NGOs told to get accreditation

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas has urged non-government organizations (NGOs) to register and acquire Certificate and License to Operate as a welfare agency to be a legitimate organization.

A total of 165 NGOs in the region are currently recognized by the Department, 114 are from Cebu, 26 are in Negros Oriental while the remaining 25 are from Bohol.

DSWD-7 Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat said that Central Visayas is the second highest in terms of the number of registered NGOs nationwide, second to the National Capital Region (NCR) and that she is proud that all of them complied with all the necessary requirements to operate that the agency have given them.

DSWD requires NGOs to secure Certificate of Registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and/or Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).

Jabagat, in a statement, said that organizations which are already operating should submit annual accomplishment reports and audited financial reports for the last two years to determine capability to sustain operations.

“We have organized a monitoring system to further check the veracity and legitimacy of the applying NGO and that includes visiting in their office address and interacting with board of directors,” Jabagat emphasized.

“We have stringent processes because we don’t want to have bogus and fly by night NGOs,” she added.

After recognizing the organization through registration and licensing, DSWD conducts accreditation of the programs and services of the NGO six months after the issuance of its registration certificates and licenses to operate.

“We need to ensure that the programs and services that they are providing are following the DSWD standards and the delivery of their social protection services to their beneficiaries are sustainable,” Jabagat added.

DSWD-7 conducts a quarterly meeting with the NGOs through the Area-Based Standard Network (ABS-Net), an organization of DSWD registered and licensed NGOs. This meeting serves a venue to share new guidelines, discuss updates on various programs and services, share good practices and resolve issues and concerns.

Technical assistance is also being provided to the members, both by DSWD and the officers of ABS-Net who are NGO representatives themselves.

Director Jabagat underscored the importance of partnerships between DSWD and NGOs.

“DSWD is not alone in fighting poverty in our country because we have reliable partners like NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), so it is but important in building stronger partnership with them especially in the implementation of our core poverty alleviation programs, she further said. —/GMR (FREEMAN)