New focus for German development assistance in Caraga

MANILA, Philippines - Transparent and comprehensive dialogues to address community problems will be a key pillar of German development assistance in the Caraga region, a top German embassy official pledged during the inauguration of the “German House” in Butuan City last March 25.

The new office clusters the different German organizations – GTZ (German Technical Cooperation), DED (German Development Service), and ZFD (Civil Peace Service) – that are implementing development cooperation programs jointly in the area.

“Philippine-German cooperation has a wealth of experience in strengthening local communities by securing the participation of all stakeholders,” Chargé d’Affaires Pit Heltmann said in his keynote address. “Together with our Philippine partners, we will promote development that is self-sustaining in the long term.”

Jochem Lange, Country Director of GTZ, said the opening of the Butuan office “signals a firm commitment to improve living conditions and livelihoods in Caraga.” GTZ will coordinate a four-year, 7-million euro (P430 million) core commitment of the German government for peace-building and poverty reduction in Caraga with further contributions of technical expertise from DED and ZFD. Their combined efforts will be integrated under the Conflict Sensitive Resource and Asset Management (COSERAM) Program, scheduled to start in January 2011.

German commitments in the region actually run higher since other cooperation programs have already been in progress. Lange mentioned the Microinsurance Innovations Program for Social Security (MIPSS) piloted in Caraga by GTZ that works with the financial sector and PhilHealth to improve social risk protection among the informal and indigenous sectors. The GTZ-Center for International Migration (CIM) also assists the Philippine NGO known as “Fit for School,” a component of the Department of Education’s innovative Essential Health Care Program (EHCP) developed with German help. EHCP and “Fit for

School” are working to institutionalize three preventive health measures in public elementary schools nationwide: daily handwashing with soap, daily fluoride toothbrushing, and bi-annual deworming.

Furthermore, the German financial cooperation arm KfW has extended more than 7 million euro in loans for the development of several Caraga cities and municipalities, small-scale businesses, as well as promising local industries.

Development cooperation between the Philippines and Germany began in 1961 and has generated 876 million euro (P54 billion) in total assistance to date. In 2008 and 2009 alone, Heltmann said, fresh commitments reached 33.2 million euro (P2 billion), complemented with 80 international experts deployed in various programs nationwide.