A Series of Orientations for Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Building in Barangay Ilomavis, Kidapawan City

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A series of orientations was conducted in Barangay Ilomavis, Kidapawan City last July 29 and 30, 2020. The participants were members of 64 vulnerable households who were displaced due to the November 2019 earthquake and are currently more at risk because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo by Lyndon Arbes for Action Against Hunger

The activity was launched to help raise awareness on the importance of disaster preparedness and resilience building, learning from the recent series of actual disasters and the effects of the pandemic that they experienced which had negatively affected their livelihoods and living condition. The activity was conducted in partnership with the City Government of Kidapawan City Agricultural Office, and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation Office in Kidapawan City.

Photo by Lyndon Arbes for Action Against Hunger

Written by Joyce Sandajan
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, or the consortium members. Neither the European Union nor any of the consortium members can be held responsible for them.

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A Training on Open Data Kit to help LGUs of Magpet and Tulunan

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Our RISE-CSO-LGU team launched a training on Open Data Kit to help LGUs of Magpet and Tulunan last July 28 to 30, to teach them business tax mapping in their areas which will lead towards increase revenue collection.

In addition to this, a series of civil service organization (CSO) activities were also conducted which includes the approval of the 200,000 pesos LGU allocation to CSO Day implementation in all barangays and the turn-over of the training flipchart on Bridging Leadership for Participatory Governance to CSO Desk officer at Arakan.

These activities were implemented under our ‘Reinforcing, Instituting and Scaling Up Efficient CSO-LGU interaction towards Enhanced Local Governance’ (RISE CSO-LGU) Project together with PBSP, Mahintana Foundation, Inc., and the local government units of President Roxas, Antipas, Magpet, Arakan, & Tulunan, with funding from the European Union in the Philippines.

 

No More Long and Dark Walks to the Bathroom for Magpet Beneficiaries

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Written by Joayra Gem Balagtas for Action Against Hunger

Jessa Ampoy used to walk 500 meters to go to the nearest comfort room in the evacuation site which is dark and water wasn’t always available. Because of this, she and her fellow evacuees prefer to take a bath in the nearby stream instead.

Jessa is one of the 560 people who are now able to practice proper hygiene habits because of the newly constructed hygiene facilities in Sitio Waterfalls at Bongolanon, Magpet as part of our ‘???? ?????? ???????????? ?????????? ?? ?????? ???????? ?? ???????? ??????????’ together with CARE Philippines and ACCORD Incorporated, and funding from EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid – ECHO.

“?? ?? ???? ????????? ??? ??. ????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ????? ???? ??? ????? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ?????… ?? ??? ???????? ??? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ??????? ?? ?? ??????. ?? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ????? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ??????? ?????? ????????? ??? ????. ? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ?????,” said Jessa.

(Photos by Joayra Gem Balagtas for Action Against Hunger)

Moving Urban Poor in Mindanao Towards Resilience (MOVE UP 4) Project in Kidapawan, North Cotabato

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Our MOVE UP 4 Team conducted a household survey as part of the Community Risk Assessment (CRA) activity from July 20 – 31, 2021 in Kidapawan, North Cotabato. The survey aims to assess disaster awareness and preparedness, access to government social protection program,s and resilient livelihoods among others.

Photo by Lyndon Arbes / Louie Bullanday for Action Against Hunger

The information gathered will be used in designing appropriate urban DRR resilient intervention of the project in the city as well as will serve as the project baseline for impact evaluation at the end of the project.

Photo by Lyndon Arbes / Louie Bullanday for Action Against Hunger

 

Moving Urban Poor Communities Toward Resilience (MOVE UP 4) is funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium of partners consisting of Action Against Hunger Philippines, Plan International Philippines, CARE Philippines, and ACCORD Incorporated.

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Action Against Hunger Unites Local Resilience Efforts with Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Agrarian Reform in BARMM

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Photo courtesy of MAFAR-BARMM

Action Against Hunger Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (MAFAR-BARMM) on July 23, 2020, at the MAFAR Regional Office in Cotabato City, Maguindanao. The objective of the collaboration is to unite efforts in strengthening local resilience and within areas in the region that are greatly susceptible to natural hazards.

“Action Against Hunger’s mandate is to fight and to address food insecurity and nutrition insecurity, so I do believe that this MOU with MAFAR is key for us to jointly address issues that are affecting the most vulnerable in the BARMM Region in a collaborative and coordinated manner”
– Thierry Laurent-Badin, Action Against Hunger Philippines Country Director

During the online ceremonial signing, Thierry Laurent-Badin, Country Director of Action Against Hunger Philippines, talked about the importance of the established partnership in promoting the organization’s advocacy. “Action Against Hunger’s mandate is to fight and to address food insecurity and nutrition insecurity, so I do believe that this MOU with MAFAR is key for us to jointly address issues that are affecting the most vulnerable in the BARMM Region in a collaborative and coordinated manner,” said the country director.
 
