Butuan City – The Australian Government Overseas Aid program through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Caraga region have recently turned-over educational facilities worth Php9,588,295.
A total of ten (10) educational facilities comprising of five (5) day care centers, three (3) pre-school buildings and two (2) elementary school buildings were constructed in the municipality of Pilar, Surigao del Norte through the implementation strategy of the DSWD’s community-driven development (CDD) program called Kalahi-CIDSS.
Kalahi-CIDSS or Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services is one of the government’s flagship poverty alleviation programs designed to reduce poverty by empowering citizens and bringing back the power to them to decide on development projects that will answer basic services need in the community.
“We are very delighted that the Australian government through the DSWD has looked into the situation of our educational facilities here. The DSWD has found out in their social investigation that either a certain barangay here lacks a school building or the building is in need of a major repair which really is a sad scenario,” said Mayor Lucio T. Gonzales during a sub-project turn-over in the municipality last April 19.
The municipality of Pilar has been a recipient of Kalahi-CIDSS for five years. Since 2006, 34 infrastructure projects like footbridges, water systems, postharvest facilities, and road rehabilitation projects among others have been constructed in the area by community volunteers.
“The school buildings Kalahi-CIDSS wasn’t able to provide during its implementation, the AusAID is answering those barangays whose project proposals prioritize educational facilities,” said DSWD Caraga regional director Dr. Minda B. Brigoli.
According to Dr. Brigoli, the Australian government has utilized a two-pronged approach in aiding the Philippine government in fighting poverty. Through Kalahi-CIDSS, community volunteers are able to do their part in constructing the supply side of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
“The Kalahi-CIDSS – AusAID Project is serving the supply side of the beneficiaries of 4Ps. Thus the operation in Kalahi-CIDSS areas will greatly help the children beneficiaries to meet the conditions set by 4Ps by improving their access to early childhood development and basic education services,” Dr. Brigoli added.
Presently, the Kalahi-CIDSS –AusAID Project is currently implemented in five (5) other municipalities in the region, namely: Gigaquit in Surigao del Norte; Jabonga in Agusan del Norte; Marihatag in Surigao del Sur; and Libjo and Cagdianao in the Province of Dinagat Islands. ### (Social Marketing Unit)