Core Group

The ABND exercise in the Philippines aims to contribute inputs to the Action Plan for the Social Protection Operational Framework and Strategy and the design of the first 5-year National Social Protection Plan, with the goal of establishing an SPF in the country. A working group or 'Core Group' conducts the exercise. It is comprised of:

  • government departments such as DOLE, NEDA, DSWD, NAPC, DILG, PSA and others;
  • employer and worker organizations, namely ECOP and FFW; and
  • UN, while ILO provides technical assistance in conducting the process.

Social security institutions such as SSS, GSIS, PhilHealth and others also attend the CG meetings.

The Core Group is co-chaired by DOLE and NEDA. The latter is an oversight agency for social protection and development functions in the Philippines. This is expected to encourage ownership, and facilitate the ABND process and endorsement of its results for the country.

To facilitate the process of finalizing the co-chairs, the NEDA Social Development Staff presented an overview of the ABND to the NEDA SDC Technical Board on 29 September 2014. The Board acts as a technical working group for the HDPR cluster, and is chaired by DOLE and co-chaired by NEDA. Further, DOLE presented the ABND process to the HDPR cluster, which is chaired by DSWD and NEDA, on 23 October 2014.

Read DOLE's letter requesting NEDA to co-chair the ABND core group, and NEDA's response letter accepting the co-chairing request.

2507