Vice President Leni Robredo's Angat Buhay, an anti-poverty program, marked its first anniversary earlier this month. Never one to sit still, Robredo celebrated the initiative's milestone by launching Angat Buhay's livelihood arm, Angat Kabuhayan. The Office of the Vice President's newest program will tackle poverty by partnering with enterprises in various industries to make sustainable jobs and livelihood available for impoverished communities around the nation.
To date, Angat Buhay has helped over 80 thousand families in over 150 areas in the country since its implementation. The initiative has helped non-governmental organizations, city and municipal local government units, partner organizations and has gone on to deliver P95 million worth of services to alleviate poverty.
Angat Kabuhayan AVPIsang taon na ang nakalipas mula nang ilunsad natin ang #AngatBuhay, at narating natin ang malalayoât maliliit na komunidad sa ating bayan. Ang lahat ng itoây naging posible sa tulong ng lokal na pamahalaan at private partners. Balikan natin ang isang taon ng #AngatBuhay. Panoorin ang video:
Posted by VP Leni Robredo on Monday, October 16, 2017
Robredo shared that Angat Kabuhayan was conceptualized after gaining key insight from the first year of Angat Buhay. "One of the things that we realized was that there are jobs available, but some of the skills are not there. So we want to fill that gap. We can provide training for the skills, and provide (companies) with the skills that (they) need," Robredo said. In addition to developing the skills of local residents and making jobs available, Angat Kabuhayan hopes to enable sustainable development and the promotion of business environments.
Angat Kabuhayan was launched during a multi-stakeholder summit at the SMX Convention Center earlier this week. The summit featured simultaneous discussions of various project proposals and plans to link key sectors such as private companies, training and educational institutions, financial institutions, and local government units. The OVP is focusing on targeting high-growth industries to push its initiatives, some of which include agribusiness, construction, information technology and business process, manufacturing, and tourism.
[A] VP Leni shares stories of communities reached by Angat Buhay, among them a group of women weavers from Marawi City. #AngatKabuhayan pic.twitter.com/WoAoCrlsJs
â Leni Robredo (@lenirobredo) October 17, 2017
To prepare for the launch, the OVP hosted several meetings to start the discussions, inviting business groups and members from partner organizations and communities. According to Robredo, Angat Buhay is also working with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in addition to other training organizations to "prepare communities for the kind of skills that (companies) need." In turn, the Senate has increased the OVP's proposed budget by P20 million for the Angat Buhay program.
To learn more about Angat Buhay, visit angatbuhay.ovp.gov.ph
This story originally appeared on Townandcountry.ph.
* Minor edits have been made by the Femalenetwork.com editors.
