Transforming People’s Lives through Community Participation

"I see that the children are happy with the (classroom) funded by KALAHI-CIDSS. They don't have to suffer in school, and I took that as an inspiration…because I am a daycare worker and my heart is for the children, which is why I am constantly pursuing volunteer opportunities," said Eden Bayeta, 50 years old, a mother of three children, shaped her resilience which she used to serve her community, Barangay Liboro in the town of Ragay, Camarines Sur.

Eden started as a community volunteer of Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) in 2010, and continued volunteering under the World Bank financed National Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP), made a huge impact for her children and community. She acted as head of Barangay Representation Team and Operations and Maintenance as well as a member of the Project Preparation Team.

Challenge

The Philippine economy has experienced consistent growth, except during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite this growth, inequality levels remain high, and poverty continues to be a significant challenge. Spatial inequality is evident, with substantial differences in income and poverty levels across regions and between urban and rural areas. Non-income measures of poverty, such as health and education outcomes and access to basic services, also indicate a high level of inequality across different parts of the country. Chronic poverty in the Philippines has been attributed to inefficient service delivery, geographic isolation, vulnerabilities due to disasters and conflicts, low spending on social protection, poor targeting of anti-poverty programs, and weak governance.

Approach

National Community Driven Development Project aims to empower target poor municipalities to achieve improved access to basic services and to participate in more inclusive local planning, budgeting and implementation. The project is delivered through a community driven development (CDD) approach, which promotes active community participation during the design and implementation phases with the aim to reduce poverty and place control over resources in the hands of the community, especially the poor and vulnerable. The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services was initiated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2003 across 300 municipalities, and was scaled up in 2014 through NCDDP, covering 847 municipalities with 19,647 barangays across the country. In 2014 KC-NCDDP spearheaded an innovative response to assist disaster-affected municipalities directly affected by Typhoon Haiyan through the Disaster Response Operations Modality (DROM). DROM allows for specialized procedures enabling municipalities to rebuild basic services and facilities.

Results

• Since 2015, Kalahi-CIDSS has financed 54,843 subprojects, benefiting 17.5 million households nationwide. These subprojects, which include basic access facilities (e.g., village roads), social services, environmental protection, and community utilities, have improved the lives of about 1.5 million Indigenous households. The project has mobilized over 2.45 million community volunteers, 63% of whom are women.
• The results of the December 2024 Outcome Evaluation showed that the project significantly improved access to essential infrastructure and services, achieving an average 68% increase across all subproject types. Marginalized groups, including 4Ps members, female-headed households, and Indigenous peoples, achieved an average participation rate of 67%, far exceeding the 40% target.
• The Disaster Response Operating Modality (DROM) was used by DSWD as a response activity to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. By adjusting the focus of the process to enable villages/barangays to respond to the health pandemic, DSWD enabled barangays to quickly address gaps in terms of health facilities, isolation facilities, water and sanitation, among others. By the end of 2020, KC-NCDDP implemented the adjusted DROM in 2,158 barangays in 136 municipalities. The Project supported 2,399 community sub-projects in response to the pandemic, benefiting around 630,884 households. The process likewise allowed the provision of temporary jobs for those who lost employment, through cash for work interventions for more than 38,000 community workers (39% women).

Bank Group Contribution

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) financing of US$479 million was approved on February 20, 2014. Additional financing of U$300 million was approved on December 16, 2020.

Partners

The Project has been implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The Project received parallel financing from the Asian Development Bank and the Millenium Challenge Corporation.

Looking Ahead

Support for a new project, Pagkilos - Locally-Led Climate Action, has recently been approved by the World Bank. The new Pagkilos project will leverage the community platform developed under NCDDP to enhance local climate change planning and capacity, and channel funds to communities for climate resilience investments delivered through locally-led development approaches. Communities hold valuable experience on climate impacts, their local context and their cultural and sociopolitical context, and, NCDDP has shown that communities with the right facilitation are highly capable of inclusive planning and delivering high quality sustainable infrastructure. The project aims to build on these experiences to strengthen local capacities for participatory climate resilience planning and deliver climate action in vulnerable areas. The participatory approach will allow stakeholders to understand climate risk and identify solutions together, and provide grants to finance climate resilience and climate-resilient livelihoods infrasture to adapt to climate change.