The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) recently held a soft launch of its Project Information Management System (PIMS). The PIMS will serve as a database system for the project staff in the country to upload, access, and analyse data.
DSWD Assistant Regional Director for Operations Nemia Antipala explained the other uses of the database system. “Aside from data storage, the system can also be used for map production, geo-tagging application, and spatial analysis. It also has web and Short Message Service (SMS) applications, so it will be easier and much faster way for our project staff, especially the ones assigned in the field, to relay needed information,” she said.
Through Kalahi-CIDSS, the poorest communities in the country are able to identify their primary needs and implement projects that respond to their problems. These include school buildings, day care centres, and livelihood trainings, among others.
The geo-tagging feature of PIMS can be used by the staff to tag the location of the small infrastructure projects. The progress of the projects currently being constructed can also be followed using this system. This feature of PIMS, according to DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman, will help ensure transparency. She said, “The PIMS helps ensure the integrity of the project by making the data transparent at all levels. Since more eyes will now be looking into the progress of the projects the possibility of committing fraud is minimized even more”.
Soliman added that through PIMS, Kalahi-CIDSS implementers will now be able to better track the progress of the projects, allowing them to better respond to issues and concerns that may be flagged by any staff or any member of the beneficiary communities.
Kalahi-CIDSS utilizes the community-driven development (CDD) strategy to develop the capacities of residents and local government units of the poorest municipalities in the country so they will be able to lift their communities from poverty.
After 10 years of CDD implementation, Kalahi-CIDSS is now preparing to scale up its operations into the National Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP), which will cover more poor municipalities all over the country this year.
In the Central Visayas, the NCDDP will cover 104 municipalities with poverty incidence rates greater than 26.5% based on the 2009 small areas estimates (SAE) data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
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