Philippines: Enhancing Social Protection through Community-Driven Development Approach

Agriculture, natural resources and rural development - Agricultural policy, institutional and capacity development

Education - Education sector development

Public sector management - Social protection initiatives

The Government of the Philippines, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide policy advisory technical assistance (TA) in the conceptualization and design of national community driven development program (NCDDP). The TA complemented the preparatory work in the design of NCDDP in which the options and mechanisms for provincial local government unit engagement are areas that have not been supported. The TA identified issues in the policy and institutional frameworks, financial arrangements, and capacities that hinder the coordination and institutionalization of CDD initiatives at the provincial level and propose concrete measures to overcome them. The TA was included in ADB's 2012-2014 country operations business plan for the Philippines.

The additional financing from the Typhoon Yolanda Multi-Donor Trust Fund (TYMDTF) was requested to facilitate the uptake of livelihood subprojects under KC-NCDDP. Specifically, it will support the refinement of DSWD's policy and procedure to provide sustainable livelihood support under the KC-NCDDP, enhancement of existing operational guidelines to improve the implementation of sustainable livelihood subprojects, enhancement of stakeholder capacity to undertake CDD and selectively funding of innovative, sustainable livelihood initiatives under CDD such as enterprise training and surveys.

Community driven development (CDD) approaches have been used by national government agencies and development partners in the Philippines to augment efforts of local government units (LGUs) to improve service delivery and address poverty at the community level. Among the key social development programs that apply CDD principles of participatory planning and community control of investments is the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KC) program managed by DSWD. Studies of KC highlight the benefits of CDD approach, which include increased household incomes, reduced investment costs, and higher economic rates of return. Furthermore, CDD has been found to be effective in targeting the poorest barangay in the poorest municipalities, in responding to the needs of the people, and in lessening the influence of patronage in the allocation of development resources.

The Government has recognized the value of CDD approach as reflected in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 and the National Anti-Poverty Framework, which both identify CDD as a core pillar of the countrys overall development program and poverty reduction strategy. The Mission reaffirmed Governments commitment to scale up CDD implementation into a national CDD program (NCDDP), which is envisaged to expand opportunities for poor and underserved communities to choose, design, and implement projects that address their most pressing needs. NCDDP directly links to Governments efforts to converge social development programs. Building on the KC experience and moving from a project to a program approach, NCDDP aims to increase ongoing CDD operations from 373 municipalities in 48 provinces to 948 municipalities in 75 provinces. The Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster has adopted NCDDP as its flagship project. An NCDDP preparation team in DSWD and an NCDDP interagency preparation team have been created.

In view of the foregoing, DSWD requested ADB for a TA to support the conceptualization and design of NCDDP. The TA purpose is consistent with ADB's Strategy 2020, which aims to reduce poverty and promote inclusive growth. The TA is aligned with ADB's 2011-2016 country partnership strategy for the Philippines, which supports the Government in achieving efficient, effective, and equitable delivery of social services. The TA will further support the Government in addressing the lack of supply-side infrastructure in the poorest municipalities. The TA will also complement the demand-side interventions of ADB's support to the Government's social protection program by empowering the poor and vulnerable to take control of and manage resources that directly affect their welfare. The TA builds on ADBs support to the decentralization and local governance agenda of the Government, which focuses on improving local planning and budgeting systems, strengthening intergovernmental fiscal relations, and strengthening local service delivery. The TA (formerly titled Second Social Protection Support Project) is included in ADB's 2012-2014 country operations business plan for the Philippines.

The AF from the TYMDTF was requested by the EA in support to the implementation of the NCDDP-AF (Grant 0472) which involved the funding of livelihood related subprojects under the KC-NCDDP.

The TA has supported the required preparatory and analytical work for designing and implementing the KC-NCDDP, which included the following: (i) identification of appropriate funds flow mechanism given the collaborative co-financing arrangement with the WB, (ii) designing the required local counterpart contributions (LCC) of covered municipalities, (iii) provision of advice on decentralized setup of KC-NCDDP implementation. It also supported due diligence and preparatory work for the Project, including the linked documents to the Projects Report and Recommendation of the President. The TA assisted the EA in the start-up activities of KCNCDDP in Q1-Q3 2014, which included social awareness raising activities for KC-NCDDP as well as the enrolment of target municipalities in KC-NCDDP. The TA will come out with a knowledge product based on the experiences and lessons learnt from the pilot testing of provincial government engagement in nationwide implementation of CDD.

In Aug 2015, ADB has approved an additional financing of $750,000 from the TYMTF)to fund community livelihood projects under KC-NCDDP. The TA outcome remained unchanged.

The TA implementation period is extended until 31 December 2017.

1. Options for improved policy and institutional framework for implementing NCDDP identified

2. Options for strengthened resource allocation, funds flow, and accountability mechanisms identified

3. Enhanced capacities of stakeholders in the provinces

4. Supported pilot-testing of NCDDP design elements related to PLGU engagement

5. Increased uptake of NCDDP community livelihood subprojects

Output 1 has supported the provision of technical inputs that defined the strategic roles of provinces in local development and their participation in the implementation of KC-NCDDP in light of the existing national government programs on improving governance performance. An issue paper was prepared and discussed with the EA, which contributed to the design of pilot testing of PLGU engagement, required capacity building for PLGUs, and initial identification of pilot provinces. This output supported the dialogues of the EA with local chief executives of pilot PLGUs, provincial consultations, and technical discussions with the EA on PLGU engagement process and implementing structure. As requested by the EA, this output supported knowledge sharing on good practices and lessons learnt for strengthening the implementation, convergence, and sustainability of key social development programs of the EA, namely, the KC-NCDDP, sustainable livelihood program (SLP), and conditional cash transfer program (Pantawid).

Output 2 generated options and advice for improving financial management arrangements under KC-NCDDP, including fiduciary arrangements for channeling Project grants to communities. It assisted the EA in identifying fund flow mechanism for KC-NCDDP by formulating fund flow options. It also provided options and advice on designing the required LCC of covered municipalities by examining the capacity of municipalities to mobilize LCC for KC-NCDDP and bottom-up budgeting program of national government. The output supported further due diligence on the Project, which produced financial management assessment and risk assessment and management plan. To support the institutionalization of participatory planning and budgeting processes and rationalize resource allocation, the Mission and the EA agreed to prepare brief policy notes on 4-5 topics related to integration and harmonization of CDD in local government processes and relevant national government programs. This output also supported the preparation of an article on CDD and resilience, which will be part of a publication to be launched during the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016.

Output 3 aims to provide institutional support to establish mechanisms for facilitation and technical support to PLGUs and communities during the transition phase of KC-NCDDP implementation. Training of selected PLGUs (non-pilot) for KC-NCDDP was not carried out under the TA as it will require enrolment process. Nonetheless, the TA supported the capacity building of key technical staff of pilot PLGUs through trainings, workshops, and learning exchange on CDD processes. Related to this output, the TA supported regional advocacy activities which facilitated the enrolment of target municipalities in KC-NCDDP and generated awareness on the program among Yolanda-affected provinces, civil society organizations, humanitarian/ international organizations, and representatives from selected communities.

Output 4 supported the pilot testing of KC-NCDDP design elements, which identified areas wherein PLGU engagement can leverage its resources to complement and optimize CDD benefits. A report on the pilot testing has been prepared which will be popularized for dissemination.

Output 5 is being supported by the additional grant from TYMTF. The grant has assisted the EA in preparing a detailed guidelines for the implementation of livelihood-related subprojects using the TYMTF AF to L3100 PHI. The guidelines was circulated to DSWD Field Offices as Memorandum Circular that formalized the process for the grant implementation. The guidelines is currently under the process of review to integrate the lessons from the implementation of the first sets of subprojects.

It has supported various activities to prepare the DSWD regional offices for implementation of the AF as well as community volunteers. These include social preparation, project development activities, feasibility assessments and Regional Inter-Municipal Forum which aren't part of the regular NCDDP but essential to the success of the AF.

The TA supported policy discussions that look into the potentials of social enterprises in building on national programs for improving social development outcomes and as a strategy for accelerating inclusive growth, create jobs and reduce poverty in the Philippines. The TA also carried out the development of case studies of selected social enterprises in the country. This resulted in the ongoing preparation of a policy paper on social enterprises to assist the government in considering options and pilot testing approaches to promote social entrepreneurship. The policy paper and the case studies of social enterprises in the Philippines as well as discussion of the regulatory framework and experiences of other countries, will be developed into a knowledge product.

The TA will also support the activities discussed with the EA such as provision of creative learning materials on entrepreneurship that may enhance the knowledge and know-hows of the communities embarking on livelihood activities, conduct of operations and maintenance workshops that will assist communities in the sustainability of their subprojects and conduct of study to document the experience of the EA in the implementation of the grant.