The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Council for Climate and Conflict Action Asia (CCAA) are working on the Kasama Katutubo Project – an effort to better understand the needs of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) and make government programs more responsive and respectful of their way of life.

The partnership was formalized Thursday with the signing of a memorandum understanding by Secretary Rex Gatchalian and CCAA Executive Director Francisco Lara Jr. at the DSWD central office in Quezon City.

One of the main goals of the project is to develop a new survey tool that will gather information about IPs’ values, resilience, culture, and goals.

“In order for us to come up with programs that will suit the IP communities, we have to first know who they are, we have to understand where they are coming from and put that in the context of program formulation,” Gatchalian said.

According to the DSWD chief, the survey tool will help the agency refine its existing programs and plan initiatives that are more suited to the IPs’ real situations and needs.

He acknowledged that programs of various government agencies, including the DSWD, do not cater to the IPs’ distinct needs, distinct aspirations, and distinct identities, considering the hundreds of IP communities in the country.

Under the MOU, the DSWD will lead the digitization of the survey tool so data can be collected and analyzed quickly, enabling the agency to improve how it delivers programs and services to Indigenous communities.

Gatchalian thanked the CCAA for the support and collaboration to better serve the ICCs/IPs.

“Yes, we are all Filipinos but we do admit that in the IP communities, there are nuances that give them a distinct set of values that we have to enshrine and connect to this program. We are very thankful because I think it is a long journey but you are pointing us in the right direction. We look forward to working with all of you,” he said. (PNA)