CSO coalition seeks more partners vs extreme poverty

MANILA, Philippines — A multi-sector movement has helped 10,000 families get out of extreme poverty since 2015 but seeks support from foundations, NGOs and corporations, saying everyone can help reduce poverty in the Philippines.

Zero Extreme Poverty Philippines 2030, a coalition of civil society organizations and foundations, has seven themes or clusters: Health, Education, Livelihood, Environment, Housing and Shelter, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Partnerships for Indigenous Peoples.

Each cluster is geared toward a particular development goal. The Livelihood cluster, for example, aims to "facilitate access of the extreme poor to both tangible and intangible livelihood assets needed for employment and enterprise development."

The Education cluster, meanwhile, is for projects to provide training and education to allow two million youth to be employed or self-employed by 2030.

"All the interventions we bring to the communities that we partner with are based from their articulated needs and what they hope to achieve for their families," said Benjamin Abadiano, ZEP Head Secretariat, in a press statement late last month. 

"The issue on poverty is multi-dimensional. This is the rationale behind the collaborative aspect of our work—bringing together the expertise and resources of different organizations to convey transformational change to these families and break the cycle of poverty," he also said.

ZEP said non-government groups can join and support the projects in the thematic clusters or help bring the programs to more cities and municipalities as local conveners. The coalition said it has projects and programs in more than 109 cities across 33 provinces in 15 regions in the Philippines.

Individuals can also support ZEP through referrals to potential partner CSOs or through pledges and donations.

"Whether big or small, everyone can help. We can successfully achieve zero poverty through the spirit of collaboration and collective impact. At ZEP, we believe that as Filipinos we can build on our diversity to be more inclusive and ensure that no family is left behind," Abadiano said.