The National Community-Driven Development Program covering around 900 poor towns in the country will launch the community-driven development in May.

In Central Visayas, the program is targeting 108 municipalities, and prioritizing disaster-hit areas.

Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman told the mayors and representatives of local government units of Central Visayas in a recent forum that, “Poverty in itself is a disaster”.

The forum aimed to brief local chief executives on the NCDDP, and to consult them on the possibility of using the community-driven development strategy in post-disaster rehabilitation and development of LGUs affected by super-typhoon Yolanda and the earthquake in Bohol.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council records show that, as of March 14, there were 6,268 confirmed fatalities of “Yolanda”, and 222 deaths due to the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol on October 15, 2013.

The NCDDP is the scaling-up of the operations of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, and will use the CDD strategy to focus on empowering and building up the capacities of barangay and LGU officials so they will be able to lift their communities out of poverty, a press release from the DSWD said.*RG

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