Provincial Needs Assessment consultation for IPs held
BACOLOD CITY -- Over 30 “indigenous peoples” (IP’s) attended the two-day Provincial Needs Assessment for IP’s, that started yesterday, at the Sweet City Captel in Bacolod City spearheaded by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and Negros Occidental Community Service Center.
Co-facilitated by the Provincial Planning and Development Office as the Gender and Development (GAD) Program Secretariat, the activity aims to assess the IPs’ situation as well as their needs in their respective indigenous cultural communities in the 26 barangays within 14 local government units all over Negros Occidental.
The feedback and recommendations that will come from the IP’s will be the basis for the five-year medium term plan for them, as part of the government’s effort in making services available for the IP’s.
The two-day activity includes three workshops, namely; Inventory of Problems and Needs of IPs; Prioritization of Programs and Projects; and the Formulation of Provincial IP Vision.
Josela Gregorio, chief of the Technical Management Services Division of the NCIP Region VI, encouraged the IPs to actively participate in the activity, and emphasized that NCIP is intended to help them.
The facilitators of the activity include Milina Jeruta, NCIP-Negros Occ. Training Coordinator, Conchita Antipatia, head of the Research, Evaluation and Statistics Division of the PPDO, Joy Pastoral and Cheryl Rose Oceja of PPDO, and Melodina Cardinal of NCIP. (Capitol News)