Adamson University President Fr. Gregg Banaga has urged all Vincentian missionaries and their collaborators across the country to hold a similar forum seminar aimed at promoting the “Systemic Change Initiative” in their works of serving the poor.
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Fr. Gregg, made the exhortation in a brief remark during the recently-concluded three-day re-echo seminar (January 21-23) held at Adamson University and participated in by representatives of various Vincentian lay and religious organizations.
“We wish to enjoin all Vincentian missionaries and their partners to sponsor forum about systemic change in their respective regions or localities. We should continually search for fresh approaches of serving the poor in our society,” he said.
Adamson University, one of the country’s leading Catholic educational institutions today, recently sponsored a three-day re-echo seminar on Systemic Change Initiative among 48 representatives of 18 Vincentian organizations and their affiliates.
Systemic Change Initiative (SCI), first introduced by the Vincentian Commission for the Promotion of Systemic Change, aims to implement strategies or approaches in building a self-sustaining community here and abroad.
“In our quest to better serve the poor whom we call our masters, we need to continually search for new and fresh ways, approaches or strategies by which the poor and their communities are empowered to
improve their own lot,” Fr. Gregg said.
He explained that Systemic Change Initiative (SCI) is anchored on four strategies: (1) Mission-oriented which focuses on direction and motivation; (2) people-oriented which focuses on the poor as the
persons most capable of changing their own situations;
It is also focused on (3) task-oriented or focusing on organization’s capability-building; and (4) on strategies directed toward co-responsibility, networking and political action or focusing on
participation and solidarity, he added.
For a pro-poor program reflecting a systemic change, it should have (1) a long-range social impact; (2) sustainability; (3) replicability; (4) innovation; (5) collaboration among stakeholders; and (6) cultural
impact or a change of attitudes and behavior of persons in the community.
Adamson, through the Office of the Vincentian Identity and Mission, is taking the lead in promoting Systemic Change Initiative through a meaningful collaboration between and among the public and private sectors in alleviating poverty in the country. (30)
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Tags: Adamson University (Philippines), Advocacy, Collaborative projects, Philippines, Systemic change
