To end poverty, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) should first address the hunger problem that many communities across the country are experiencing, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a press statement on Monday.
And to reach this end, Gatchalian said that one of the steps to take is to come up with digital food stamps that can be used by its recipients to buy goods in grocery stores and supermarkets,.
Gatchalian met Friday (Feb. 10) with representatives of the United Nations to the Philippines at the DSWD Central Office in Batasan, Quezon City to strengthen its partnership on social protection programs
Gatchalian discussed his plans for the DSWD with the UN representatives, led by UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez. They wanted to explore partnerships and further improvement of the Department’s efforts to end poverty and hunger, and manage disaster resilience among Filipinos experiencing frequent typhoons.
“One of the priorities that I am trying to pitch [to the Marcos Administration] is fighting poverty,” Gatchalian said.
In addition, the DSWD chief mentioned that the Department aims to mobilize enumerators to identify the individuals and families who are experiencing hunger, specifically targeting the 1.5 million households in pockets of poverty. The Secretary was seeking the assistance of the UN in finding the means to finance the said project.
Mr. González of the UN said that the Organization is ready to provide the necessary technical assistance, as well as the resources needed to roll out this proposal. He even commended Gatchalian for coming up with this kind of mechanism to end hunger saying, “The way that you are framing things is brilliant.”
Gatchalian committed to draft a concept note with the help of the DSWD’s Team to End Hunger, which is composed of social workers. The rough draft will then be presented to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for further improvement.
Aside from the fight against hunger and poverty, the two officials also discussed during the meeting matters regarding disaster response operations.
Gatchalian shared his proposition to strengthen the supply chain system of the Department by establishing hubs at the regional and local levels. This, according to the secretary, will greatly help in the quick response operations of the Department during disasters.
The UN team mentioned that the Organization is currently pilot-testing the Anticipatory Action for predictable hazards in Bicol and Eastern Visayas Regions. This mechanism provides relief items and other goods to the potential victims even before the disaster comes.
To recall, the DSWD and the United Nations Children’s Fund or UNICEF signed an agreement in June 2022 to operationalize the multi-purpose unconditional cash transfers in typhoon-vulnerable municipalities.
Gatchalian aims to replicate the said mechanism in the overall disaster action plan of the Department. He said that the DSWD will formulate guidelines for Anticipatory Action for cash transfers to the poor, as well as for the near poor.
With this initiative, the DSWD targets to address the vulnerability of the transient or near poor in times of disaster.
The meeting ended with a continuing partnership between DSWD and the UN geared toward further improving the social protection packages of the Department amid disasters and crises. (PNA)
