A pool of resource persons from NEDA-CAR conducted an in-house training in project development and gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) mainstreaming on April 18-22, 2022.
Regional Director Susan A. Sumbeling mandated the learning session through Special Order 18-2022 and emphasized that, “Project development is one of the core functions of NEDA”. She observed that most projects endorsed by the Regional Development Council consisted of farm-to-market roads. She therefore hopes that the training will yield diverse project proposals to address the multi-faceted development needs of the region
In her opening message, Assistant Regional Director Stephanie F. Christiansen said, “capacitating the staff would surface an enabled team that would support the Project Development Assistance Center (PDAC) of the Cordillera Regional Development Council.” She cited the RDC-CAR Resolution No. 04, series 2020 that established the Cordillera Regional Development Council Project Development Assistance that has yet to be made operational.
As technical secretariat to the Regional Development Council (RDC-CAR), the NEDA staff are expected to review project proposals for RDC endorsement to funding sources and implementing agencies. These skills are necessary to assist the local government units (LGUs), State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), and Regional Line Agencies (RLAs) in project development and fund sourcing.
With the implementation of the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court ruling, LGUs look up to NEDA for capacity building on project development. According to Jose H. Dado, Chief of the Project Development, Investment Programming, and Budget Division, “some LGUs have difficulty preparing project proposals that pass the requirements for approval and funding by the national government, Official Development Assistance, or through the Public-Private Partnership.”
The application part of the training is the preparation of project proposals employing the concepts from theory of change, logical framework analysis, the six major aspects of the feasibility study and the Harmonized Gender and Development Guidelines (HGDG). NEDA Staff will be presenting their workshop outputs sometime in May.
By Virginia L. Anceno
