By Rene V. Carbayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan – Social work and development officers of the different municipalities and
cities in Basilan, including selected government agencies, completed the
two-day orientation training on risk and vulnerability assessment of key
sectors in Basilan last Friday.
Under the guidance of the Department
of Social Welfare and Development Regional Office-IX (DSWD-IX), the
participants underwent workshops on how to fill up the different worksheets
that would provide crucial and important data to be used as reference for any
interventions to help and provide appropriate programs for particular sector in
society.
Workshop facilitator Hasan B. Alfad
of the National Household Targeting Unit of the DSWD-9 said that the training
on risk and vulnerability assessment (RVA) is of vital importance at the local
level so that from there development workers and institutions will know what
are the risks and vulnerabilities that are being faced by specific sectors in
the community.
“All the issues and possible
challenges that specific sector is facing or maybe facing may be foreseen and
addressed appropriately by concerned agencies and local government units,” he
said.
He stressed that the data generated
by the RVA and the Social Protection and Development Report (SPDR) will not
only be for DSWD’s consumption, but that these data will be of value too to
other government agencies and LGUs.
“We know that government has a
number of programs, but unfortunately some are not properly implemented. One
factor is the lack of data and poor data base collection of the locality to
determine the sector with the most risks and vulnerability and therefore needed
more social protection programs,” he said.
Alfad said that the challenge in the
preparation of the SPDR and RVA is the right and correct data to be available.
“The primary data is really
problematic. We will work on the secondary data when available. That is why we
need an inter-agency approach to the preparation of these data base so that
true conditions and situations of specific sectors are determined,” he added.
Lilia B. Bucoy, the Provincial
Social Welfare and Development Officer in Basilan said that the purpose of this
data base is to help us locate who and where are the poor in Basilan
considering the other factors in determining their condition so that proper
programs and services may be provided them.
She said that the SPDR is a vital
tool in identifying the risks and vulnerabilities encountered by individuals,
families and the communities and also serve as tool for effective planning and
budgeting process as well as for policy formulation and program development.
“The inter-agency technical
consultations would provide a very valuable input for the development of a more
comprehensive and accurate report that is in line with the interest and
applicability of the National Household Targeting Unit (NHTU) in the service
delivery of DSWD as a whole,” she added.
The DSWD, with its mandate to provide social protection and
with the services that they need, undertakes anti-poverty programs and
projects, initiates strategies to reach the poor, the vulnerable, and the
disadvantaged, with which the NHTU has significant role in data generation and
management. (PIA9)