What is Kalahi-CIDSS?

Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services

(Kalahi-CIDSS)is one of the three projects under the Tatsulo convergence program implemented
by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. It is the Philippine governments
flagship poverty-alleviation program that uses the Community-Driven Development (CDD)
approach, a strategy that has been proven effective in addressing the needs of the poor.
Kalahi is a national government project for a focused, accelerated, convergent, and expanded
strategy to reduce poverty. It aims to provide interventions on asset reforms, human development
services, capacity building, and participation in governance.
CIDSS is a precursor poverty alleviation program of Kalahi-CIDSS. It has facilitated meeting of
unmet needs of communities. It established community structures as vehicles for people
participation and empowerment.
Kalahi-CIDSS believes in investing not just on projects, but on the people themselves. The
program understands that the poor know who need help the most and that their skills and
potentials could be harnessed to undertake development. As such, it aims to empower the
citizenry so they can have a more active participation in community projects designed to reduce
poverty, from development to implementation and maintenance. At the same time, it also
supports poor LGUs in local development by equipping them with the skills and knowledge
needed to boost the capacity of the barangays and municipalities.
In Kalahi-CIDSS, funds are released directly to the villagers Kalahi-CIDSS bank accounts. The
citizenry also manage, monitor and supervise the implementation of sub-projects.
Sub-projects under Kalahi-CIDSS were shown to have been implemented faster and cheaper
compared to traditional implementation of projects in the Philippines (Mid-term Review, 2006).
Kalahi-CIDSS built-in transparency mechanisms have nearly attained for the Project a nil record
in graft and corruption. Through a complaints and grievance system, issues pertaining to the
project are addressed expeditiously.
Top

Why is there a need for Kalahi-CIDSS?

Increasing available resources for development. The annual project investment presents a huge
opportunity for addressing the poverty concern of a municipality. The grant also requires only a
minimum of 30% in equity in cash or in kind contribution.
Responsive community projects. Kalahi-CIDSS supports projects that address the needs of the
LGUs constituents.

 Improved governance. The CDD technology has been demonstrated to work and has benefited,
with concrete evidence of success, in many municipalities resulting in better governance and
improved public satisfaction.
Development of volunteers who become the engines of change in the communities. Volunteers
from the barangays are trained on organizational and technical skills to participate in project
activities and to implement a range of local services for their communities.
Opportunities to scale up. By leveraging the resources provided by Kalahi-CIDSS, several
municipalities were able to access more grants for development or to have their volunteers
manage other LGU-funded projects.

What is the vision of Kalahi-CIDSS?

Kalahi-CIDSS sees poverty clearly and understands the obstacles to poverty alleviation.
Kalahi-CIDSS sets up systems to allow communities who have a greater stake in the
development process to collectively and directly take more control of development decisions. It
builds peoples capacities in development planning, resource allocation, and management.
Kalahi-CIDSS advocates for community participation in governance. Representative bodies,
consultative methods, and participatory decision-making powers are mandated.
Kalahi-CIDSS in turn reduces asymmetric information because the principal (community) and
the agent (decision maker) are one and the same. Transactions are regularly publicized, with
officials having fewer chances of committing graft.
Kalahi-CIDSS envisions empowered Filipinos, proactively participating in governance. It is a
vision of democracy the way it should be a democracy that does not tolerate poverty.
Top

What are the goals and objectives of KalahiCIDSS?

Kalahi-CIDSS aims to:
Empower communities by treating them not as passive recipients of assistance and services but as
partners in development;
Improve local governance by improving peoples engagement with and access to their LGUs,
thereby making it more democratic and participatory;

 Reduce poverty by implementing barangay-level projects that respond to the communities felt
needs and problems.
The Project is expected to achieve the following benefits for communities:
Better access to basic services;
Improve core local poverty indicators in project municipalities;
Increase percentages of households that report an increase in knowledge, skills, and confidence to
participate collectively in local governance activities in project municipalities;
Improve the attendance of members from marginalized groups in barangay assemblies.

What are the guiding principles of KalahiCIDSS?

Kalahi-CIDSS is guided by the principles of LET-CIDSS:
Localized decision-making. Communities decide on which projects will be implemented.
Empowering. People are capacitated so they will become better prepared in managing community
issues and problems, as well as in the planning, mobilization, implementation, and resource
management of their projects.
Transparent. A multi-level monitoring system is followed, wherein NGOs, media, and other groups
are encouraged to do independent monitoring of Kalahi-CIDSS.
Community prioritization. The participating barangays are tasked with submitting a proposal about
their chosen projects in the MIBF. The community will then evaluate these proposals and
identify which of these will be prioritized for funding.
Inclusive and multi-stakeholder. Everyone in the barangay is involved in every step of the process
of project implementation, from the creation of the proposal to the implementation and
management of the project.
Demand-driven. Communities are encouraged to prioritize their own needs, participate in the
design of their own projects, and make decisions on how resources are used.
Simple. All procedures and components of the project are kept simple to enable all stakeholders to
easily and understand and become fully involved in the Project.

