DSWD, USC to cooperate in Livelihood program for the poor

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 has recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the University of San Carlos to work together in a partnership to improve the quality of life of the poor.

In a statement released by DSWD-7, it said that both parties recognized the need to establish a cooperative approach, converging and conservatively utilizing its resources and capacities in common areas to contribute poverty alleviation through empowerment to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and Non-Pantawid poor participants under DSWD-7’s National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) to improve their quality of life.

The USC, through its Center for Social Entrepreneurship, a unit of the school, of Business and Economics, will provide lifelong learning, research, and entrepreneurship training focusing on the social and environmental impacts, for participants.

Both DSWD and USC agreed to work together in the areas necessary to attain the purpose of this partnership such as contributing to the resiliency and empowerment of poor and vulnerable Sustainable Livelihood Program participants through provision of skills and technical assistance, establishment of knowledge management system between the DSWD-7 and USC on the documentation of livelihood models’ best practices and success stories, and key learning generated by the partnership initiative related to the action researches and training done, among others.

The DSWD has been implementing the Sustainable Livelihood Program which aims to strengthen the skills, competencies, abilities, and resources of poor families, and create an enabling environment for accessing income-generating opportunities to address basic needs.

It added that the beneficiaries of 4Ps and NHTS-PR who are also beneficiaries of Sustainable Livelihood Program, shall benefit from their partnership with the USC.

For this partnership, USC agreed to create a convergence synergy model for livelihood opportunities for qualified SLP participants by giving them access to Livelihood Skill Training Program and Technical Assistance through USC.

This agreement covers regional implementation depending on the present and future worksites of USC and DSWD-7 including its SWAD Offices in Negros Oriental, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor. — BRP (FREEMAN)