The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) states that the agency’s flagship livelihood support program, the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), is open to all eligible poor, vulnerable, marginalized, and disadvantaged households.

SLP is a capacity-building program being implemented by DSWD that helps improve the socio-economic conditions of poor households and communities through accessing and acquiring necessary assets to engage in and maintain thriving livelihoods. The program operates in all regions and provinces nationwide. DSWD considers all cities, municipalities, and barangays as potential areas to implement various SLP interventions.

Those who are interested to avail may visit the nearest DSWD Field Office (FO) in their area to determine their eligibility and undergo the necessary process.

Under SLP, beneficiaries are given the option to register in either the Microenterprise Development (MD) track or the Employment Facilitation (EF) track after participating in social preparation and capacity-building activities.

The MD track provides participants with an overview of the components in starting-up micro-enterprises, while the EF track provides an overview of the endeavors involved in seeking and securing employment.

Since the start of its implementation in 2011 up to October 2019, SLP has served a total of 1,663,921 households under the MD track and 448,246 households under the EF track.

A report from the program showed that from 2016 to 2018, SLP recorded a 76 percent success rate for the MD track, with 82,126 projects still on-going out of the total 108,176 microenterprise projects implemented. The program also recorded a 43 percent success rate for the EF track on the same period, with 15,438 individuals still employed out of the total 35,909 served.

Qualifications of participants

SLP could engage a maximum of two members per household, but each shall pursue different program tracks.

Qualified participants for the MD track must be at least 16 years old, while those for the EF track must be 18 years old upon employment, following the legal employment standards.

DSWD explains that participants who are not beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) will be name-matched with DSWD’s Listahanan database, an information management system that identifies who and where the poor are nationwide. Name-matching is a process in which the names of the participants will be thoroughly checked if included in the database.

If participants are not included in the Listahanan database, but were assessed as qualified for the program using the SLP Participant Qualification Form, they will undergo a household assessment under the National Household Targeting Unit using the Household Assessment Form.

 If identified poor, the participants may proceed with the succeeding SLP activities. If identified as non-poor, however, they will be referred to other appropriate institutions of the government.

DSWD emphasizes that livelihood opportunities are a powerful tool to fight poverty and inequality. Through SLP, the Department contributes to improving the economic sufficiency of poor households by helping them develop employable skills, secure gainful employment, and earn steady and sufficient financial resources.

The Department upholds the value of inclusiveness in the implementation of its programs and services, including SLP, to ensure that all those who are qualified are able to avail assistance from the Department. -30-