Guidelines for the Implementation of the Cash-for-Work Project

2008

DSWD ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 015-08

GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CASH-FOR-WORK PROJECT

I. Rationale

In the Philippines, occurrences of major disasters usually create an atmosphere of chaos and crisis which demands prolonged conduct of relief operations together with rehabilitation efforts to support the affected families and communities.

The Local Government Units (LGUs) thru Republic Act No. 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, are mandated to undertake the functions of providing immediate basic relief assistance to the affected families such as food, clothing, temporary shelter, emotional support as well as their rehabilitation needs.

Despite the devolution of disaster relief services, however, disaster management remains to be a major concern of the national government agencies like the DSWD as some of the LGUs especially those in the 5th to 6th class municipalities have limited local calamity funds and are dependent on the support of higher levels of government. Further, other localities considered as disaster prone areas, may have exhausted all their resources due to continuous calamity and prolonged disaster operations.

The Department, as a member of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), leads in the provision of emergency response and relief assistance and support to rehabilitation services to the affected families. Section 5.g of PD 1566, entitled as "Strengthening the Philippine Disaster Control, Capability and Establishing the National Program on Community Disaster Preparedness", mandates the Department to extend emergency relief assistance and social services to the victims which will immediately restore them to rehabilitation and a life of normalcy. CcaASE

To discourage continuous dependency and dole out, the interventions and services of the Department for disaster victims must be carried in a developmental manner in order to preserve human worth and dignity. This can be done by directly involving them in community endeavors and maximize their contributions to rehabilitation efforts. Thus, the Department recognized the necessity to adopt the Cash for Work (CFW) project not only as alternative or subsequent strategy to Food for Work but as a developmental approach to welfare. The CFW gives flexibility to recipients of relief assistance to decide where to spend the cash assistance, beyond food, to meet their daily basic needs. Moreover, it helps in pump-priming the economy in disaster affected areas.

II. Project Description

Cash-for-Work is a short-term intervention to provide temporary employment to distressed/displaced individuals by participating in or undertaking preparedness, mitigation, relief, rehabilitation or risk reduction projects and activities in their communities or in evacuation centers. Work areas/programs are identified by the community under the leadership of local leaders. In exchange for the work rendered, program recipients are provided with cash to meet their requirement for food and other basic necessities. Cash-for-Work may be undertaken before, during or after the occurrence of any disaster whether natural or man-made. Implementation of the Cash-for-Work shall be managed by the LGUs' social welfare and development offices in coordination with the DSWD field offices.

Rate of Assistance

The daily rate of Cash-for-Work (CFW) shall generally be seventy-five percent (75%) of the prevailing daily wage rate set by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (See Annex A). The CFW shall on the average be not more than ten (10) days. However, if in the assessment of the local social welfare and development office there is a need to extend such for valid and justifiable reasons, this can be extended by the DSWD Field Office. The extension, however should not be more than three (3) months.

The reasons behind this rate of assistance are to minimize market distortion, target the most economically disadvantaged individuals, ensure that the cash-for-work projects will not entice people away from their regular livelihood activities, and capture wage variations in the area. The DSWD shall use the minimum wage rate set by the Department of Labor and Employment in every locality, which may change from time to time, as reference in computing the actual rate of assistance.

III. Objectives

1. To encourage community participation in implementing a community-defined project related to disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, reconstruction and rehabilitation, including hunger mitigation and food security projects. ECTIcS

2. To generate temporary employment and provide income augmentation to affected families or individuals and keep them from migrating or abandoning their communities in search of new sources of income.

3. To help the affected families and local government units in restoring damaged shelters, infrastructure and community projects as a result of disaster within their locality.

IV. Target Areas/Beneficiaries

The Cash-for-Work Project shall be available nationwide whenever possible and feasible and shall be provided to the following types of clients: 1) individuals/families who are willing to participate in livelihood and productivity support projects, developmental and collective community or group undertaking related to disaster mitigation, risk reduction and/or rehabilitation and 2) individuals/families who are vulnerable, at risks or victims of any form of disasters and 3) are able and capable to undertake the projects. The beneficiaries should be at least 18 years old. However, parental consent shall be sought if beneficiaries are of minor age i.e., between 15 to 17 years and have been assessed to be capable of work. In case the participating individual is attending school, it must be ensured that the activity does not affect his/her school attendance.

V. Types of Projects and Activities

The projects and activities that are covered under the Cash-for Work program are as follows: 1) livelihood and productivity support projects such as construction or repair of small infrastructure facilities supportive to start-up or operationalize the SEA-K, Tindahan Natin or other modalities of livelihood and income generating projects; 2) reconstruction and rehabilitation projects and activities such as shelter repair or construction of new shelter units and social services infrastructure such as health stations, day care centers and schools; 3) disaster preparedness, mitigation activities and environment related projects such as river dredging and embankment, digging and dredging of canals and drainage, tree planting or reforestation projects; 4) hunger mitigation and food security projects such as communal farm preparation and planting, repair or construction of post harvest facilities and farm to market roads.

VI. Component

1. Assessment and Identification of Proposed Projects/Activities

The P/C/MSWDO shall conduct an assessment of the potential beneficiaries with technical assistance from the DSWD-Field Office and in consultation with the LGU to establish the viability and appropriateness of CFW. Areas for assessment shall include the following: a) capability of the beneficiaries to provide their counterparts (e.g., time and labor); b) socio-economic benefits to be derived from the project/activity; c) environmental consideration; d) acceptability of the project/activity by the community; and e) length and cost of implementation. HCaDIS

2. Preparation of Project Proposal

After doing the assessment and project identification, the P/C/MSWDO shall prepare a project proposal providing the rationale and details of the project/activity. Such proposal will contain the project description, objectives, implementation mechanics, work program, budgetary requirements, and the LGU commitments and responsibilities which may include, but not limited to, human, physical infrastructure and financial resources.

