The Northern Samar provincial government has tied up with Plan Philippines in the implementation of a project meant to curb issues and challenges of poor children with disabilities.

The local government and non-government organization signed on Monday a partnership deal in the implementation of Prevention, Early Identification, Referral and Interventions for Delays, Disorders, and Disabilities in Early Childhood (PEIRIDDDEC), an initiative funded by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“The project seeks to refine the system on how to provide sustainable and effective services on the municipal and provincial level to help the children with developmental delays, disorders and/or disabilities,” the Northern Samar provincial government said in a statement.

The target group of the project are children aged zero to four years, giving priority to those who belong to poor families.

The program that kicked off last September 2020 will run until February 2022 and covers the towns of Catarman, Lope De Vega, Mapanas, and Mondragon as pilot areas. The program includes the coordination and data gathering of the target children.

“Plan will not provide financial support, but we can provide training, skills, and information for the village health workers and daycare workers for the awareness on how to identify children with disabilities, disorder, and delays,” Plan Philippines project coordinator Armand Duque said.

Provincial health officer Ninfa Kam, who represented the province in the commitment signing, underscored the need to come up with a baseline survey to identify the prevalent disabilities in the province.

She also recommended utilizing existing local health programs to help in the mapping and data gathering. (PNA)