Philippines: Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Project 96346 March 30, 2011 Community-driven development: the case of the Kalahi-CIDSS project in the Philippines Overview Since the beginning of 2003, a community-driven development (CDD) project backed by the World Bank has provided a range of benefits to more than a million households in the Philippines, such as new water systems, school buildings, day care centers, health stations, and post-harvest facilities. The Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services Project, or KALAHI-CIDSS, also empowered local communities to participate in local governance activities and boosted their capacity to create, implement and manage poverty-fighting development projects. Challenge Three-fourths of poor people in the Philippines live in rural More Results areas. Despite considerable resources being allocated for local service delivery, many poor barangays (villages) have 1.2 few opportunities to participate in deciding how and where resources are spent. Often people do not even know what money is being spent on. Empowering marginalized million communities through CDD approaches enables villagers to make their own decisions in identifying, developing, implementing, and monitoring development initiatives based households have benefited from on their priorities. small-scale community infrastructure sub-projects such as water systems, school Approach buildings, day care centers, health clinics, roads, bridges The project helps poor communities develop the necessary skills and provides them with resources to select, implement and sustain small-scale community infrastructure sub- projects such as small roads, footbridges, water supplies, MORE INFORMATION school buildings, health clinics, community enterprise Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan- activities and others. It also gives poor people a voice in the Comprehensive and Integrated development process by establishing clear guidelines for Delivery of Social Services participation, accountability and transparency. Communities Project also learn how to engage their local governments more Country Website effectively in requesting funding and other support to help Country Brief address local development priorities. Country Assistance Strategy Results Data and Statistics The project has invested a total of PhP5.24 billion (US$127 Feature Story: Community- Driven Development Works million) in 5,716 community sub-projects in 5,543 barangays, benefiting about 1.2 million households. As of December Feature Story: Community 2010, approximately 98% of all sub-projects had been Empowerment completed. Basic social services facilities (e.g., water Feature Story: Free from Floods systems, school buildings, day care center, and health Press Release stations) represent 69% of all sub-projects, followed by access infrastructure such as roads and bridges (28%). The initial results of the impact evaluation revealed that household incomes of beneficiaries, as measured by consumption, rose significantly. The increase in per capita consumption in beneficiary households was on average 6-14% higher than in households outside the project, depending largely on the number of sub-projects in each village. Access to basic services has also improved significantly in beneficiary barangays. On average, there are 6% more households in the beneficiary barangays with year-round accessibility than in the non-beneficiary barangays. Year-round accessibility has improved even more in the beneficiary barangays with more sub-projects. In barangays that have implemented two sub- projects, the increase in accessibility to basic services is 22% higher than the increase in the non-beneficiary barangays. Voices The network of canals and drainage systems works. Now we are free from the scourge of the floods, thanks to this project.   — Liza Hilaria, mother of four and resident of Balangiga in the province of Eastern Samar Bank Contribution On October 7, 2002, the Bank and the Philippines Government signed a Loan Agreement for US$100 million to kick off the implementation of the project. In September 2010, the Bank announced additional financing of to US$59.1 million that will expand the project's reach to an additional 220 municipalities that have a poverty incidence of 50% or greater. These communities are located within the provinces already covered. Partners The Bank has been working with the government, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development, in the project's implementation. Other development partners have contributed significantly to the project's success, including the Japan Social Development Social Fund, which provided several grants to supplement resources for improving overall capacity of non-government organizations (NGOs), as well as empowering disadvantaged groups and communities to participate more effectively in project activities. Parallel financing also came from development partners including NGOs and the governments of Japan, New Zealand, and Spain. Toward the Future Under the second phase of Bank financing approved in September 2010, the government will strive to further devolve responsibility for project implementation to local authorities, while retaining monitoring and oversight of project activities. It will also seek to introduce the project to select urban areas, on a trial basis, to address their specific concerns such as, housing, resettlement, livelihoods, urban sanitation and other environmental issues. Finally, the project will also seek to promote stronger engagement with the provincial and local government units. Moreover, the new administration has adopted CDD as a core approach for poverty reduction and considers KALAHI-CIDSS as one of the "three pillars" of its poverty reduction program, together with a conditional cash transfer program, and livelihood programs. The US Millennium Challenge Corporation has also approved a US$120 million grant to expand the coverage of the project.