World Bank lauds PH antipoverty program

The Philippines’ conditional cash transfer (CCT) program was cited by the World Bank as an effective tool that provided opportunities for low-income families to be lifted out of poverty.

In its “Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality” report released Monday, the World Bank noted the strides in steps toward poverty reduction made through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

“Launched in 2008, the program has reduced stunting among children in beneficiary families, raised immunization rates and increased household investments in health and education. Parents are taught how to take better care of their children through regular seminars called family development sessions. The program also provides cash grants to poor, pregnant mothers in exchange for having pre- and post-natal check-ups, with their deliveries attended to by health personnel,” the World Bank said.

As a result, “antenatal and postnatal care have been shown to improve, along with facility-based deliveries” in the Philippines, the Washington, D.C.-based multilateral lender said.

Also, attendance in secondary schools increased by 5-10 percentage points in the country, it added.

The World Bank also cited the Philippines, Brazil, Chile, Ethiopia and Mexico as having “successful” CCT programs that not only have “efficient beneficiary identification and targeting” but also “precise evaluations of transfer effectiveness.” Ben O. de Vera