DSWD Undersecretary for Inclusive-Sustainable Peace and Special Concerns Alan Tanjusay (File photo)
MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is expecting stronger peace and development efforts this year with the establishment of the “Buong Bansa Mapayapa” (BBM) program in support of the government’s overall peace agenda.
DSWD Undersecretary for Inclusive-Sustainable Peace and Special Concerns Alan Tanjusay made this remark in his report Thursday to Secretary Rex Gatchalian who signed the BBM program on Dec. 22, 2023 in line with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
Tanjusay said the BBM program aims to formalize the convergence of various efforts within the agency to attain inclusive and sustainable peace and development both in conflict-affected and -vulnerable areas.
“BBM will ensure the effective implementation of the different peace and development programs of the Department that address social welfare and development concerns to complement the President’ s peace, reconciliation, and unity agenda in a more harmonized manner,” Tanjusay said.
Tanjusay noted that the previous setup of the DSWD, without an overall program, resulted in a segregated view in program implementation given the distinct and separate offices within the DSWD Central Office and the DSWD Field Offices handling peace and development concerns.
“With the ‘Buong Bansa Mapaya’ (whole nation peaceful) program as the agency’s official peace and development framework, the DSWD now has a unified structure dedicated to this crucial undertaking, resolving some program implementation challenges such as overlapping functions among offices, and program reporting and monitoring dilemmas, among others,” he said.
“The establishment of the framework is part of our commitment to actively support the programs and activities that cater to the different peace tables and armed groups or their members who choose to lay down their arms,” he added.
He said the DSWD also provides psychosocial services to vulnerable groups, which include former members of various armed groups and their families; children in situations of armed conflict (CSAC); individuals, families, and communities in conflict-affected and -vulnerable areas (CVAs); and internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to armed conflict, and victims of terrorism.
“The ‘Buong Bansa Mapayapa’ was established to cultivate inclusive and sustainable peace by leading social welfare and development interventions for peace and development and harmonizing existing efforts within the Department,” Tanjusay said.
He said the DSWD’s new peace and development framework covers transformation and rehabilitation, and healing and reintegration of rebels and extremist groups, as well as the prevention of conflict by strengthening collaboration with other agencies and stakeholders; understanding, monitoring, and addressing root causes of conflicts and systemic inequalities; and building the resilience of the communities.
As part of this initiative, Tanjusay said the DSWD will create a Peace and Development Program Management Unit at the Central Office and Regional Program Management Offices in the pilot areas such as Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, and Soccsksargen regions that will lead and oversee the implementation of peace-related programs and services under the BBM framework. (PNA)
