BUTUAN CITY- With its tagline “Sigurado, Kumpleto, Totoo,” the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Caraga launched its first regional profile of the poor in this region, today, April 08, 2013.

The profile is the result of DSWD Caraga’s effort to present the output of the 2009 enumeration. It is writtenfor the national government agencies, private sector and civil society groups which provides social protection programs to the poor.

In her message, Regional Director Minda B. Brigoli of DSWD Caraga said, “I hope this source material will be of great use for all of us, I also hope that it will not only connect government agencies, private sectors and civil society groups but importantly, will engage them in providing social protection programs to the poor, identifying who they are and where they are in the country.”

One of the highlights of the activity is the unveiling of the symbolic copy of the profile that led by Director Vincent Andrew T. Leyson and Regional director Minda B. Brigoli. Next is the presentation of the salient features of the regional profile by Deputy Regional Project Manager of NHTS-PR, Nerisa T. Murih.

A press conference was also held during the launching. Director Vincent Andrew T. Leyson, National Project Manager of the NHTS-PR, answered when asked by media on the effectiveness of the targeting system, “This database is not purely statistics but a potential factor for social protection programs. Yes, it is effective because based on the grievances on the inclusion and exclusion errors, the number is very minimal.”

Both Leyson and Brigoli encouraged the participants to use the NHTS-PR database by writing their intent to DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano Soliman and enter into a formal agreement through a Memorandum of Agreement.

Participants in this activity included the heads and representatives from the regional line agencies, local government units, civil society groups, academe, media and the field office staff. ### (Social Marketing Unit)