DSWD poverty alleviation program flourished under Dinky

MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) community-driven development (CDD) approach has helped improve the lives of more than nine million Filipino households since its implementation in 2013.

There are currently 31,051 sub-projects or community projects that were completed under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), which the late Corazon “Dinky” Soliman fully implemented as DSWD Secretary.

“Para sa nasabing bilang ng proyekto, ang DSWD ay nakagamit ng higit PHP45.6 bilyong piso na pondo para sa benepisyo ng 9,189,237 na pamilya sa iba’t-ibang parte ng bansa (For this project, the DSWD utilized more than PHP45.6 billion for the benefit of 9,189,237 family beneficiaries in various parts of the country),” the DSWD said in a statement sent to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Monday.

Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the poverty alleviation programs of the government under DSWD.

It uses the CDD approach, a poverty alleviation strategy that gives citizens the power and the responsibility to analyze and address local issues that impede their development through participatory decision-making.

In July 2002, Kalahi-CIDSS pilot tested in Dolores, Quezon with PHP1.8 M allocated for community projects. Six of its villages — Cabatang, Manggahan, Putol, Pinagdanlayan, Bulakin 1, and Dagatan — participated.

It was officially approved in 2003 with funding support from the World Bank and Soliman served as its first National Project Director.

“Secretary Dinky was a brilliant social worker and a devoted champion of social change. She was at the helm of the DSWD twice, during the terms of former Presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III,” the DSWD said in a statement.

Apart from KALAHI-CIDSS, Soliman also championed the enactment of milestone laws, such as the Magna Carta of Social Workers, Magna Carta for Women, and Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, among others, during her term.

“The DSWD family will truly miss Secretary Dinky. Apart from her notable accomplishments for the Department, she will also be remembered for her sunflower greetings,” the DSWD added.

Soliman passed away on Sunday at the age of 68.