DSWD launches new sustainable livelihood program

CEBU, Philippines — An innovative and responsive program to the needs of the participants had been promised by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in its launch of Sibol.

Sibol, as the new brand of the program, represents the step-by-step growth in the journey of Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) participants toward improved well-being with equitable access to livelihood assets and resources, DSWD’s press release said.

The SLP is the said Department’s lead livelihood capability-building program for poor, vulnerable, and marginalized households and communities, that helps improve their socio-economic conditions through accessing and acquiring necessary assets to engage in and maintain thriving livelihoods.

“Like a plant, we grow with you. We make sure that we plant the seed, we nurture it, we water it, we watch it grow, and we watch it turn into something bigger than what it was. Iyon ang (That’s the) bottom line,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said.

DSWD is also improving the guidelines in the SLP’s implementation to empower its intended clients.

The enhanced program aims to expedite the implementation process, rationalize cost parameters, and provide new training or capacity-building activities.

Gatalian also emphasized that they do not want to make it a “one-shot deal, but rather, make it sustainable.”

“We want to make sure that our development programs are not one-shot deals - that we provide the cash and we say goodbye. But rather, we want to make sure it is sustainable and that we partner, monitor, and grow the economic enterprise with you,” added Gatchalian. — (FREEMAN)