Level 1 - Micro-Enterprise
The Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran program is the Department of Social Welfare and Development's comprehensive approach and investment in social capital towards poverty alleviation. SEA-K, as the project is known, aims to provide the poor and disadvantaged sector of the society with timely access to credit and development opportunities.
SEA Kaunlaran Associations (SKAs) are organized and assisted to establish community-based, self-managed credit facilities and access community social services. Each association composed of an average of 25 members are provided technical assistance and an average seed capital of P150,000.00 for capital of micro-enterprises of members at P4,000.00 to P5,000.00 each. Starting with a revolving fund of P 65 million in 1993, the SEA Project has provided technical and capital assistance to 3,492 successful SKAs all over the country with 86,890 member-families engaged in various micro-enterprises involving a total investment of P337,146,0120.00. For 1997 alone, DSWD extended seed capital of P73,680,792.40 to 633 SKAs with 16,542 member- families.
Level II - Expansion of Micro-enterprise and Shelter Construction or Home Improvement Level II is an expansion of Level I where seed capital has been expanded to cover shelter needs of members in addition to micro-enterprise.
Successful 2-5 SKAs are transformed into genuine grassroots NGOs known as KABAYANs (Kabuhayan and Kabahayan - Livelihood and Shelter) and are then provide with seed capital for expansion of micro-enterprise projects of member-families at P 10,000.00 and shelter construction/home improvement at P 25,000.00 each. For 1997, 14 Kabayans composed of 38 SKAs with 723 member-families were provided with seed capital amounting to P12,496,947.00 where P6,621,947.00 was utilized for micro-enterprise projects and P5,875,000.00 for housing improvement and basic shelter construction.
The SEA-K Project undertakes social preparation and provides capability building and technical and financial assistance to individuals who are interested to become members of an SKA in their respective communities. It is optimistic that as the members' economic activities grow and the SEA-KABAYANs' financial capabilities improve, they will be able to leverage other resources from both formal and informal sectors.
Inquiries on the SEA-K Project
can be addressed to: THE DIRECTOR SELF-EMPLOYMENT
ASSISTANCE-KAUNLARAN
PROJECT DEPARTMENT
OF SOCIAL WELFARE
AND DEVELOPMENT
4F DSWD Building
Batasan Pambansa Complex
Quezon City
Tel. No.: 951-28-05
