Newly-approved project to empower more communities to participate in local planning, budgeting and implementation of projects that help reduce poverty
WASHINGTON, February 20, 2014 – More than eight million Filipinos in 477 poor rural municipalities and areas affected by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) are expected to have better access to social and economic infrastructure and services. Under the National Community-Driven Development Project (NCDDP), more poor communities across the country will be empowered to participate in local planning, budgeting and implementation of community-level projects that help reduce poverty.
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved today a US$479 million loan for these purposes, providing more funding to scale up to national coverage the project known as Kalahi-CIDSS or Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services. The project will prioritize municipalities affected by the disaster which devastated central Philippines in November of 2013.
“Expanding Kalahi will significantly boost our efforts to alleviate rural poverty while responding to the needs of Yolanda survivors,” said Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Corazon Juliano-Soliman.
“When people from poor communities come together to discuss their challenges and how best to address them collectively, they usually come up with solutions that are responsive and appropriate to their needs. That’s the essence of community-driven development,” said Secretary Soliman.
With support from the World Bank, the Philippine government set up Kalahi-CIDSS in 2002 to alleviate poverty in poor rural communities using a community-driven development (CDD) approach.
Using CDD, poor communities organize themselves, analyze their own situation, prepare project proposals to address their common problems, and compete for block grants to finance their own projects. These projects include local infrastructure such as water systems, school buildings, day care centers and health stations, as well as roads and bridges. Community members are also responsible for implementation and maintenance of these projects.
Since 2002, Kalahi-CIDSS has financed close to 6,000 local projects worth US$265 million benefitting over 1.6 million households in the poorest municipalities and provinces in the Philippines.
Now called the National Community-Driven Development Project (NCDDP), this scaled up version of the Kalahi-CIDSS will provide investment grants to support priority needs of the poorest municipalities throughout the country, as well as eligible communities affected by Typhoon Yolanda.
"The recently approved US$479 million loan from the World Bank will contribute to the US$8 billion needed for the Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda Plan. The NCDDP will assist our efforts in the swift reconstruction of disaster-affected areas through financing and implementing community-driven projects," said Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima.
“The use of community-driven development approaches in post-disaster situations has shown to be effective in accelerating community reconstruction and efficiently putting money for priority needs of communities around the world,” said Mr. Sean Bradley, World Bank’s Social Development Specialist.
According to World Bank Country Director for the Philippines Motoo Konishi, programs that apply CDD approaches have good track records in the Philippines in terms of contributing to improvements of poor people’s lives. He said that based on a recent evaluation, Kalahi-CIDSS beneficiaries’ spending for food and other necessities has increased by 12 percent.
Mr. Konishi also added that, based on recent studies, the unit cost of investment projects completed by beneficiaries is 8 to 76 percent lower than similar public sector works. This reaffirms that effective people’s participation promotes community ownership and good governance, which in turn leads to better implementation, operation and maintenance of projects, he said.
“CDD approaches tap into local-level knowledge about who is poor, what constrains people to improve their lives, and how to design projects to address these constraints, thus improving poverty targeting. NCDDP therefore fits well into the World Bank Group’s twin goals of helping the country eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity,” said Mr. Konishi.
In Luzon, the NCDDP will target communities in the regions of MIMAROPA (Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan); Cordillera Administrative Region (Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province); Central Luzon (Nueva Ecija); and Bicol (Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon).
In the Visayas, the project will target the areas of Western Visayas (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental); Central Visayas (Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor); and Eastern Visayas (Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Western Samar and Southern Leyte).
In Mindanao, the project will target Northern Mindanao (Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental); SOCCKSARGEN (Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat); Caraga (Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur); Zamboanga Peninsula (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay); and Davao (Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental).
