The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will be presented with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 Certification and the Silver Trailblazer Award for its Quality Management System (QMS) and Performance Governance Scorecard (PGS) journeys during the culminating activity of the Department’s 71^st year founding anniversary on February 28.

The awards summarize the Department’s continuous pursuit for quality public service delivery.

ISO certified

The ISO Certification will be awarded to the DSWD after two years of improving its systems and as a result of a ten-day audit conducted by the Certifying Body, SOCOTEC Certification Philippines Inc.

The DSWD has been assessed to operate a QMS that conforms to ISO 9001:2015 standard, particularly for its two frontline services: Securing Travel Clearance for Minors Travelling Abroad or MTA and Disaster Data Request Processing.  This also includes all essential support services, such as Administrative Service, Human Resource Management and Development Service, Procurement Management Service, Finance and Management Service, and Information and Communications Technology Management Service, in all its offices throughout the country.

PGS journey

Under the leadership of Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista, the Department revived the PGS, which is a holistic and collaborative framework for designing, executing, monitoring, and sustaining roadmaps to reforms in the Department to improve the delivery of its services.

Through the PGS and with the guidance of the Multisector Governance Council (MSGC) and the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), the Department was able to increase the number of self-sufficient Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) households from 300,000 in 2019 to more than 800,000. Furthermore, the Department’s centers and residential care facilities (CRCFs) with Center of Excellence Status also increased from 14 to 30.

As a result of the Department’s hard work, the DSWD was declared by ISA as already in the Proficiency Level with a Silver Trailblazer Award. A Silver Trailblazer Award is given to an institution with breakthrough results, with regular progress reports on strategy, with regular process coaching for lower level units, with presence of rewards mechanisms, and with initiatives led by the MSGC partners.

The reforms made through the PGS technology are simultaneous with the efforts of the DSWD towards getting an ISO for the improvement of the Department’s systems, plans, and processes.

Meanwhile, apart from the awards highlight, another important part of the culminating activity will be the video anniversary greetings of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to all the officials and employees of the DSWD.

Celebrating with partners, stakeholders

The culminating activity for the 71^st year anniversary of the DSWD is also a celebration of the important work of partners and stakeholders in the field of social welfare and development.

The DSWD will be awarding civil society organizations, government agencies, media partners, and other individuals who made notable contributions in fulfilling the Department’s mandate through the PaNata (Pagkilala sa mga Natatanging Kontribusyon) sa Bayan Awards.

The PaNata Awards is a yearly endeavor of the Department to express gratitude to organizations and individuals in helping the DSWD deliver the needed social welfare and development assistance to the public.

Continuing commitment

With the PGS Silver Trailblazer Award and the ISO Certification, the DSWD’s commitment to ensuring that more Filipinos will be provided with quality service in the coming years will continue to be part of its journey towards achieving a “matatag, maginhawa,at panatag na buhay”, as envisioned by the Duterte administration. ###