Evaluating Poverty-Alleviating Programs in Asia: The Case of Self-Employment Assistance Kaunlaran Livelihood Program in the Philippines

The Philippines is among the states in South-East Asia whose problem includes poverty. As such, the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) Kaunlaran Livelihood program was established to reduce poverty in the country through ensuring social equality among individuals by means of micro credit as an avenue to build sustainable community-based associations capable of generating income to augment family needs. However, it was noted that in the past years, the desired outcomes of the program do not reflect significant improvements. As such, the study assessed the program implementation in a microscopic level in one of the municipalities in the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines using a mixed method research design that includes document analysis of existing policies and accomplishment reports, survey on the perceptions of the beneficiaries towards the program, and interview among the implementers. The consolidated data shows that though the program is equipped with several provisions to ensure beneficiary are given equal opportunity to improve their social status, the several areas were noted with issues: the return of investment for the past five years reflects an average of 52% which in turn causes budget allocation for the operation of the program to significantly decrease. Relatively, the implementation as perceived among the beneficiaries weights a mean of 2.8 equivalent to medium level of implementation. However, it a closer inspection, the components of the program along Capital Assistance, Savings Mobilization, and Access to other Social Services hits a mean of 2.3, 2.3 and 2.1 respectively. Thus, summing up to the major challenges identified among the beneficiaries that the benefits out of the program are insufficient which constitutes 34% of responses out of the 115 respondents. In conclusion, the program needs to be recalibrated based on the information drawn particularly along capital assistance, savings mobilization, access to social services, records management, and monitoring and evaluation.