Butuan City – In today’s Regional Social Welfare and Development (SWD) Forum held at  Samping Avenue, Butuan City, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Caraga underscored the agency’s Indigenous People (IP)-sensitive programs and services.

Attended by the local (provincial/city/municipality) social welfare and development offices (LSWDOs) in the region, the forum today aims to advocate and promote DSWD’s IP-centered interventions. The theme is very timely with the increasing IP-related issues and concerns, and the increasing number of migrating IPs who have been found highly visible in the streets of highly-urbanized cities.

Interesting discussions are lined up for this one-day activity. Topics presented are the following: Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) Program for the Indigenous People, CCT Bill Presentation and Signature Campaign, and Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) Social Safeguard to IP Communities.

Regional Director Minda B. Brigoli opened the activity through reminding the LSWDOs about their significant contributions as active partners of DSWD in the implementation of social protection programs and services.

“In this forum, we hope that our partners will appreciate more their roles as conduits of the national government in providing interventions to our IP brethren in their areas,” Brigoli said.

An interactive activity dubbed as “World Café” will be facilitated to draw the ideas from the LSWDOs in strengthening DSWD’s collaboration with them in order to efficiently and effectively provide IP-sensitive programs and services.

Both MCCT-IP and Kalahi-CIDSS are anti-poverty programs of DSWD implemented in the country to assist and provide inclusive growth to poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged sectors and communities which include the IP sectors.

The Regional SWD forum is conducted every semester by DSWD to meet and gather the LSWDOs in Caraga. ###(Social Marketing Unit/DSWD Field Office Caraga)