Support Our Solutions-Oriented Programs
We aim to build the country from the bottom-up and empower Filipinos with opportunities that allow them to be grassroots leaders and transform their communities. We do this through:
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Entrepreneurship
Invest and support in the economic empowerment and resilience of our partner communities
Integrated Area Development (IAD) is the Foundation’s approach to building the capabilities of communities to address their social and economic development.
We recognize the role that social enterprises and sustainable livelihood projects play in building the resiliency of communities, especially in disaster-stricken, at-risk, and vulnerable areas. As such, IAD advocates for holistic economic development as an area of focus and opportunity for collective impact in the Philippines.
Our impact on economic development in communities
Take part in evolving these communities with us
- Communities journeyed with towards empowerment
- 140+
- Trainings facilitated on topics such as community governance, leadership trainings, and network building
- 100+
- Community leaders empowered as social entrepreneurs
- 100+
Challenges
Poverty rates continue to rise in the Philippines despite anti-poverty programs. Unequal opportunities for capacity development, especially in underserved areas, contribute to slow economic progress.
- Limited access to financial capital
- Vulnerable groups (women, fisherfolk, farmers, and survivors of natural disasters) live on the periphery of the formal financial sector. They do not have the financial credibility built up through a banking history as required for a loan as they do not have bank accounts at all. Informal capital sources are therefore a necessity to assist vulnerable groups break out of this exclusion by starting small but meaningful income producing projects. The main source of borrowing includes donations from outside the community, like AFI International’s generous donors.
- Inadequate technical, financial, and marketing skills
- Entrepreneurship among the vulnerable populations is usually group-based, minimizing risk while promoting social relationships. As such, creative ideas are abundant but knowledge of technology for more efficient implementation is minimal. A basic understanding of financial tools and market forces to smoothen implementation of these ideas can be vastly improved. Training and exposure to a broader world are key to the success of these ideas.
- Gender discrimination
- Cultural norms indicate what genders can and cannot do, hampering women from initiating commercial ventures or easily obtaining loans. Society expects women to balance caring for the family and attending fully to their business enterprise. We need to support these women and their well-being and slowly dismantle the structure of discrimination.
As a farmer, we were helped greatly by ABS-CBN Foundation. Because of the trainings they provided, we gained the knowledge and skills needed for our work today. I am now a lifeguard, part of the Maintenance Department and also a Board Director of our Cooperative.
Ferdinand Flores
Sabang Daguitan Surf Camp and Dao Balay Kawilan, Dulag, Leyte
