The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is celebrating its 71^st  year founding anniversary this January with an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification affirming its quality standards in the delivery of  social welfare and development programs and services. 

Over the years, the DSWD has endeavored to ensure the delivery of appropriate and quality services to the poor, vulnerable, marginalized, and disadvantaged sectors by constantly improving its systems and processess.  

Pursuing improvements and world class quality service

Despite the challenges in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DSWD continued to perform its mandate towards achieving world class quality service that is fully compliant with ISO standards and requirements. This year, the Department is expected to officially receive its Department-wide ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) Compliance Certificate – another milestone in DSWD’s history of dedicated commitment to public service excellence.

The ISO certification covers two of the Department’s frontline services on Securing Travel Clearance for Minors Traveling Abroad and Disaster Data Request Processing, as well as all the essential support services of the Department, delivered by the General Administration and Support Services Group (GASSG) and the Information and Communications Technology Management Service (ICTMS). The scope shall then be expanded further by the first quarter of this year to include all of the DSWD’s frontline and non-frontline programs, in line with the Department’s efforts to standardize, streamline, and digitize its services.

Recognizing quality public service

The Department is celebrating its 71^st year anniversary with a simple recognition of its employees, the Angels in Red Vest, through the awarding of the 2021 Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) winners.  PRAISE is the Department’s program on rewards and incentives for service excellence, and its way of thanking exemplary staff for their dedication and hard work.

The PRAISE recognition is especially significant in giving importance to the services provided by the DSWD employees, despite the health hazards posed by the pandemic.  Many of the employees were infected with COVID-19 for being at the frontline service delivery.

Meanwhile, as the country’s need for more SWD services was magnified by the pandemic and other disasters, the presence of DSWD partners and stakeholders greatly helped in fulfilling the Department’s mandate. 

To show gratitude, the DSWD will be conducting a simple online awarding activity for its partners through the Pagkilala sa Natatanging Kontribusyon sa Bayan or the PaNaTa Ko sa Bayan Awards.  The PaNaTA ko sa Bayan Awards is given to groups and individuals who have provided their services or shared their resources to further the SWD endeavors to assist the Department.

Moreover, as a symbolic commemoration of the growth of DSWD over more than seven decades now, the Department is conducting an adopt-and-grow-a-plant activity among its participating employees.  The activity encourages all Angels in Red Vest to be a significant example and advocate of environmental protection, as the Department aims to be an exemplar of its “Maagap at Mapagkalingang Serbisyo”.  ###