DSWD holds dialogue with civil society organizations

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas held a consultation dialogue with civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Visayas region for the implementation of the National Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP) in Cebu City recently.

The activity was attended by more than 50 CSOs from all over the Visayas region including representatives from the business sector, non-government organizations and foundations, academe, faith-based organizations, women’s organizations and other groups.

It was the first of the series of CSO consultations being done nationwide.

The meeting aimed to generate recommendations from the CSOs in the operations of NCDDP, including policy-making, implementation, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

After the series of CSO consultations, the program is expected to come up with a summary of CSO recommendations on the NCDDP elements and features that will more promote government-citizens engagement for development and increase CSO participation in the implementation of NCDDP.

DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman said during the consultation, “We invited our partner CSOs to ask them about their roles and areas of participation so we can establish partnerships in implementing NCDDP,” Soliman said in Cebuano.

NCDDP will make use of the community-driven development (CDD) strategy with some additional features in its response to poverty. This approach gives the people in the barangay the opportunity to have an active control in deciding which projects will be implemented in their community.