NGO completes implementation of projects in Caraga

By Venus L. Garcia

BUTUAN CITY, Oct. 21 (PIA) - Fundacion Intered, a Spanish international non-government organization working in Caraga region, in support of the Spanish government’s Agencia Española Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), has finally formalized the completion of Convenio 07-C01-031 implementation during the Formal Closure and Turn Over Ceremony held on Thursday, Oct. 17 in one of the convention centers, this city.

Convenio 07-C01-031, a project entitled “Integral and sustainable development of rural communities in Bicol and Caraga region with special focus on women, through the articulation and strengthening of  the productive and social structures, through community participation, Philippines,” is being implemented in 18 rural communities in nine municialities in Caraga region.

It adopts a Sustainable Integrated Area Development (SIAD) Approach as its overall framework in conducting programs in rural communities.

“There are five major components that are being implemented with concrete interventions. These are community organizing and local governance, productivity systems development, environmental nurturance, education service, and health care,” said Arlene V. Garcia, Caraga regional coordinator of Fundacion Intered.

Among the many successful undertakings of the Convenio are the creation and strengthening of 19 functional People’s Organization in Caraga region with various development projects and community involvement and affiliations, especially women’s participation; making and enhancement of barangay annual investment plans; creation of technical working groups in each barangay; construction and repair of schools; and construction of barangay health centers.

“Since its official start on April 24, 2008, it organized a series of sustainable agriculture trainings leading to the creation of farmer technicians and farmer co-operators who are practicing sustainable agriculture technology in each barangay,” declared Garcia.

The occasion was graced by His Excellency Jorge Manuel Domecq Fernandez, Spanish ambassador to the Philippines; Vicente Selles Zaragozi, general coordinator of the Spanish Cooperation in the Philippines; and Maria del Mar Palacios Cordoba, Intered executive director.

Messages of welcome and gratitude were also conveyed by Butuan City Mayor Ferdinand Amante, Jr. and Agusan del Norte Provincial Gov. Ma. Angelica Rosedell Matba.

The testimonies imparted by the People’s Organizations and barangay local government units representatives were very significant as they underscored the social, economic, and ecological development that they achieved through the implementation of Convenio 07-C01-031. (VLG/PIA-Caraga)