Davao City – To run the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program advocacy campaign, a Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Consultation on the Roll-out of the New Active Citizenship Module is being conducted today, January 21, at the Grand Men Seng Hotel, Davao City.

Participating are some 50 CSO partners from Davao City, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley. The forum tackles the New Active Citizenship Module and integrates suggestions from the partners on how best to conduct the module.

“The Pantawid Pamilya election-related campaign dubbed as “Tuloy ang Pagbabago” promotes empowerment of the beneficiaries on active citizenry.  DSWD through Pantawid Pamilya promotes the beneficiaries’ rights to participate in the electoral processes, especially, in the coming national elections.  Beneficiaries are capacitated through monthly Family Development Sessions (FDS) wherein the active citizenship module is discussed,” said DSWD Assistant Regional Director for Operations Rebecca A. Santamaria.

DSWD recognizes the role of partner Civil Society Organizations in harnessing potential resources in order to support the campaign. The CSO partners complement the efforts of DSWD program field implementers during the monthly-held FDS, as well as other community development activities.

Subsequently, a Regional CSO Year-end Evaluation and Consultation Workshop is slated on Friday, January 22, at the same hotel.

“DSWD with its mandate to provide leadership in social welfare and development, recognizes the vital role of CSOs in terms of program implementation, especially in the conduct of FDS and FDS Plus. FDS Plus refers to a range of initiatives by external partners that are complementary to FDS but are not included as conditions of the Pantawid Pamilya program. Several CSOs have extended their assistance and support in resource augmentation through their voluntary initiatives in conducting FDS Plus,” added ARDO Santamaria.

As the Department is appreciative towards the CSOs in the assistance they are providing, an assessment on the impact and extent of the implementation and resource augmentation of the CSOs is important in order to guarantee the effectiveness of the service extended by the partners.

The consultation workshop aims to review and evaluate the engagement of the CSOs in relation to Pantawid Pamilya implementation – (1) present the CSO-related accomplishments during the course of implementation for 2015; (2) revisit the engagement and commitments of CSOs from 2015; (3) present the 2016 DSWD and Pantawid Pamilya Thrust and Directions; (4) plan for CY 2016 in relation to the Convergence Strategy; and (5) recognize the valuable efforts of CSO partners in the implementation of Pantawid Pamilya and Convergence Strategy.

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is implemented by DSWD. It aims to send 0 to 18 year old children to school while keeping them healthy for them to have better opportunities in the future. The program is already on its 6^th year of implementation in the region. At present, it covers 230,756 families in all four provinces, 6 cities, 43 municipalities and 1,120 barangays in Davao Region. (DSWD)