BAGUIO CITY(PIA)–The government gears up to help local communities become more resilient to the effects of climate change.
The Cordillera Regional Social Development Committee during its first quarter meeting on February 11, 2025, discussed ways to elevate programs that target a community driven development in the region.
Th Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) presented its proposed Community Resilience Project which aims to strengthen community capacities for participatory planning, and deliver resilient investments in vulnerable areas.
Manuel Ocaña, DSWD-CAR Deputy Regional Program Manager for Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), explained that the project helps in building resilient facilities, resilient livelihoods and ecosystem conservation/protection.
This project entails involvement of local government units, line agencies and the community as a whole to identify projects that will answer individual life-cycle risks, economic risks, environmental risks and social and governance risk.
There are four components for this project to ensure the active participation of communities.
The community grants for resilient planning and investment component enables local government units to participate in the facilitation of risk and vulnerability assessment as a basis for formulating community resilience plans, and to identify community-managed resilient sub-projects.
Key partner agencies and the implementing institutions will also be empowered through trainings, knowledge exchange platforms and capacity building, under the institutional support for local resilience component.
The project is also responsive to disasters as a contingent emergency response component will allow the rapid reallocation of uncommitted project funds into urgent needs in times of disaster. This is an ex-ante mechanism which could be mobilized for the rapid access of finance, to an eligible crisis or emergencies.
There will also be a project monitoring and management component to guarantee the smooth implementation of the projects and achievement of its objectives.
The DSWD will be working closely with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Agriculture, National Anti-poverty Commission and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples for the implementation of the project.
In the region, 15 municipalities in four provinces are eyed to benefit in this project. Nine municipalities in two provinces are set to be included in its expansion.
The RSDC, however, plans to appeal to the national level to increase the number of recipients to include areas where malnutrition is prevalent.(JDP/CVBT-PIA CAR)
