As a developing country, it is but natural for the Philippines to have struggles and problems especially when it comes to addressing their economic problems. That is why development programs like the Philippines-Canada Local Government Support Program are seen as effective strategies in helping the country realize and achieve its goals towards economic growth and poverty reduction.
The Philippines-Canada Local Government Support Program (LGSP) is a shared mission of the Philippine and Canadian government with the purpose of helping the Philippine government achieve its full economic growth and eventually reduce the widespread poverty by effective governance combined with greater participation from prospective investors. LGSP is a program that applies large-scale development initiatives and projects for the benefit of local government units and civil society organizations in the Philippines.
LGSP is basically the one who provides technical, managerial and funding support to the various development projects that LGUs and civil society organizations carry out. This is done on the condition that these projects are to be developed within LGSP’s framework and should primarily address a local government unit’s individual development priorities.
In addition to that, LGSP has partnered with different institutions and agencies like DILG and NEDA together with the various local government units in the seven target regions in Western Visayas and all throughout Mindanao. To date, there are about 30 provinces and 183 municipalities from Western Visayas and all regions of Mindanao that are covered and supported by the program.
Some of the development projects that LGSP has undertaken include Gender Programs, Alliance Building, Capacity Development on Comprehensive Land Use Planning, Integrated Coastal Resource Management and many others.
The second leg of the program which was called LGSP II was implemented to strengthen the effectiveness of local governance. It primarily focused on the local government leadership and management as well as participatory governance. Aside from that, the program also assisted the Philippine government in realizing the countrys objectives aimed at society’s growth and also poverty reduction. As a matter of fact, the Department of Interior and Local Government was able to develop and implement a national Local Governance Performance Management System which at present includes data from 85% of all the local government units in the country.
Developing countries such as the Philippines need a helping hand to make them reach their holistic growth and programs like LGSP has indeed significantly contributed to the country’s development in the local government level. So if you want to know more about LGSP you can visit their official site or visit any LGSP regional program management offices nearest you.