About

KALAHI-CIDSS is the Philippine government’s flagship poverty-alleviation project implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development through the financial support of the World Bank. It stands for Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan- Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services.

KALAHI CIDSS entrusts the poor with greater powers, supports poor LGUs in local development, and invests heavily on people, not just projects.
KALAHI-CIDSS believes the poor know who need help the most and that their skills and potentials could be harnessed to undertake development.
Funds are released directly to the villager’s KALAHI-CIDSS bank accounts. Villagers also manage, monitor and supervise the implementation of sub-projects. These sub-projects were 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.

Recognitions received by KALAHI-CIDSS
• 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 people’s organizations, because of the Project’s engagement with civil society organizations (2005)
• Government agencies: Best Public Sector Project, as awarded by the Regional Council of Western Visayas (2006)