THE Special Office for Children’s Concern (SOCC) is positive that Davao City will once again be among the Local Government Units (LGUs) to receive the Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance Award this year.
Gerlyn V. Arciaga, officer in charge of SOCC, said that this year’s assessment differs from last year’s as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the agency that will assess the LGUs for this award, will consider 80 percent as perfect score while the required score to pass is 64 percent for this year.
“Ginapaningkamutan namo kay naa nami final meeting ugma diri sa hapon para makuha na gyud to nato exact pero so far ang initial makapasa tayo (We are working on it because we will have a final meeting tomorrow in the afternoon so that we could get the exact sco but so far the initial plan is for us to pass),” Arciaga said during the ISpeak media forum on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at the City Mayor’s Office (CMO).
Arciaga added that the 2025 audit for the seal has already started and that they would have the city’s final audit to be submitted in the 2025 child-friendly government audit. The deadline for the submission of the audit is on February 9.
She said there are five areas to consider an LGU to be child-friendly; first is the right of children for participation, survival, development, governance, and protection. The City Government of Davao will be assessed depending on how it will uphold or promote the rights of children through these areas as well as how it will maintain its status of being child-friendly.
Arciaga cited governance as the area that Davao City needs to improve on especially, in the utilization of the budget. For this year they are looking into improving this aspect, continuously monitoring the implementation of the programs, and meeting with the program organizers every quarter.
She added they collaborated with the City Information Technology Center (CITC) to develop a children’s database for an efficient way of monitoring the program for children. This way, the target beneficiaries would be immediately determined and the programs would be monitored efficiently. She said that this March, there would be a test on the program which will be a huge help in the assessment for the 2026 audit.
Meanwhile, one of the best practices of Davao City that made it earn the award for child-friendly governance is creating an office for children which ensures that the programs for children are implemented. She said that the city also conducts an annual citywide children’s congress which is attended by 182 barangay child leaders and other vital child sectors in the city. Through the congress, the issues and concerns of children are brought to light and the stakeholders address these concerns.
To recall, the LGU of Davao was awarded the Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance Award in 2024. The city garnered a score of 90.50 percent out of 100. An LGU would only need an 80 percent score to pass and the city exceeded this.
The awarding is a yearly assessment by the DILG to determine if child-friendly policies, services, and programs are effectively implemented. RGP