3. Provision of Financial Assistance/Project Funding

For the project proposal to be funded, the LGU through the P/C/MSWDO shall submit this to the DSWD-Field Office for review and subsequent approval. Proposals costing not more than One Million (P1M) Pesos shall be approved by the DSWD Field Office. The Field Office shall immediately provide PMB copy of the approved proposals. Proposals for more than One Million shall be forwarded to the Program Management Bureau (PMB) for further review, evaluation and subsequent endorsement to the Office of the Undersecretary for Operations and Capacity Building (OCBG) for approval. Upon approval, funding for the Cash-for-Work shall be sub-allotted to the Field Office for release to the concerned LGUs.

Certification as to availability/unavailability of LGU counterpart shall be attached to the project proposal and should be signed by the Local Chief Executive. The certification shall indicate whether or not the LGU could allot counterpart resources, which may be in cash or in the form of equipment, construction materials, lot or sites, etc.

4. Implementation of CFW Project/Activity

The LGU shall implement the approved CFW project/activity immediately after receipt of the fund from the DSWD-Field Office. Each CFW participant shall be issued a Cash-for-Work voucher (Annex B) that will reflect his/her length of involvement in particular projects. During the implementation stage, the LGU thru the P/C/MSWDO shall maintain a logbook to record the daily attendance of the beneficiaries who have reported for work. Each beneficiary shall enter in the logbook the actual time they arrive and leave at the work site and sign the logbook. HDAaIS

The P/C/MSWDO shall act as the disbursing officer and the sole authority to draw a cash advance for CFW. He/She shall prepare a daily cash assistance payroll to provide payment to the CFW beneficiaries for the work they rendered. The CFW voucher and attendance logbook shall be the basis of the P/C/MSWDO in preparing the cash assistance payroll.

Copies of the CFW voucher and cash assistance payroll shall serve as supporting documents to liquidation reports. Likewise, the LGU should keep a copy of these records and ensure that it would be available during the monitoring visit either by the DSWD Field Office or Central Office staff.

When the project/activity is done or completed, the P/C/MSWDO shall prepare a completion report with highlight on both cash disbursement and work completed with pictures of completed project and shall be noted by the Local Chief Executive. The emphasis of this report shall be the result of the project/activity in relation to what has been stipulated in the approved project proposal. Copy of this report shall be submitted to the DSWD Field Office for review and appropriate action. The Field Office shall furnish a copy of the report to the Central Office thru the Operations and Capacity Building Group (OCBG).

5. Monitoring and Evaluation

There shall be three levels of monitoring for the Cash-for-Work: 1) the LGU Level, 2) the DSWD Field Office Level, and 3) the DSWD Central Office Level. Monitoring by the LGU shall be conducted on a daily basis until the project is completed. LGU monitoring shall be conducted primarily by the P/C/MSWDO in coordination with appropriate offices such as the public works, engineering, general services etc. and shall cover the following:

a. Program of Work — tracking the progress of the project or activity based on the approved program of work.

b. Project/Activity — verifying whether the actual project or activity being undertaken including its location site is exactly consistent with the approved project proposal.

c. Beneficiaries — determining if the beneficiaries involved in the actual project or activity are the intended recipients of the Cash-for-Work and if number is in accordance with the proposed manpower or labor requirement. CaAIES

In the case of the Field Office, on-site monitoring of the implementation of the Cash-for-Work shall be conducted on a periodic basis using random sampling. Validation of the progress report submitted by the LGU shall be the primary purpose of the FO monitoring e.g., like checking if wage payments were made on time, if participants received the amount of money, etc. The Central Office shall be provided with the results of the FO on-site monitoring.

The monitoring visit of the DSWD Central Office shall take place at least once during the project life or when necessary to provide technical assistance to the Field Office or LGU when there is a compelling need to do so.

Evaluation of the Cash-for-Work shall be undertaken by the Field Office after the completion of the project/activity. Copy of the evaluation report must be submitted to the Central Office and the LGU.

The major intention of the evaluation is to establish the effectiveness, efficiency and when possible, the impact of the Cash-for-Work. Part of gauging the effectiveness of the CFW shall be determining if the stated objectives are met and whether the process of beneficiary selection and participation are effective and benefited the most qualified and vulnerable segments of the population. In terms of efficiency, aside from evaluating the project cost and the project operation, it would also be necessary to determine if payments to beneficiaries were made on time.

In evaluating the impact of CFW, the following information must be highlighted: a) how the cash-for-work influenced and benefited the participating individuals/families and community; b) how the cash assistance was used and what changes took place in the coping strategies and behavior of the individuals/families; and c) how the community accepted and benefited from the project.

This Order shall take effect immediately and revokes issuances inconsistent with it. HSaIDc

(SGD.) DR. ESPERANZA I. CABRALSecretaryDepartment of Social Welfare and Development

ANNEX A

Rate of Assistance for the Cash for Work for Year 2008

ANNEX B

Cash for Work Voucher

This is to certify that ______________ of ____________________ is entitled to ____________________________ (P________________) worth of CASH FOR WORK for ______ (number of days) at ________ (P___) per day in ___________________________________________ (type of project) at _________________________________ (Location).

____________________