Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian joins other representatives of the Philippine and Australian governments at the launching of the Australia-Philippine Development Partnership Plan (DPP) 2024-2029 on Thursday (October 17) at the Makati Shangri-La.

Under the DPP, Australia’s development partnership with the Philippines will focus on supporting stability as a foundation for development, bolstering inclusive and sustainable economic growth; and increasing institutional and community resilience to social, economic, and climate-related shocks by working with the Philippine government, institutions, and communities.

In a Facebook post, Secretary Gatchalian said the DSWD has benefited enormously from the social protection technical assistance extended by Australia for decades now and the agency looks forward to more collaborations with the Australian government.

The Australian government was represented by Secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Jan Adams AO PSM and Australian Ambassador to the Philippines HK Yu PSM.

Australia and the Philippines share a robust partnership, marked by over 75 years of diplomatic relations and more than 50 years of development cooperation.

In the past 20 years, Australia has invested over Php63 billion (AUD 1.6 billion) in Philippine development initiatives making the Southeast Asian country as Australia’s fifth largest bilateral development program recipient.

Joining Secretary Gatchalian at the launching were DSWD Undersecretary for Policy and Plans Group Adonis Sulit; Undersecretary for Operations Group Monina Josefina Romualdez; Assistant Secretary for External Assistance and Development Juan Carlo Marquez; and other high level executives of the Philippine government.