ORMOC CITY, Leyte, June 25 (PNA) – This city is chosen to represent Eastern Visayas as a model city in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals-Family-based Actions for Children and their Environs in the Slums (MDG-FACES).
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional office picked the local government units, sharing the distinction with other 14 LGUs nationwide.
Mayor Edward C. Codilla will present his administration’s gains on the program in Manila on Aug. 18.
The City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) implemented the MDG-Faces in the city’s district 28.
The village was chosen considering that 75 percent of families there are informal settlers, whose source of income are mostly from small time trading, scrap-buying and maintaining small commodity stores.
Majority of the squatters (55 percent) occupy private lands while others (25 percent) built their houses on no-build zones.
CSWDO began the program in 2013 by selecting 41 families as beneficiaries. They were provided livelihood trainings on artificial flower-making and dressmaking to boost their productivity skills. Selected children were also given educational assistance for elementary, high school and college.
The local government provided beneficiaries with relief goods and assistance in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda.
Each family was further granted Php 5,000 to enable them to pursue their income-generation program. Other activities included a container vegetable gardening contest in the community.
MDG-FACES empowers LGUs to be dynamic partners of the national government in responding to the challenges of the MDGs. It engages the participation of 40 families living in the slums from selected cities.
According to DILG, the initiative aims to establish quick response mechanisms, demonstration projects, and sustainability measures that will address the MDG-deficit areas on environment, food, or health directly affecting the quality of life of children in the slums. (PNA)