Some 4,590 community-based beneficiaries are expected to benefit from the cash-for-training and -work program which the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will be implementing under its Project LAWA or the Local Adaptation to Water Access.
The DSWD’s Project LAWA will provide additional income in support of poor, vulnerable, and marginalized families of Indigenous Peoples (IPs), farmers, and fisher folk as well as build community physical assets, particularly water ponds, that are vital for sustaining the economic activities of the community especially during the onslaught of El Niño in the country.
DSWD Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe of the Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG), together with partners from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Department of Agriculture (DA), officially launched the pilot implementation of the cash-for-training and work scheme through Project LAWA on Thursday (August 31) in Monkayo, Davao de Oro.
DRMG Undersecretary Cajipe, WFP Philippines Deputy Country Director Dipayan Bhattacharyya, and DA field operations division chief Marie Ann Constantino also led the groundbreaking ceremony and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the project’s implementation.
Project LAWA aims to mitigate the effects of drought and dry spells by utilizing the DA’s program in constructing small farm reservoirs (SFRs) using the DSWD’s cash-for-training and -work intervention as a labor component to provide temporary income opportunities to the community residents while establishing alternative water resources.
“Ang proyektong ito ay makakatulong upang agarang masolusyonan at malabanan ang matinding pangangailangan ng mga komunidad na maapektuhan ng El Niño at iba pang posibleng epekto nito,” Undersecretary Cajipe said as she read the message of Secretary Rex Gatchalian.
(This project would help to immediately address the pressing needs of communities that will be affected by El Niño-related water scarcity.)
“Sa pagpapatupad ng cash-for-training at -work na naaayon sa mga pangangailangan at kondisyon ng pamayanan, ang mga komunidad ay inaasahang mas magiging handa sa epekto ng El Niño,” Undersecretary Cajipe said.
(By implementing cash-for-training and -work interventions that are tailored to local needs and conditions, communities will become more resilient to the effects of El Niño and future droughts.)
The project targets to construct 90 SFRs in the nine local government units (LGUs) in the provinces of Ifugao, Antique, and Davao De Oro starting this August until December this year.
The DSWD will be supporting the labor component for 15 days in the construction of the SFRs.
The Department has allocated more than P35 million for the implementation of Project LAWA.
