DSWD Conducts Phase III Of ASEAN Conference On Program Evaluation For PWDs

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is conducting the third phase of the “ASEAN Conference on Program Evaluation for Persons with Disability (PWDs)” at Hotel H20 in Manila.

The three-day conference (March 1-3) started on Tuesday wherein DSWD Undersecretary Vilma B. Cabrera welcomed the participants from the ASEAN member countries.

The delegates shared their respective country reports in terms of the programs they are implementing on PWDs along with challenges that they have met and other key points.

Aside from the Philippines, among the other ASEAN member countries attending Phase III of the conference, which will culminate on March 3, are Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar.

Also attending the conference is Dr. Tomoyo Sato, Second Secretary/Health Attache of the Embassy of Japan.

“The Government of Japan sincerely hopes that the achievements of this program are widely shared and good practices will be put into action in your countries (referring to ASEAN member states)… These efforts will contribute to the development of policies for PWDs,” Dr. Sato said.

He added that the outcome of the program is of prime importance for Japan, particularly because his country is currently preparing for the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020.

“We would like everyone to have a deeper and better understanding of PWDs and improve the policy. PWDs should be involved as an integral dimension of policies and regulations and be given equal opportunities as valuable contributors to society,” he said.

Japan’s role in the program is through the financial assistance it provided four years ago through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).

“The project was endorsed and proposed during the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) in the Philippines eight years ago (December 2008),” said DSWD Director Rhodora G. Alday.

She said that after four years since 2008, the funding was received that led to the implementation of the program which was divided into three phases.

Phase I was held on April 2-4, 2014, followed by Phase II on Oct. 27-30, 2014.

According to Alday, Phase I basically involved the technical sharing sessions on best practices and services for PWDs to provide opportunity to gain knowledge in developing and identifying areas of improvement in order to develop strategies to improve auxiliary and social services.

Phase II, on the other hand, involved training of trainors or a capacity building initiative to improve auxiliary services of government and private organizations while facilitating knowledge sharing.

Alday said that since the current phase of the conference will serve as a concluding activity for the project, that will be an opportunity for the member states to evaluate existing programs in the region, whether government or privately run, and identify areas of improvement as they gain knowledge.

“We hope that this three-day conference will jump-start continuous sharing of good practices among ASEAN member states and eventually develop a monitoring and evaluation system for the different programs and interventions intended for PWDS in the region,” DSWD Undersecretary Cabrera said in her welcome statement.

She added that through monitoring and evaluations, the ASEAN member states will be able to develop their own strategies to help PWDs.

Also part of the conference is sharing of best practices in terms of Malaysia’s experience in supporting employment and job coach service program for PWDs; Research-Based Monitoring and Evaluation (RBME) Development for PWDs in the Philippines; Budget and Finance for PWDs based on the experience of Thailand, and many others.

Observers from sectors of PWDs have also been invited to the conference so that they can contribute some concerns that will enable the government to respond to what such sectors really require.

The ASEAN member states are calling for an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for PWDs along the concern on the rapid social and economic changes arising from globalization that contribute to the complexity of challenges in all sectors and affect human security which further marginalize those living with disabilities.

In the goal to mainstream PWDs, there is a need for PWDs to be given equal opportunity and access also to the employment market.

However, some needs of PWDs remain unmet and one of the reasons cited is the “underdeveloped capacity of government” to implement sufficient and quality auxiliary social services for PWDs which is what the project wants to address. (PNA) SCS/LSJ