LGU seminar on fighting poverty

Metro Manila poverty reduction officers join their counterparts in Luzon in a workshop to prepare separate but integrated plans to help the poor.

This, as Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. urged local government units to effectively integrate national efforts to stamp out poverty in their own poverty alleviation programs.

In a circular, the head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government also called on LGU poverty alleviation teams to know current trends in assessing and addressing poverty at the local level.

To provide them economic situationers and assist in forming viable strategies to uplift the poor, the DILG has organized the "Seminar Workshop on Local Government Initiatives for Poverty Reduction." It will be at the Holiday Inn at the UN Avenue in Manila on Aug. 8 to 10 and at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City on Sept. 19 to 21, 2002.

Lina sought the active participation of the LGUs in the seminar workshops to yield action plans to address poverty in their respective areas.

LGUs are expected to come out with their own strategies that take into account the unique situations in their areas while taking into account the national government programs through agencies like the Department of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, Social Welfare and Development and Labor and Employment.

Lina said the DILG initiative is anchored on the Local Government Code, and as elaborated in the Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act, which mandates LGUs to undertake programs aimed at reducing poverty.

Highlights of the three-day workshops, which is co-organized with the Gateway East Inc., include presentations to enable LGU executives to understand the dynamics of poverty in the Philippines and to update them with current schemes employed by key institutions. An overview of Official Development Assistance on Poverty Reduction Programs will also be presented by the National Economic Development Authority.

At the same time, the event also provides a platform for the sharing of opportunities for private sector and LGU cooperation in efforts to combat poverty. Interested participants may reach Gateway East at tel. nos. 634-8671 and 634-0588.