Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian and British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils on Monday discussed possible partnership opportunities on capacitating the social welfare workforce and fighting hunger in the Philippines. The British envoy paid a courtesy visit at the DSWD central office in Quezon City, where Gatchalian laid out to Beaufils and her delegation the DSWD initiatives to upskill its workforce and to mitigate hunger. Gatchalian said the DSWD will revitalize its Social Welfare and Development Center for Asia and the Pacific (SWADCAP), an academy for social workers and those involved in social welfare programs. 'This is intended to further equip and train the social welfare workforce and other service providers offering and implementing social protection packages,' he added. The academy will be tasked to provide certificate programs and short courses on various fields, like social protection and disaster preparedness, among others, to further improve the provision of social welfare programs to the poor and vulnerable sectors. To address hunger, Gatchalian said the DSWD has to implement and provide digital food stamps that may be used to purchase from grocery stores and supermarkets. Beaufils vowed to share the British government's curriculum and other materials that may be used by the DSWD for the academy. She also gave her government's commitment to provide technical assistance in the provision of digital food stamps. In accordance with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., Gatchalian vowed to continue strengthening the DSWD's relationship with international governments that will contribute to the fight against hunger and improvement in the delivery of services
Source: Philippines News Agency
