Photo courtesy of DSWD-13
Thousands of young children across Caraga will receive daily food supplementation under a Php 327.96-million program that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has begun rolling out with local governments.
The Batang Nutri-Care Supplementary Feeding Program will cover 72,881 children in 73 cities and municipalities, with beneficiaries drawn from Child Development Centers and Supervised Neighborhood Play programs.
Each child will receive supplemental food worth Php 25 per feeding day. The program is scheduled to run for 180 days as part of efforts to support the nutritional needs of children in participating communities.
Preparations have moved into the distribution stage, with DSWD Caraga personnel checking inventories and facilitating the delivery of Alternative Meals to areas covered by the program.
These food supplies are intended to provide participating children with a consistent source of nutritious supplemental meals throughout the feeding period.
Rather than handling implementation alone, the regional office has been coordinating with the 73 participating local governments on the receipt, storage and management of supplies.
The agency said proper monitoring would also be carried out to ensure that food deliveries were timely and that supplies allocated for the program were properly managed and used.
Through the initiative, DSWD Caraga aims to strengthen nutrition support for children while using its partnership with local governments to maintain regular meal provision throughout the 180-day program.