Veruela, Agusan del Sur- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Caraga forged another partnership with the local government unit (LGU) of the said town for the German agency-funded Peace for Economic Advancement and Community Empowerment (PEACE) project.
“This development project is a networking initiative of DSWD, through its partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – Conflict Sensitive Resource and Asset Management (GIZ-COSERAM) program which provided an amount of Php 4, 037,750.00 for its five (5) month-implementation,” said Elsa T. Montemor, DSWD-XIII Regional Community Development Specialist.
The project was formally launched and the memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed on August 12, 2014 during the 17th charter day and 44th Fiesta of Sampaguita, a barangay of Veruela.
Present during the activity were DSWD-XIII Regional Director Minda B. Brigoli, Mayor Salimar T. Mondejar, GIZ- Civil Peace Service (CPS) expert Hans-Ulrich Krause, other LGU officials, representatives from the DSWD, and community residents.
Director Brigoli congratulated the municipality for a productive collaboration with DSWD in implementing the agency’s social protection programs, most especially the KALAHI CIDSS- National Community-Driven Development Program (KC-NCDDP) PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA).
“This PEACE project is another opportunity for further development of this town as this is mainly aimed at capacitating communities in peace building and peace education,” said Brigoli.
Mayor Mondejar also voiced his sincere thanks to DSWD and GIZ-COSERAM for considering their municipality to be a recipient of the project.
“PEACE for Veruela will in one way or another address one of our poverty problems which are caused by its high susceptibility to violent conflicts,” expressed Mondejar.
The newly-launched project will benefit six (6) conflict-affected barangays. It will implement three (3) components namely capacity development on peace education concepts and approaches, implementation of Quick Impact Measure (QIM) for better access to livelihood opportunities, and documentation of learnings. ###(Social Marketing Unit/DSWD Field Office Caraga)
