The Government of the Philippines and the World Bank (WB) entered into a loan agreement for the Philippines Beneficiary FIRST (Fast, Innovative, and Responsive Service Transformation) Social Protection Project or BFIRST Project, which was signed on 10 November 2021. The BFIRST Project is a five-year project from 2021 to 2025 that aims to strengthen DSWD’s social protection delivery system to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 and to be adaptive to future shocks.

Specifically, it aims to (1) Continue supporting the delivery of cash grants to poor households to enable them to protect basic consumption levels amidst the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and (2) Support the digital transformation of DSWD’s program and services specifically on the four key reform areas, namely (i) digital financial technology, (ii) ICT Upgrade and linkage, including the PhilSys adoption, (iii) harmonized registry and (iv) new normal operations.  One of the identified areas for digitalization is the automation of the end-to-end process of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program through the development of the Crisis Intervention Services System (CrISS).