 Sustainable. All barangay projects will have viable long-term plans for operations and maintenance
and sustainability.

What are the main features of KalahiCIDSS?

Coverage. Up to a maximum 50% of municipalities in a target province. All barangays in a
municipality are covered. Target municipalities include previously covered Kalahi-CIDSS areas
and new candidates.
Focus of facilitation effort. Emphasis given on the representation of the poorest of the poor and
disadvantaged groups.
Fund release mechanism. Direct from DSWD-Central Office Special Account to the accounts of
the community.
Allowable community projects. Basically an open menu with emphasis on small-scale
community projects; disallowed activities are specified in a negative list.
Grievance redress mechanism. A grievance team is established to look into complaints,
grievances, and request for information from individuals, barangays, and municipalities on
Kalahi-CIDSS.
Monitoring and evaluation. In addition to DSWD internal monitoring, the project promotes
transparency and encourages community monitoring and external monitoring by independent
groups, NGOs, and the media.
Implementing mechanism. Mainstreamed National Project Management Team (NPMT) staffed
by DSWD organic staff with technical support from contracted specialists.

What are the project components of KalahiCIDSS?

Kalahi-CIDSS project interventions are identified as:
Social preparation, capacity building, and implementation support (CBIS). Kalahi-CIDSS
deploys facilitators and technical staff to mobilize local communities. The project conducts

training sessions and workshops to strengthen the capacity of local communities and LGUs in
initiating, planning, implementing, managing, and supervising sub-projects.
Provision of seed funds. Kalahi-CIDSS provides grants for community development projects and
the necessary training and tools for the community themselves to audit, record, and account for
financial expenditures relating to project implementation. The allocated grants proportionally
depend on the number of barangays in the municipality. Each barangay presents project
proposals and will decide with other barangays on which proposals will be funded.
Monitoring and evaluation. This component provides for continuous learning and adjustment of
the projects implementation approaches. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) involves
participatory monitoring by communities based on self-defined indicators; internal M&E of
inputs, process, and outputs by the project management; and external M&E by consultants, civil
society organizations, and the media.
Municipalities and barangays covered by Kalahi-CIDSS receive several packages of project
interventions.
These include social preparation assistance for members of barangay assemblies and
development councils and volunteers of community project structures; participatory
identification, prioritization, proposal-making, planning, implementation, and operation and
maintenance of community projects and activities, applying a bottom-up transparent and socially
inclusive process; opportunity to access project funding for community-proposed projects and
activities addressing local poverty reduction needs; improvement of community leadership and
organizational capabilities and responsiveness to local governments and promotion of
convergence of response with other development partners such as LGUs, civil society members,
funders, and donors to help communities implement their priorities.

How effective is Kalahi-CIDSS?

Impact evaluation studies made on Kalahi-CIDSS have shown that the project has produced
several benefits, including:
Improved household access to local public services
Increase in household income
Community empowerment
Households better positioned for sustainable poverty reduction
Better connection between the community and the local government, seen in:
Increased trust of community members in government officials
Increased willingness of people to participate in community activities

Has Kalahi-CIDSS received any

recognitions?
Since 2003, Kalahi-CIDSS has received several recognitions due to its unique approach in
poverty alleviation. Among these are:
World Bank: Top 5 best practices in project design among 200 selected projects worldwide
(Quality Assurance Group, 2003)
Asian countries: Learning laboratory on poverty reduction with government officials from
Indonesia, Vietnam, Mongolia and Nepal conducting study tours to Kalahi-CIDSS
municipalities.
Civil Society: Perfect scorecard, as rated by 92 non-government and peoples organizations,
because of the Projects engagement with civil society organizations (2005)
Government agencies: Presidential Citation for the Projects Outstanding Contribution to
Poverty Alleviation (2010), Good Practice Award from NEDA under the Category of Strategies
in Achieving Desired Sector Outcomes (2010), Best Public Sector Project, as awarded by the
Regional Council of Western Visayas (2006)

What are the types of projects supported and

funded by Kalahi-CIDSS?
W
Kalahi-CIDSS follows an open menu system wherein barangays themselves identify what
projects they want to implement. These usually fall under the following types:
Basic social services sub-projects. These include water systems, school buildings, health centers,
and electrification.
Basic access infrastructure. These include bridges and access roads.
Community production, economic support, and common services facilities. These include pre- and
post-harvest facilities, as well as small-scale irrigation systems.
Environmental protection and conservation. These include flood control systems, sea walls,
artificial reef sanctuaries, and soil protection.
Skills training and capability building. These include eco-tourism projects.

