The World Bank on Wednesday said its board of executive directors has approved $100 million in additional financing for the Aquino administration's conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.
The money will be given to almost 200,000 more poor households as inventive for keeping their children in school and in good health, the multilateral lender noted in a statement on its website.
At present, some three million households receive subsidies from the CCT program – also called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino – which is a major component of the Social Welfare and Development Reform Project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) supported by the World Bank.
Launched in 2009, the reform project gave DSWD a vehicle to better implement the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino and and a way to build a system for identifying and targeting the poor.
“Pantawid Pamilya is clearly changing the spending patterns of poor households, with beneficiary households spending more on health and education of their children and pregnant mothers than poor households who had not received the program,” said Nazmul Chaudhury, World Bank country sector coordinator for human development.
World Bank country director Motoo Konishi said the bank and other development partners support the CCT because it is well-targeted and directly helps poor households meet their basic needs while improving their human capital.
“International experience shows that CCT contributes towards reducing inequality. Combined with high and sustained economic growth, CCT as a form of social safety net provides an equitable foundation for inclusive growth – growth that works for the poor,” Konishi noted.
“Over 30 countries worldwide are implementing CCT programs. These kinds of initiatives are among the fastest growing social safety net programs in the world today,” he said.
Recipient households are required to keep their children between the ages 0-14 in school and take them to health stations for regular checks. Pregnant mothers are also required to get proper prenatal and postnatal care and their deliveries attended to by health professionals.
“The additional financing for Pantawid Pamilya will enable us to expand the program and include more poor households who are vulnerable and marginalized,” said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.
“Pantawid Pamilya helps reduce the vulnerability of households to sudden economic difficulties due to factors like natural calamities. Ultimately, it will help prevent the transmission of poverty from one generation to the next by helping today’s children become more productive members of society,” Soliman added.
Currently, Pantawid Pamilya serves around 7.5 million children nationwide. Preliminary findings of a recent WB study, covering 1,418 sample households, indicate that Pantawid Pamilya enables poor households to increase their investments in the health and education of their children.
Seventy-six percent of children in beneficiary households are enrolled in day care as against 65 percent in non-Pantawid Pamilya households. Almost all or 98 percent of Pantawid Pamilya children are enrolled in elementary school.
The survey also revealed that 96 percent of the beneficiary children attend their classes regularly compared to 91 percent of non-beneficiary children.
Pantawid Pamilya children are also using more health services compared to non-beneficiary households, with 33 percent having their weight monitored, 63 percent taking deworming pills, and 81 percent taking Vitamin A.
The survey also found that compared to non-beneficiary households, Pantawid Pamilya households spend 38 percent more on education, while spending 34 percent more on medicine and medical services. — Edgardo Tugade/VS, GMA News
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