You may have heard of the term “Community-Driven Development” or “CDD” before, but what does it actually mean?
In short, CDD is a development approach that puts control of the development process in the hands of community members rather than outside organizations or governments. It focuses on building the capacities of people within the community so they can become more active participants in their own local development.
Also Read: DSWD – Department of Social Welfare and Development
Through CDD, communities can identify, prioritize, implement, and manage solutions to their community’s most pressing needs. This participatory form of development has been gaining popularity in recent years as a more effective way to address poverty and social inequality.
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The Ins And Outs Of Community-Driven Development
The CDD Bill has the support of 69 House of Representatives members nationwide.
“The program’s success demonstrates that CDD is a successful technique for assisting the underprivileged, weak, and disadvantaged communities and groups in the Philippines. There is a request for the CDD Institutionalization Law to be passed in order for the organisation to continue its efforts, Ranes told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a phone interview.
The measure aims to formalise the CDD strategy as a national plan for social protection and equitable growth.
This globally recognized strategy focuses on achieving service delivery, poverty reduction, and good governance outcomes. In other words, CDD puts the community in charge of identifying and prioritizing development needs, with the government playing a facilitative role.
The first step in the CDD process is to bring together key stakeholders—government officials, service providers, NGOs, community leaders, private sector representatives, and others—to discuss the challenges facing the community and agree on a course of action. Once a plan is in place, relevant government agencies and development partners provide seed funding to get the project off the ground.
From there, it’s up to the community to implement the project and realize its full potential. This requires strong commitment and ownership from residents, as well as close collaboration between different sectors. Government agencies play an important oversight and facilitation role throughout the process to ensure that projects are completed as planned and deliver desired results.
How Kalahi CIDDS is Using CDD Strategy?
One of the government of the Philippines’ programmes to fight poverty is called KALAHI-CIDSS, and it employs the community-driven development (CDD) strategy.
The KALAHI-CIDSS Project is an innovative community development program designed to help improve living conditions for people living in poverty in the Philippines.
With a focus on community-driven development, this project brings together community members from all walks of life to work together on initiatives that will improve access to crucial resources such as clean water, sanitation facilities, and basic infrastructure.
The KALAHI-CIDSS Project employs a participatory approach in which communities are actively involved in identifying their own needs and implementing solutions to address those needs. Community members participate in planning, decision-making, and implementation of project activities.
Through the adoption of regional CDD ordinances, Kalahi-CIDDS initiatives have employed the CDD technique in 44 Eastern Visayas municipalities since they began in 2003.
Communities in underdeveloped towns can use CDD to identify obstacles to alleviating poverty and make judgments about a variety of locally determined options for development, including how and in what form.
Additionally, it offers local communities responsibility over the resources needed to combat poverty.
The strategy also increases the ability of governments and civil society actors to support and react to requests for help from underdeveloped areas as they carry out development projects.
What are the Key Features of the CDD Bill?
A CDD advisory council will be established under the CDD Bill, whose chair is the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development and whose co-chair is the Secretary of Interior and Local Government, to institutionalizing the CDD approach as a national development strategy that alleviates poverty and promotes inclusiveness and sustainability.
Members of advisory council include:
- The National Anti-Poverty Commission
- National Economic and Development Authority
- Department of Budget and Management
- Department of Agriculture (DA)
- Department of Agrarian Reform
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources
- Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education
- and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development
- representatives from authorized non-governmental organizations
It also aims to create the CDD Knowledge and Resource Institute/Center (KRI/C), which will act as the advisory council’s training and policy research division.
How will DSWD CDD be operationalized?
When national government organizations and LGUs enable and promote the significant involvement of community members throughout the development process, participation is operationalized. This involvement should be evident not just in the identification of challenges and problems facing the community, but also in the execution of remedies.
When locals are involved in project monitoring and evaluation, accountability is operationalized. When community members are given the authority to act in accordance with facts that they independently chose to evaluate, responsibility is also present.
In this regard, the following obligations are made by national and local government entities:
- Create policies to improve community participation in governance, engage local groups, especially the basic sectors, and address local needs;
- Give partner communities information regarding government intervention, technical support, and help for more successful community-driven planning and execution;
- Allowing community members to actively participate in development;
- Make sure that community members are given priority when it comes to receiving job opportunities brought about by project execution in the community; and
- Make sure that specified community priorities are adequately supported.
Community members’ participation in all levels of decision-making operationalizes transparency. Community members take the lead in the execution, implementation, monitoring, and management of NGA and LGU-implemented community-based projects.
Summary
The CDD Bill is a community-driven development initiative that has the potential to change the way development projects are carried out in the Philippines. It enables communities to have a say in how development funds are spent and provides them with more control over their own development.
Through improved collaboration between local stakeholders and civil society organizations, this approach to community development puts the needs and perspectives of individual communities at the center of decision-making processes.
By encouraging active participation from members of each community, the CDD Bill aims to create truly sustainable and transformative change for all Filipinos.