Malacañang Congratulates Social Welfare Secretary Soliman for World Bank Recognition

(PNA) — The Palace congratulated Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman, who was recently recognized by the World Bank for her anti-poverty work and people empowerment.

“We congratulate DSWD Secretary Corazon ‘Dinky’ Soliman for being one of six leaders from government, civil society and the private sector worldwide, who were given recognition by the World Bank for their work ‘in promoting social accountability as a means to eradicate poverty and promote inclusive growth in their respective countries’,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement issued on Thursday.

This is the first time that the World Bank-Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) gave the regional awards and a lifetime award for social accountability.

According to World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi, Secretary Soliman “translates the practice of social accountability and transparency into concrete strategic activities, which she implements with great commitment and passion.”

“Amid dissenting voices and criticisms, she opens the door for collaboration, participation and dialogue, inviting people to voice and discuss their concerns,” said Konishi.

Under Soliman’s leadership, civil society organizations have been involved in the implementation and monitoring of the conditional cash transfer program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, and the DSWD and more than 50 civil society organizations have entered into a budget partnership agreement to monitor the budget of the department, he added.

In a statement, the World Bank said that as Chair of the Philippine Cabinet Cluster on Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Soliman helped promote collaboration among government agencies for poverty reduction.

These include the bottom-up budgeting approach where 300 to 400 of the poorest municipalities developed their own community-level poverty reduction and empowerment plans.

These plans were subsequently included in the rural development and conditional cash transfer budgets of six national agencies: the departments of social welfare, education, health, agriculture, agrarian reform, and environment, the World Bank said.

Soliman also mobilized regional development councils to work with local government units in ensuring the registration of the poor in the government’s national household targeting system database, it added.

In his statement, Coloma reported that last month, some 14,000 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program graduated from high school in the National Capital Region.

These students were the first batch of high school graduates covered by the program.

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is one of the programs initiated by the government to sustain inclusive growth and uplift the lives of poor Filipinos.

The other recipients of the World Bank GPSA award were from Brazil, Ghana, Mexico, Bangladesh, Morocco, and Moldova.

The recognition was given during an official ceremony at the World Bank headquarters, which was hosted by Sanjay Pradhan, World Bank Vice President for Change, Leadership and Innovation. (PNA) FFC/PND/EDS