About BLDF

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE

NAME OF ORGANIZATION: 

Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: 

BLDF was registered with the SECon September 11, 2003 as a non-stock, not-for-profit corporation. Majority of its members are former staff of the defunct Ilaw International Center, as well as former trainers, community organizers and volunteers of the Ilaw ng Buhay Movement, which pioneered targeting of specific households and communities for delivery of basic services from 1975 to the early 1990s with assistance from UNICEF, USAID, AusAID, UNFPA.

Its Founding President, Dr. Nestor M. Pestelos, was first Resident Director of the UNICEF-assisted Ilaw International Center. He has had more than 30 years experience in community development and strengthening local governance in more than 15 countries working with UNICEF, World Bank, AusAID, UNDP and Habitat for Humanity, an international NGO which seeks to address poverty housing.

VISION: 

Local communities in control of their own development

MISSION: 

• Help build strong local communities
• Assist the poor fight poverty
• Promote social justice through equitable development

GOALS:

• Empowerment of Local Communities

To facilitate the provision of technical inputs and other assistance to local communities to enable them to participate in local development activities, particularly those related to poverty reduction and provision of social justice;

To establish and maintain a database at the local community level as basis for supporting advocacy work on their behalf with Government, donor agencies and other development partners.

• Improvement of Local Governance

To serve as partner of the local, national government, NGOs and other civil society groups in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of a Comprehensive Poverty Reduction Program which puts emphasis on multi-sectoral collaboration;

To provide the government the assistance required in the identification of policies, in project planning and administration considering thereto the continuous involvement of the local communities in development planning and implementation.

• Establishment of networks and linkages through media promotion and use of advanced technology 

To promote the creative us of the conventional mass media and existing folk or indigenous means of communication to reach remote and isolated rural communities with development information;

To make available to the international community lessons derived from participatory approaches to poverty reduction through maintenance of a website and other means.

• Enhancement of developmental strategies

To develop and disseminate effective participatory methodologies in involving local communities in poverty-focused development planning and implementation;

To monitor, document and disseminate outstanding experiences of government agencies and NGOs in working with local communities;

To evolve appropriate training designs and conduct training for a wide range offunctionaries (policy makers, planners, community organizers, project implementers, volunteers, agency workers, entrepreneurs) involved in sub-national and/or local development;

To pilot proactive interventions against poverty at local level.

• Improvement of pro-poor targeting in local planning, monitoring and evaluation

To assist LGUs and other clients improve the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of plans, pro grammes and projects based on PDMS;

To assist LGUs and other clients update and maximize the use the households poverty database and the other features (Assets Based Community Development indicators; information on MSMEs, gender, and the environment).

PRO-POOR PLANNING AND TARGETING TOOL:

In seeking to improve the planning and targeting of relatively more disadvantaged households and communities, BLDF has collaborated since 2003 with the BoholProvincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) indeveloping the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS).

PROGRAMME FOCUS:

Strengthening partnership between Local Government Units (LGUs) and local communities in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of projects designed to benefit marginalized groups, namely: indigenous people or cultural minorities; unemployed youth; landless farmers; homeless families; disadvantaged island communities; and other vulnerable groups.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE:

• Provided poverty reduction interventions to two agricultural areas of the 17 identified deprived municipalities of Bohol.

• Established eco-cultural tourism sites in Anda and enhanced existing products such as kalamay, raffia, broom in Albur for eco-tourism under CoMET (Community-managed Ecological Cultural Tourism) Project under FOCAS 2, Phil-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP).

• Revised existing methodologies on the conduct of poverty profiling, action planning and monitoring in coordination with the Provincial Planning and Development Office (with training funded by AusAID).

• Facilitated the enhancement of the Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS) software under the Strengthening Local Governance for Sustainable Economic Growth and Effective Service Delivery Project

(funded by the British Embassy Manila)

• Conducted the Assessment Survey of Badjao Communities in Bohol with funding from Bohol Marine Triangle Project (BMTP) under GEF-UNDP.

• Implemented the Literacy and Livelihood Project for Badjaos — A ProLiteracy-funded program implemented in Totolan, Dauis, Bohol

• Integrated indicators related to Assets Based Community Development (ABCD) to enable people’s organizations, NGOs and LGUs to implement projects using existing community and household assets (skills, traditional sites, ecological and cultural landmarks, historical sites and structures)

• Implemented the Kalahi Cultural Services Project for the Poor in cooperation with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts

CURRENT PROJECTS:

• Realising DREAMS (Development of Resources and Access to Municipal Services) for South and Southeast Asian Countries funded by the European Union

BLDF provides technical assistance in the replica tion of PDMS in several municipalities in India, Bangladesh and Bhutan for the period 2010 to 2012.

• Agricultural Micro-finance Program in Bohol (AMPB) under the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an agency attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA) created pursuant to Executive Order No. 113 mandated to assist the DA in its thrust in improving the access of small farmers/fisherfolk to agricultural credit

• Social Enterprise Development Project, a microfinance facility funded through a loan from the Peace and Equity Foundation to support micro-enterprises / livelihood projects

• Promotion of MSMEs in 8 municipalities in one integrated area development cluster (BIAD 5) for inclusion in PDMS

BOHOL LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

Balay Kahayag Training Center

Upper Laya, Baclayon

Bohol, Philippines

Telefax: (038) 540-9327

Website: http://bldf.blogspot.com

E-mail: npestelos@gmail.com