Programs meant to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) facing the challenges of coming home to the Philippines after years of working abroad are now being launched by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Philippine foreign missions.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said that assisting Filipino nationals abroad is the third pillar of the Philippine foreign policy, which also includes "assisting them when they eventually come home."

"Here now lies the challenge of reintegration," Romulo said. "It entails equipping our OFWs with the necessary skills and know-how to enhance their livelihood when they come home to the Philippines."

He said Philippine embassies as well as the local media are being credited by the OFWs themselves in their host countries for implementing livelihood training and demonstration programs that prove invaluable to a balikbayan OFW.

Romulo cited the success of the Philippine embassies in Malaysia and Brunei whose program is now about to be implemented in Singapore with the assistance of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNDFW), Singapore chapter.

The UNDFW, a national committee which works towards women’s empowerment and gender equality, launched last August 15 a project to help OFWs plan a future for themselves and their family in the Philippines even while working in Singapore.

Held at the Bayanihan Center in Singapore, the UNDFW Singapore workers project had four training courses, namely:

· Managing a family and cultural issues course;

· Personal budgeting and saving training course;

· POEA information course; and

· Entrepreneurship course.

After completing these training courses, the student can enroll in the Philippines reintegration program which aims to further develop the skills of returning workers by helping them establish a family enterprise.

The program includes up to 12 months of business planning and development support plus the opportunity for additional loan support. It will be available to workers planning to return home for the year 2005 and 2006.