The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through its Field Office IV-A, partners with Unilever Philippines, Inc. for the improvement of the general nutrition of members of household-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in the region. Both parties signed a Memorandum of Agreement last May 18, 2021 to formalize the partnership.
With more than 318,000 household-beneficiaries in the region, the Pantawid Pamilya supports the health, nutrition and education of poor households, particularly of children zero to 18 years old.
“We are looking forward to improve the nutritional status of our beneficiaries through this partnership, and we are grateful for Unilever for this partnership,” shared DSWD Field Office IV-A Regional Director Marcelo Nicomedes Castillo, during his message in the virtual MOA signing ceremony.
With this partnership, the DSWD and the Unilever Philippines, Inc., through their Knorr Lutong Nanay Program, will develop learning modules on healthy and nutritious cooking and eating that will be used by the Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in the family development sessions (FDS).
The FDS is a component of the program that is conducted monthly where grantees, mostly mothers, of the program are taught on various topics including financial management, disaster preparedness and strengthening family relations among others.
These modules will be piloted in the provinces of Cavite and Rizal targeting the families of more than 15,000 underweight and severely-underweight children based on the National Nutrition Council’s Operation Timbang Results.
“We want to play our part as responsible corporate citizens. We are happy to work with the DSWD in helping people transition to a more sustainable and healthy eating,” said Unilever Vice President on Sustainable Business and Communications Jose Edgardo Sunico.
To date, the Field Office has 27 civil society organization-partners like the Unilever Philippines, Inc. implementing various services and programs aimed at helping improve the wellbeing of Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in the region.***