DSWD 7, USC Ink MOA to Help SLP Beneficiaries

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office VII has recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the University of San Carlos (USC), to work together in a mutually-beneficial partnership in improving the quality of life of the poor.

Both parties recognize 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 (4P’s) and Non-Pantawid poor participants under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the DSWD-FO VII to improve their quality of life.

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

The beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’s) and Non-Pantawid poor participants under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the DSWD FO VII who are also beneficiaries of Sustainable Livelihood Program, shall benefit from their partnership with the USC. This project is in line with the agency’s mission to provide access to livelihood and job opportunities to the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals.

For this partnership, the University of San Carlos (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 with the overall goal of improving socio-economic conditions of the participants.

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

Both DSWD and USC agreed to work together in the areas necessary to attain the purpose of this partnership such as a) Contributing to the resiliency and empowerment of poor and vulnerable SLP participants through provision of skills and technical assistance. b) Establishment of Knowledge Management (KM) system between the DSWD-FO VII 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; c) Designate permanent and alternate project focal person to monitor the progress of the implementation; d) Conduct regular coordination and consultative meetings and conferences to immediately address emerging issues of the partnership initiative related to the action researches and training done; e) Develop programs, process, and evaluation tools and techniques for the other projects of DSWD-FO VII which will utilize USC’s current and future capabilities subject to further discussion between the parties involved; and f) Implement the partnership initiative within the terms and conditions of the implementing guidelines co-developed with USC.

This partnership initiative shall cover and serve unserved SLP participants who can qualify under the requirements of USC. This agreement covers regional implementation depending on the present and future worksites of USC and DSWD Field Office (FO VII) including its SWAD Offices in Negros Oriental, Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor.