KORONADAL CITY— The partnership of Department of Social Welfare and Development and United Nations Development Programme has completed P13. 18 million worth of infrastructure projects, helping various villagers in the region to access basic social services, an agency senior official said Tuesday.

Bonifacio V. Selma Jr., DSWD 12 assistant regional for operations said that 11 community projects have been completed including day care centers, schools, centers for children with special needs and senior citizens building.

“These are projects identified by communities as their pressing needs and funded under the bottom-up budgeting (BUB) of the government with UNDP as our partner service provider,” Selma said.

Selma added that the completed projects were under the monitoring and supervision of the agency’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-A Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) Program.

“On the top of these projects is the empowerment of villagers which means they were given the opportunity to actively be involved in the identification, implementation and sustainability mechanisms,” Selma added.

DSWD 12 recently turned over a day care center amounting to P800 thousand in Midsayap town, North Cotabato.

Rhea Peñaflor, assistant secretary for specialized programs and led the turnover ceremony, said that some 30 children need not to walk some five kilometers to village proper by opening of class in June with the completion of day care center in far flung village of Purok 6, Malamote.

“This partnership between DSWD and UNDP is a pilot project in Asia under the sustainable development goal to bring together national governments, the international community, civil society, the private sector and other actors of development,” Peñaflor

Peñaflor also led the turnover early childhood care and development (ECCD) kits amounting to P575 thousand that will benefit 17 day care centers in Midsayap town.

The 17 day care centers received flat screen televisions, complete sets of chairs, tables, sanitation kits, and various visual learning aids.

Meanwhile, Pamela A. Susvilla, DSWD 12 convergence focal person said that under the DSWD and UNDP partnership, there are still 14 community projects that are set to be completed in the coming months amounting to some P23 million.

“We are fast tracking the completions of the remaining projects in order to benefits intented villagers, especially in those geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas,” Susvilla said. (END)