PROJECT LAWA. Local participants of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Project LAWA or the Local Adaptation to Water Access in Barbaza, Antique build a small farm reservoir in preparation for the effects of the El Niño in this undated photo. DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Tuesday (Feb. 20, 2024) said the project aims to mitigate the impact of El Niño through cash-for-training and cash-for-work. (Photo courtesy of DSWD)
MANILA – Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Tuesday said the agency is finalizing its partnership with national government agencies, local government units (LGUs), and other private institutions for the launching of Project LAWA at BINHI.
He said the Project LAWA at BINHI or Local Adaptation to Water Access and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest, aims to strengthen the capabilities of the poor and vulnerable families during severe drought under the DSWD’s Risk Resiliency Program (RRP) through cash-for-training and cash-for-work (CFTW).
He said the launching of Project LAWA at BINHI will help elevate climate change to the forefront of political discourse and ensure its continual prioritization in policy.
“The DSWD is firm in its commitment to strengthen the RRP. Our Memorandum of Understanding is symbolic of our collaboration with national agencies and LGUs in aiming for enhanced program convergence, focusing on core social protection services such as food security, water sufficiency, sustainable livelihood, and family and community disaster preparedness and mitigation on the effects of El Niño,” Gatchalian said in a news release.
The project will provide Learning and Development Sessions (LDS) on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR), and CFTW to beneficiaries in priority areas exposed to the effects of El Niño.
The target beneficiaries include families of farmers, fisherfolks, indigenous peoples (IPs), and other climate and disaster-vulnerable families identified as poor by Listahanan 3 or upon assessment and validation of the Local Social Welfare and Development Office (LSWDO).
Each beneficiary will be given the opportunity to participate in CFTW activities for 10 to 25 days with the corresponding daily wage based on the prevailing Regional Daily Minimum Wage Rate (RDMWR) range of the project area.
Among the projects that the beneficiaries will partake in are related to water efficiency such as the construction of small farm reservoirs (SFRs); repairs and rehabilitation of water harvesting facilities; repairs of multipurpose water infrastructures; diversification of water supplies; aqua or hydroponics; and aquaculture, among others.
For food security, the beneficiaries will be participating in activities such as communal vegetable gardening; urban gardening; school-based and community-based vegetable gardening; community-based diversified integrated farming; planting of disaster-resilient crops, fruit-bearing trees, and mangroves; and vermicomposting.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will determine the proactive interventions to lessen the economic vulnerability of communities from the effects of the El Niño phenomenon will be signed on Feb. 22 in Doña Remedios Trinidad town in Bulacan.
Aside from the DSWD, the MOU signatories include the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Agriculture (DA), University of the Philippines - Los Baños (UPLB), and the United Nations World Food Programme (UN-WFP).
The Feb. 22 ceremonial launching will also be attended by participants and representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO), legislators, provincial and municipal local chief executives, DSWD executive and management committee members, partner-beneficiaries, and other concerned stakeholders.
On Jan. 19, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 53 to streamline, reactivate, and reconstitute the old El Niño task forces under EO No. 16 (s. 2001) and Memorandum Order No. 38 (s. 2019).
Under EO 53, President Marcos directed the task force to develop a comprehensive disaster preparedness and rehabilitation plan for El Niño and La Niña to provide “systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions” to help the public cope and minimize their devastating effects. (PNA)
