In an effort to empower non-profit organizations in the country, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) conducted a series of regional and provincial orientations on its regulatory policies and procedures, specifically their compliance as private organizations to the existing laws in the operation of their social welfare programs.

Through the Standards Bureau of DSWD, the final batch of the orientation was recently conducted in Davao City in close coordination with Field Office XI while the first two batches were held in Baguio City and Cebu City last April and June, respectively, through the help of Field Offices Cordillera and VII.

The Department, as mandated to set standards and provide consultative services to organizations engaged in social development, aimed to promote regulation of private non-profit organizations.0

With this activity, the DSWD recognized the ever-important and invaluable contribution of private organizations to sustainable development, particularly in providing and bringing quality social welfare programs and services closer to its target sectors.

Likewise, the Department highlighted significant regulatory services of DSWD including the requirements for the registration and licensing of Social Welfare and Development Agencies (SWDAs), and the accreditation process of social welfare development programs and services stipulated under the Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 17 series of 2018.

In addition, the activity served as an advocacy effort of DSWD to raise awareness among the public on the procedures for conducting public solicitations. It emphasized the guidelines on applying and processing public solicitation permits at regional and national levels, as specified in the MC No. 5 series of 2021.

Undersecretary Denise Florence B. Bragas, MD, FPAFP, of the DSWD Standards and Capacity Building Group said in a message, that the regulatory services of the Department are being implemented so that its partners could deliver quality social welfare and development programs and services for the best interest and welfare of the clients and beneficiaries.

As part of its regulatory function, the DSWD vowed to empower its partners as they journey toward fulfilling their role in providing quality services and programs for the marginalized and disadvantaged.