Profile

PhilDHRRA traces its roots to a three-week regional workshop in 1974 held in Swanganiwas, Thailand, where 120 rural development practitioners from 12 Asia-Pacific countries  exchanged ideas o­n how NGOs and governments could contribute to the development of the countryside. A significant outcome of the gathering was the definition of the DHRRA strategy for development: "small groups become big groups when linked together by a common purpose; their strong potential is seen within the perspective of small autonomous units pursuing their own development in their own localities and among their own people and communities.

The loose group of NGO workers from the Philippines who joined the DHRRA workshop in Thailand convened a meeting in 1978 that resulted in the establishment of PhilDHRRA, a simple servicing secretariat for the forum of individuals from NGOs, POs, and government.

One of its initial activities was its participation in the Philippine NGO report for the 1979 World Conference o­n Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (WCARRD) held in Rome. Wherein, PhilDHRRA and other rural development organizations throughout the world affirmed the WCARRD program of action that later became PhilDHRRA’s criterion for membership.
 

In a 1983 meeting in Cebu City, attended by 32 representatives from different NGOs, PhilDHRRA was formally created. It became a network of NGOs registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock, non-profit organization.
 

Today, PhilDHRRA continues to be a national network of non-government organizations committed to sustainable rural development in the Philippines and remains to be part of the DHRRA networks throughout the Asian region, aspiring for a common vision of sustainable rural development. Now on its 29th year, it operates in 70 of the 71 provinces in the Philippines with a national secretariat and three regional secretariats in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, managing the day-to-day operations of the network.

These NGOs are those who:

1. have clearly defined their vision, mission and goals;

2. implement programs that respond to community needs;

3. have the capacity to mobilize resources from a variety of sources;

4. are able to continue and sustain their operations;

5. are able to link their local activities to the nationa situation;

6. continue to build peoples organizations and work towards broader and meaningful participation of the people in decision making.

In support of the above mission, PhilDHRRA is committed to:

1. develop and provide the services needed by its members including provision of technical assistance (such as project developement), facilitating linkages with relevant institutions, facilitating information exchange, documentation of community development model-building approaches, and access to financial resources;

2. undertake advocacy and alliance work at the national and regional levels to articulate the issues of the communities being served by our members and to promote alternative development models, tools and technologies;

3. maintain a strong network with a strugle that clearly defines the roles and relationships of the national and regional secretariats, where the secretariat is transparent and accountable to the members and where members recognize and fulfill their responsibilties to the network;

4. ensure the financial sustainability of the network, e.g., through member service fees, business projecdts and non-traditional fund-raising schemes; and,

5. provide an environment for achieving personnel excellence and growth for all our employees.

   Expand the reach of the network and assist the member NGOs in enhancing the capacities in the implementation of Sustainbale Integrated Area Development (SIAD) based projects.

    Generate learning experiences from the ground implementation of NGO members and be able to utilize them in improving the appraoches in development work, management of programs and projects, as well as in policy advocacy.

     Provide assistance to the members in formulating and developing models as framework in implementing development program in the countrysige considering various conditions, sectors and themes.

    Through lobbying, representations, and partnership with other groups, influence the policy-making process both at the national and local level, that affect the development of the countryside.

    To install a mechanism to divesify the source of revenues to sustain the operations of PhilDHRRA as a Network.

    To develop a secretariat that effectively and efficiently performs the task mandated by the Network.

    PhilDHRRA reaffirms the SIAD as its overall framework in conducting programs in rural communities. It is anchored on the need to integrate the various initiatives in a geographically defined area to address diverse yet interrelated issues of the people.

     As a framework, it needs to be translated into specific programs depending on specific needs of the communities, the resources and capacities available. The strategy assumes that the development and implementation of SIAD prograkms are the main responsibility of the NGO members. The role of PhilDHRRA as a network is to provide support to them so that they may become more capacitated to implement those program and projects at the ground level.

[collapse collapsed title=More]Organizing rural communities, particularly, farmers (lowland), indigenous peoples (upland and forested areas), and fisherfolks (coastal communities) – building their capabilities for self – help and self – determination. Cutting across is the concern for gender – equity. Implementation of community – based projects using the SIAD framework, with particular focus on:

1.    resouce tenure (land distribution, protection of ancestral domains and indigenous people’s rights, coastal resource management),
2.    land productivity consistent with the principles of sustainable agriculture
3.    forest and environmental protection, and
4.    community based - enterprises

In 1989, the Tripartite Partnership for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (TriPARRD) program was launched, which utilizes a tripartite approach to active partnership among Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), People’s Organizations (POs), and Government Organizations (GOs) in order to expedite land transfer, build strong and viable POs, and increase farmers’ income through improved productivity and optimal land use. Initially, it operated in the provinces of Antique, Bukidnon and Camarines Sur that expanded to include the provinces of Iloilo and Davao del Norte (now Compostela Valley).

Taking off from this approach is the Tripartite Partnership for Upland Development (TriPUD) model that ensures meaningful participation of upland communities in developing and implementing community-based upland resource management plans. TriPUD’s areas covered the provinces of Sorsogon, Davao del Norte and Leyte.

Later on, the Tripartite Partnership for Marine and Aquatic Resource and Rural Development (TriMARRD) model sought to secure the use of municipal waters for small fishers by influencing local ordinances, and the passage of relevant laws (e.g. National Fisheries Code).

Developing the capacity of rural communities through organized groups, in order to effectively participate in local governance processes and bring their development issues into the mainstream of local government decision – making.[collapse collapsed title=More]

The Local Governance initiatives of PhilDHRRA aim to engender responsive democratic institutions with greater citizen participation in local development and governance.

One of its anchor projects, the Governance and Local Democracy (GOLD), enabled the citizenry, through organized groups (NG0s, P0s, and Private Sector), to effectively participate in the local governance processes. The project was implemented in nine provinces, two cities, and 27 municipalities. Later on, PhilDHRRA implemented similar projects, namely, the Local Government Support Program of CIDA, and the 10.10.10 Project of DILG in cooperation with UNDP.

Cutting across these program are a wide range of o­n-the-ground community based activities:

1. Resource tenure improvement;
2. Protection of ancestral domains and indigenous people’s rights;
3. Upland, lowland and coastal community-based resource management;
4. Sustainable agriculture/Propagation of appropriate technology;
5. Community organizing/ Empowerment of grassroots communities;
6. Gender and development;
7. Cooperative development;
8. Income-generation and management;
9. NGO/PO participation in local governance; and,
10. Policy advocacy for agrarian reform and rural development and participative local governance.

Catalyzing processes that would gather various stakeholders to collaborate on common objectives; following the principles of continuing dialogue, mutual respect, transparency, and accountability.