The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) earned praises from government officials of the People’s Republic of China for its effective implementation of social protection programs during a recently concluded learning visit at DSWD Central Office on August 7, 2019.

The learning visit highlighted the sharing and exchange of experiences on child poverty reduction programs between the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China.

In her opening remarks, DSWD Undersecretary for Operations Aimee Torrefranca-Neri said that the learning visit is an important venue to discuss possible collaboration between the two countries in order to ensure a safe environment for child development.

“[…] it is with great belief, that this learning visit is a step in developing new programs and for the improvement of our existing programs as we also learn from our delegates. Let it also be considered our concerted efforts towards the eradication of child poverty, not alone in the Philippines or China, but all over the globe,” she said.

Among the officials of the Department who presented the big-ticket programs of DSWD were: Dir. Gemma Gabuya of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps); Dir. Restituto Macuto of the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP); Dir. Janet Armas of the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Service (Kalahi-CIDSS); Dir. Wilma Naviamos of the Program Management Bureau (PMB); Mr. Aljo Quintans of the Listahan or the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR); and Ms. Hannah Giray-Carcido of the Policy Development and Planning Bureau (PDPB).

Meanwhile, Ms. Zhang Guangping, Deputy Director General of the International Poverty Reduction Center in China and head of the delegation, commended the notable achievements of the Department to reduce child poverty in the Philippines.

In her speech, she said that they are particularly interested in the Department’s programs to uplift the condition of targeted poor households through the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program and SLP.

Ms. Li Yuanyuan, Deputy Division Director of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, also presented some of the institutional mechanisms and programs of the People’s Republic of China for children which focused on health, education, welfare, and development.

The learning exchange was held from August 6 to 8, 2019. It concluded with a community visit to 4Ps and SLP beneficiaries in CALABARZON. -30-