MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA)—In line with the celebration of national women’s month, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) Philippines recently launched a new project catering to extremely vulnerable women and children in Lanao del Sur.
The new project, called Enhanced Economic and Social Wellbeing of Vulnerable and Extreme Poor Women-Headed Household and Children, or simply ENHANCED, is funded by Islamic Relief USA and targets extremely poor women-headed households and learners in Marawi City and the municipality of Sultan Dumalondong as beneficiaries.
ENHANCED serves as the second phase of IRW's SWEEP (Sustaining Women Economic Empowerment) and SEEVAC (Support to Education Empowerment of Vulnerable Children Affected by COVID-19) projects, also both funded by Islamic Relief USA.
Islamic Relief Philippines ENHANCED Project Officer Sittie Nurjanisah Maidan said the goal of the project is to improve the income and assets of 300 extremely poor women-headed households, set up effective protection mechanisms to protect women, children, and other vulnerable groups in target communities, improve access to and quality of education in target communities, and give vulnerable communities more tools for reducing disaster risk and managing it.
She said the project has four main components: livelihood, protection, education, and disaster risk reduction and management.
In particular, the goal is to help 100 ultra-poor households led by women and 200 orphan students from Marawi City and Sultan Dumalondong town.
Maidan said the beneficiaries will be selected following a set of criteria. These beneficiaries, she said, are from geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, pathways areas, areas with a history of armed conflict, and areas with supportive local government units.
Meanwhile, Sultan Dumalundong Municipal Administrator Alvin Bacaraman conveyed their gratitude to the IRW-Philippines for including their municipality in the covered areas. He also committed their full support for the implementation of the project. (PIA-10/Lanao del Sur)
