Australia and the Philippines are partners in innovating for social protection.

In the last 10 years, Australia has supported the Philippines to achieve its goals of reducing poverty, addressing inequality, and developing a more inclusive Philippine economy.

To ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind, Australia worked with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to conceptualise, design and implement their flagship social protection program – the conditional cash transfer or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer Program (MCCT). These provides cash grants to the poorest of the poor, including families in need of special protection.

In partnership with UNICEF, we supported a 5-year program to enhance the MCCT. This program helped DSWD make evidence-based decisions so that vulnerable groups, especially indigenous people, homeless street families and the disabled, can increasingly access social services. Australia is also working toward developing a grant to support families who have a child with a disability.

In the spirit of mateship and bayanihan, Australia remains committed in extending support to the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the Philippines, to help build the foundations for inclusive economic growth.