P328 M set for self-employment program

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has allocated some P328 million this year for its self-employment assistance program aimed at improving the livelihoods of poor rural women.

DSWD Undersecretary Parisya Taradji said since 2011, the DSWD has assisted income-generating projects of some 35,822 poor women nationwide through its Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) project. The DSWD official made the announcement as the nation celebrates International Women’s Month in March.

“Starting 2011, these women are now engaged in income-generating projects such as sari-sari or rolling stores, farming, livestock raising, fishing, food processing, dress making, shell craft and fish vending,” Taradji said.

The SEA-K is part of the DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program, which supports microenterprises of registered associations to enhance access to basic social services and improve their standard of living.

The project also links beneficiaries to employment opportunities and builds the capacity of economically active poor households by enabling them to manage sustainable microenterprises.

It provides a seed capital of P250,000 to P300,000, which is payable in two years without collateral and interest, to a group of 25 to 30 members or P10,000 per person.

Meanwhile, the DSWD’s supplemental feeding program has benefited some 115,775 pre-schoolers in the Bicol region over the past six months.

The Supplementary Feeding Program is the provision of food in addition to regular meals to children currently enrolled in day care and supervised neighborhood play. Under the program, the children were given hot meals composed of fortified rice and viand for a period of six months, starting in September 2011.

The program ensures that these children are accessed to appropriate health care facilities if there are nutritional and health-related problems, and teaches parents to prepare food with locally available but nutritious ingredients, Taradji said.