SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS AS AGENTS TO RESOLVE UNEMPLOYMENT
By: Jose Cambel Policarpio, Jr.
Every year, colleges and universities are producing hundreds contributing to thousands of graduates whose primary dreams and ambitions is to earn a degree for employment and in effect, help their parents/guardians in uplift their living condition, enabling them to send the rest of the siblings to school. Employment after graduation has become a more common mine-set of every graduate. Even those who are been employed considered themselves in a vague position as industries change directions most often than overnight.
Our work in development demands not only ensures people to have a regular source of income or livelihood but also establishing them in all areas of life. Looking for alternative solutions to unemployment, then, is one of the challenges facing us and our government officials. This is not only a question of eradicating poverty but also what really matters to our people. The question that kept on bothering us is how should it be done?
One of among the ways on how to create jobs in agriculture dependent community is through the strengthening of the community infrastructures that could provide easy access to farmers without being overburdened with high transportation cost just to deliver their produce to the market. If government at all levels is serious enough in minimizing corruption if not to eradicate, they should work right away to ensure that government finances which derived from peoples’ taxes be accountably utilized based on the desired outcome reflected in a planning documents than to the pockets of some. In so doing, the mass-based populace living in poverty will have the chance of experiencing the fullness of life.
Lot of initiatives have been evolved, though, it may have to start at a local level. We all know that local governments are the right bodies to know the human resources available in their respective locality. They need to establish a profile of their people and determine their knowledge, skills and likelihood. A venue of close interaction must be set up, with people in the community, churches and some civil society organizations. This initiative could be a “Joint Undertaking of NGOs, People’s Organizations (POs) and Local Government Units (LGUs). This will be of great help in providing creative thoughts for minimizing unemployment.
It may be in entrepreneurship where part of the employment problem is resolved. As owners of social enterprises with a social mission in addressing social problems, people will have the responsibility not only for themselves and their families but to the people in the community they belong. This could involve risks, but with the entrepreneurs’ passion and of communities’ support, it eventually makes a way out of unemployment for some if not all, such a good start in building a great nation.
Moreover, to help resolve the unemployment and further eradicate the long suffered poverty among our people, we need to adapt a system which ensures economic development, a system wherein social entrepreneurs are the key players. A system that guarantees the core values of accountability, cooperation and transparency, controlling the major subsystems of the industry which is production, processing and marketing. Giving an opportunity for the people to be blessed and become a blessing to others by way of contributing something to the social welfare funds out of their income for a secured people in the community. People in the community can be considered as producers and at the same time consumers.
With these ideas in mind, the Consortium for the Development of Western Mindanao Communities, Inc. (CDWMCI) as catalyst of change, have conceptualized a system dubbed as “Tripartite Economic Development System” or TEDS composed of the three organizations, departments or units with specific functions. These are (1) Economic Planning Unit (EPU) as think-tank; (2) the Industrial Development Unit (IDU) as the social entrepreneurial arm where every enterprise set-up under the system will share at least five (5) percent of their income to the Members’ Welfare Unit and (3) the Financial and Members Welfare Unit (FDN) which is responsible in providing basic social services to its members using the contributions abovementioned. As part of its membership mobilization strategy, individuals interested to join the organization will have pay a one-time membership fee of P100.00 and a monthly due of P10.00 as basis for them to avail the agreed social benefit funds made available for them.
