DFA Joins DSWD and WFP in Rollout of Walang Gutom 2027
DFA-UNIO Deputy Assistant Secretary Jesus Enrique Garcia II, WFP Country Director Dipayan Bhattacharyya, and representatives from DSWD pose with a beneficiary upon her completion of the Nutrition Education Program under the Walang Gutom 2027 initiative on 13 December 2023.
MANILA 21 December 2023 – The Department of Foreign Affairs joined the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in overseeing the redemption of electronic food credits amounting to Php3,000 by roughly 50 families benefiting from the Walang Gutom 2027 program on 13 December 2023 in Tondo, Manila.
The redemption event represents a significant milestone in the joint efforts of the Philippine Government, the WFP and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the Walang Gutom initiative to support over 1 million food poor households by 2027 through the provision of nutrition-sensitive food assistance to address food insecurity and involuntary hunger.
Under its pilot implementation, the program distributed food to 3,000 people from the National Capital Region, Region II. Region V, CARAGA, and BARMM regions within six months.
The program puts together a comprehensive social assistance package targeting the poorest of the poor, including a skills enhancement program that has directly led to the job matching of seven individuals from Tondo, to ensure that the beneficiaries make progress beyond their current economic status.
“The whole idea is to give them that access so that they will be able to consume nutritious food, get nutrition education, and also in the process, to get some skills to get good jobs in the market or improve their self-employment capacities. The whole comprehensive idea of the program is that by 2027, there will no longer be anyone hungry anymore,” explained WFP Country Director a.i., Dipayan Bhattacharyya.
WFP representatives explain to DFA the process of food redemption by Walang Gutom beneficiaries from the Department of Agriculture’s KADIWA market using the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card.
Last 13 October 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) No. 44 establishing Walang Gutom 2027 as a flagship program of the national government.
The initiative aligns with the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 and the recently-signed Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (SDCF) between the Government of the Philippines and the United Nations in the Philippines, specifically under Strategic Priority 1 of the Framework mandating the availability and accessibility of “safe, affordable, and nutrient-rich diets” to address food insecurity and malnutrition for the most vulnerable and marginalized.
DFA’s participation in the program rollout represents its commitment to support stronger collaboration in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of activities and outcomes of cooperation between the Philippine Government and international development partners. END