Australian government funds Northern Samar community projects

By NENE A. MANZANARES, (PIA Northern Samar)
August 6, 2006

CATARMAN, Northern Samar  – Australia will grant some two million pesos directly to selected communities in Northern Samar to fund community development projects within a period of five years. This was learned from David Swete Kelly, program director of the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP) during the launching recently of community projects in the towns of Catarman and San Isidro, this province.

Kelly cited the special relationship between Australia and the province of Northern Samar which has existed for thirty five years. In fact the road stretching between San Isidro to Rawis, Laoang is a legacy from the Northern Samar Integrated Rural Development Project (NSIRDP) which was funded by Australia in the late 70s.

The PACAP program director who was guest of honor in the project launching lauded the people behind the Coconut Production, Development and Marketing and the Family Farm School which were launched at the University of Eastern Philippines. These projects are being handled by the Eastern Visayas Partnership for Rural Development (EVPRD). The Family Farm School is implemented with the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) as partners. It was learned that the local university will help develop a farm school curriculum which will fit the needs of project.

The Community-Based Potable Water System Management Project on the other hand was launched in San Juan, San Isidro. The project which responds to the needs of the people in Brgy. San Juan for sustainable source of safe and clean drinking water also intends to ensure participation of women and men in the project and consequently increase responsiveness and accountability of the barangay leader in their effective delivery of basic services to their constituents. The potable water system is expected to directly serve some 455 households.

The success of these projects according to Kelly will not depend on how much money is infused into the community but the people who are involved in making these community efforts fruitful. Such success will depend on the passion and commitment of the people in the community, he added.

PACAP is a bilateral development program which supports community development efforts that are community-initiated, economically sustainable, ecologically sound and gender responsive. The program’s main goal is to improve the quality of life of poor communities through financial assistance and multi-level capability building in partnership with local government units (LGUs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and people’s organizations (POs).

This program is a joint effort between the Philippine and Australian governments with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as counterpart agency of the Philippines. This partnership of the two countries has been existing since 1986.

There are only five provinces in the country which have offices of the Philippines-Australian Community Assistance Program – Focal community Assistance Scheme (PACAP-FOCAS). These are the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Surigao del Norte, Bohol and Northern Samar.