However, Kalahi-CIDSS also has a negative list, in which proposed projects falling under any
one of these will not receive funding from the Project. The categories under the negative list are:
Weapons, chainsaws, explosives, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, asbestos, and other potentially
dangerous materials and equipment;
Fishing boats beyond the weight limit set by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources and related equipment;
Civil works that are in or affect protected areas;
Purchase of or compensation for land;
Micro-credit and livelihood activities which involve on-lending of project funds;
Maintenance and operation of facilities that have been the subject of civil works financed by
proceeds from Kalahi-CIDSS;
Activities that have alternative prior sources of committed funding;
Recurrent government expenditures, including salaries;
Civil works for government administration or religious purposes;
Political and religious activities (including rallies) and facilities and materials related to such
activities;
Activities that employ children below the age of 16 years;
Activities that exploit an individual or individuals;
International travel;
Consumption items.

How is Kalahi-CIDSS implemented?

Kalahi-CIDSS follows the Community Empowerment Activity Cycle.

Social Preparation Stage. Communities are mobilized to identify their problems and needs, as
well as to formulate an action plan to address these concerns.
Project Identification, Selection, and Planning Stage. Barangay volunteers are trained to design
and package community project proposals that address their needs.
Project Approval Stage. The Inter-Barangay Forum selects which barangay proposals will be
funded by Kalahi-CIDSS using criteria they themselves developed.
Implementation SP and O&M. Barangays with approved proposals implement their community
projects and, after completion, operate and maintain the projects.

 Transition. Communities reflect on and evaluate the processes in the preceding stages before
entering another cycle, where another set of community projects will be funded.

Who implements Kalahi-CIDSS?

The National Steering Committee, the National Project Management Team, and the Regional
Project Management Teams as well as representatives from the municipal and barangay levels all
have roles in the implementation of Kalahi-CIDSS.
The National Steering Committee
It is chaired by the DSWD Secretary and co-chaired by the National Anti-Poverty Commission
(NAPC) Lead Convenor.
The members of the steering committee include NGO representatives nominated by the NAPC,
DILG, DBM, DOF, NEDA, DepEd, DOH, NCIP, OPAPP, World Bank, Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC), and Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines (MCA-P), and the Leagues
of Provinces, Municipalities, and Barangays.

The National and Regional Project Management Team

The DSWD, as lead agency, assigns organic staff as part of the National and Regional Project
Management Teams.

The Municipal Structure

The Mayor or representative officially opens the Kalahi-CIDSS Inter-Barangay Meeting/Forum.
The Municipal Forum is composed of three representatives from each participating barangay,
with the Barangay Captain as one among the three.
Other observers in the forum come from the local legislative body, local government unit
department heads, regional representatives of national government agencies, non-government
organizations operating in the municipality and cooperating with the project, local media groups,
and universities in the locality participating in the project.
Only the barangay representatives are entitled to vote during the forum.
In a municipality, DSWD deploys one Area Coordinator, one Deputy Coordinator who is an
engineer, and a Community Facilitator for every five barangays who will assist in community
mobilization and link barangay projects to LGUs and local institutions for funds and technical
assistance.
The Barangay Structure

At the barangay level, the Barangay Assembly is the final decision-maker in Project
implementation. Under the Barangay Assembly is the Barangay Development Council (BDC). It
oversees the work of the committees involved in Kalahi-CIDSS.

What are the roles of the Local Government

in Kalahi-CIDSS?
Provincial LGU

Observes the selection of municipalities

Provides complementary support to barangay sub-projects (e.g. cost sharing and technical
assistance)
Supports the integration of CDD principles of peoples participation, transparency, and
accountability in local decision-making

Municipal LGU

Provides counterpart contribution (in cash or in kind), logistical support, and counterpart
staff
Convenes municipal inter-barangay forum and local inter-agency committees
Provides technical assistance to barangays (planning, engineering, agricultural inputs,
etc.)
Participates in local monitoring
Assists in the operation and maintenance of the sub-projects
Commits to integrate CDD principles of people participation, transparency, and
accountability in local decision-making