Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian met with the officers and members of the National Area Based Standards Network (ABSNet) led by its Chairperson, Fr. Arnold M. Abelardo, on Thursday (July 20), at the DSWD Central Office in Batasan, Quezon City.

During the meeting, the DSWD and ABSNet reaffirmed their partnership to ensure timely delivery of quality services and programs to the poor and vulnerable sectors.

“ABSNet is committed to provide assistance and share our expertise to help the DSWD in performing and implementing its regulatory services,” Fr. Abelardo said.

ABSNet is a national network of around 3,447 social welfare and development agencies (SWDA). The organization is composed of around 64 organized clusters in all regions of the country.

It is composed of local, regional and national ABSNet clusters including: SWDAs working with children, youths, families and communities, women, persons with disabilities and senior citizens as well as SWDAs providing auxiliary services to fellow SWDAs through training and capability building, financial support; and SWDAs providing response and support to victims of calamities, disasters among others

The ABSNet serves as DSWD’s significant partner in identifying and providing technical assistance to unregistered, unlicensed, and accredited organizations implementing social welfare and development (SWD) programs and services.

DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez conveyed the Department’s gratitude saying that “ABSNet’s invaluable contributions greatly help the DSWD in uplifting the lives of the vulnerable and marginalized sectors.”#