Friday, March 25, 2022

DSWD Caraga launches Sibol Lokal Project

BUTUAN CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga, through the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) and in collaboration with the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP), launched the ‘Sibol Lokal’ Project – a mini trade fair, held recently at the New Covered Court of the Field Office.

Sibol Lokal, which is conducted every Monday afternoon in the month of March at the DSWD Covered Court, is a regional promotion and marketing initiative that aims to showcase and advocate SLP products and services and to boost the DSWD employees and the general public’s interest in patronizing the products and services offered by the various SLP program participants in the region.

OIC-Regional Director Ramel Jamen, in his message, said that Field Office Caraga has devised this initiative because the office believes that the SLP micro-enterprises and other micro, small, and medium enterprises take a critical role in magnifying the economy of the country.

Jamen also emphasized that DSWD employees should be the foremost advocates in promoting the products and services of the SLP associations to the public. “As DSWD staff, it is our call to personally know these products, extend our utmost support, and promote this to the public proudly. We shall remember that through the DSWD and the SLP, we have provided our communities at the grassroots level with opportunities that helped them improve their socio-economic wellbeing,” he said.

Further, EPAHP Caraga shall also extend a helping hand to the DSWD-SLP by providing assistance to the field office and to the associations in terms of market linkages.

Aside from SLP products and services, the Sumilihon-Taguibo Farmer’s Association (SUTAFA), composed of beneficiaries from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), was also invited to join the activity and will be selling fresh fruits and vegetables regularly as well.

The concept of Sibol Lokal was derived from Likhang Hiraya, a photo exhibit and product trade fair initiated by the National Program Management Office of SLP last 2021. In Caraga Region, the field office decided to launch the Sibol Lokal so that the general public will become more familiar with the products of the SLPAs and provide a venue for the SLPAs to sell their products, especially in this time of pandemic. (Social Marketing Section/DSWD-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)