Cagayan de Oro — DSWD invites everyone to visit “PaskuJuan” a Christmas Bazaar featuring products from participants of the Sustainable Livelihood Program, to be held on November 30, 2014, from 9:00 AM to 8:00 AM at Gaston Park, Cagayan de Oro.

Displayed products will range from food and non-food items like handicrafts, bags, accessories, shoes, clothing, furniture, bottled and packed foods and drinks, snacks, among others. Services will also be available in the bazaar, which includes cosmetology, manicure and pedicure, massage, and others.

Sustainable Livelihood Program is a multi-stakeholder program that aims to improve the standard of living of poor households. Through its community-driven enterprise development approach, participants undergo workshops and skills training in order to determine the most suitable market-driven and resource-based livelihoods to engage in.

Identified through Listahanan – an information management system that generates a list of who and where the poor are in the Philippines, the participants are given the opportunity to manage sustainable micro-enterprises and linking them to locally available jobs, enhancing their access to basic social services and their standard of living.

Sustainable Livelihood Program is being actively supported by Department of Trade and Industry, Technical Education and Skills Development Agency, Department of Labor and Employment and other government entities, along private institutions and civil society groups.

Written by Charmaine P. Tadlas, DSWD