Unicef boosts DSWD program with unconditional cash transfer

In this April 2014 file photo, Lotta Sylwander submits credentials as Unicef Representative to the Philippines to Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. The Unicef, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, will extend financial assistance to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Eastern Samar who were worst affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.

MANILA, Philippines–The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, will extend financial assistance to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Eastern Samar who were worst affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.

Unicef’s Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) program will benefit 5,801 households in the municipalities of Guiuan, Hernani, Mercedes, Balangkayan and Salcedo—all in Eastern Samar. The identified beneficiaries are from vulnerable households unable to meet their food and essential nonfood needs.

Under a memorandum of agreement signed by Unicef and the DSWD, each household beneficiary will receive P4,400 monthly, on top of the regular cash grant provided by the 4Ps. The cash distribution will run concurrently with 4Ps payouts. The additional cash grant will cover six months starting July until December 2014.

The Unicef-DSWD partnership expands from the 10,000 households currently supported by Unicef’s UCT program in Leyte. Implemented with Unicef partner Action Contre La Faim, it provides a similar cash grant over six months.

“The unconditional transfer of cash to carefully selected families allows them to take a step back from the decisions they have to make after Yolanda given their loss of property, savings and livelihoods,” Unicef Philippines representative Lotta Sylwander said in a statement.