 million poor families out of poverty, while ensuring the effective and efficient use of resources. She said that the core of the DSWD’s thrusts and priorities for this year is commitment to the Millenium Development Goals, the vision of becoming the world’s standard for the delivery of coordinated social services and social protection for poverty reduction, the strategies set under the DSWD’s Performance Governance System, and the Social Welfare and Development Reform Agenda through the convergence of the major anti-poverty programs of the agency.
Topping the list is the expansion of convergence of the social protection programs, to sets three and four of the PANTAWID PAMILYA areas nationwide.
Diokno explained that the core of the convergence is the PANTAWID PAMILYANG PILIPINO PROGRAM, complemented with the SELF-EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE – KAUNLARAN PROGRAM, and the KAPIT-BISIG LABAN SA KAHIRAPAN – COMPREHENSIVE AND INTEGRATED DELIVERY OF SOCIAL SERVICES : KAUNLARAN AT KAPANGYARIHAN SA BARANGAY, to ensure linkage with job generation, livelihood/microfinance, community-driven development programs, and asset reform programs for sustainability of beneficiaries’ gains.
She also counted enhanced public-private sector partnership in the implementation of public-private sector partnership (kaapay), the building of local capacities through technical assistance (gabay), establishment of feedback and monitoring mechanisms (tulay), and anti-corruption campaigns (bantay) to build ownership and consensus of social protection programs.
Diokno revealed that the DSWD will improve the targeting of social protection programs by consolidating, maintaining, and updating the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTSPR) database to ensure continuous use by all agencies and entities which implement social protection programs.
She also cited intensified family and community risk reduction and preparedness seminar with focus on convergence areas, as well as the integration of climate change adaptation in social protection programs to reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen communities’ resiliency and capacity to respond to disasters and livelihood requirements which adapt to prevailing climate and weather condition for sustainability.
In terms of legislative agenda, its priority concern is to advocate for the passage of the following laws : An Act Establishing a Comprehensive System for Registration and Licensing of Social Welfare and Development Agencies and Accreditation of Social Welfare and Development Programs and Services; An Act to Strengthen and to Propagate
Foster Care for Abandoned and Neglected Children and for Other Children with Special Needs; Magna Carta for Day Care Workers; and Anti-Mendicancy Bill.
There is also the strengthening of social marketing and promotion of the National Recovery and Re-integration Database for Trafficked Victims; Comprehensive Program for Streetchildren and Street Families; Supplemental Feeding for Children in Day Care Centers; Rice Subsidy for Marginalized Farmers and Fisherfolk; Sharing of Computer Access Locally and Abroad (SCALA) Project; Aruga at Kalinga sa Bata; Special Drug Education Center; Use of the Modified Social Stress Model in Managing Children in Need of Special Protection; Family Drug Abuse Prevention Program; Sheltered
Workshop for Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons ; and Group Home for Neglected, Abandoned, Abused, Unattached and Poor Older Persons with Disabilities.
Of course, we will conduct capability – building for the middle management and rank-and-file to ensure managerial competence and quality performance, as well as enhance knowledge and skills on the management of adoption cases and cases of center-based clients and disaster risk reduction and management based on best practices and new demands based on Republic Act 10121 (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act), Director Diokno concluded.