Dr. Mohammad S. Yacob, Minister of MAFAR-BARMM, on the other hand, expressed his enthusiasm for the collaboration, stating “I am happy to see this partnership, for me, it is a process of long engagement in the community and I am very grateful to continue the aspirations. I express my thanks to Action Against Hunger and we hope and pray that this is the beginning of a fruitful partnership.”

“I am happy to see this partnership, for me it is a process of long engagement in the community and I am very grateful to continue the aspirations. I express my thanks to Action Against Hunger and we hope and pray that this is the beginning of a fruitful partnership.” – Dr. Mohammad S. Yacob, Minister of MAFAR-BARMM

Delilah Chua (Head of Cotabato Base) hosted the ceremony alongside Genaro Sanchez (Head of Project) and Gay Marie Aban (Human Resources Officer). Virtually present to witness the signing were Melinda Buensuceso (Operations Coordinator) and Jasper Llanderal (Head of Iligan Base).

Photo by Rhea Poliquin for Action Against Hunger

‘Strengthening Local Resilience and Building Capacities in Areas at High Risk of Natural Hazards in BARMM, Mindanao’ is a disaster risk reduction (DRR) project funded by the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID-BHA) and implemented by Action Against Hunger Philippines with the support of local government units.

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STALLED BUSINESS MODEL TRANSFORMED INTO RESILIENT GROWTH

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In 2015, MATATAG, a 98-member women-led community savings group Cluster Level Association (CLA) in Hugom, San Jose, Batangas started a mushroom production business after attending a Mushroom Production Training conducted by the Southern Tagalog Integrated Agricultural Research Center (STIARC) and the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) of San Juan, Batangas. Full of eagerness, they were able to start their first mushroom house using light materials. The former barangay captain lent them a space where they constructed the grow house. They started with 250 fruiting bags producing weekly harvest of at least seven kilos of fresh oyster mushrooms. Even with minimal produce, they were eager to introduce their products to the barangay.

By 2016, they needed to relocate and construct a new mushroom house in Sitio Biga since the owner needed the original space lent to them. Here, they were able to produce 800 grow bags in 6 months. In February 2016, STIARC introduced four varieties of oyster mushrooms and provided additional 2000 fruiting bags as assistance to the group. The following year, another 1,500 fruiting bags were provided. STIARC continued to support the group until 2018, providing materials that were unable in San Juan, in addition to technical assistance.

In November 2018, MATATAG began constructing a new mushroom house with their share of ₱50,000 and a grant amounting to ₱456,000 from STIARC. The house was finished in February 2019 and they were able to grow 5,000 fruiting bags but only 3,000 were harvested due to the hot temperature inside the house. In the original building plan from STIARC, the mushroom house did not include the needed insulation system which caused low production. Because of this, the business slowed down and was no longer growing. The low revenue, profit, and remuneration for working members of the group took its toll and manifested in the members’ low morale, lack of motivation to put more hours in the business, and lesser cooperation among each other.

By September 2019, the CLA participated in Action Against Hunger’s Resilient Livelihood Workshop, a component of the ‘Improving Resilience of the KNH NGO Partners to Natural Disasters Phase 2’ (I-Respond 2). The workshop proved to be the turning point for the group. They learned how to improve their business to become resilient amidst existing risks and impending hazards. They saw that all is not lost in the business that they started four years prior. The workshop further strengthened the connection between the disasters and livelihood in the context of resilience. Disaster and business were not new to the organization, as workshops were conducted prior to the livelihood workshop; however, the knowledge how to make their business more resilient towards disasters was the missing link. The realization that the negative effects of disasters especially on their livelihood are primarily due to human choices, the lack of understanding of their risks, and the lack of preparedness fueled their motivation to integrate resilience strategies in their business plan. The knowledge and tools they acquired from the training have therefore been used to implement different mitigation efforts to enhance their resilience.

Furthermore, the Resilient Livelihood Training allowed them to analyze their business and manage it efficiently. This made them realize the potential of their business, and if effectively managed, can provide a livelihood for all the members. The training also made the women members aware of the importance of working together and in the process increase the level of motivation amongst them. Experiencing the training had the working members stepping up and putting more effort into making the business flourish again as manifested by the members more active participation in the governance and operations of the business after the training

The CLA members were excited about the newly regained growth of the mushroom production business, which now allows them to start paying salaries for the 30 members working in the production of the mushrooms. The additional seed capital of ₱50,000 received from Action Against Hunger helped exponentially in regaining their growth by enabling them to buy essential to the business inputs and supporting administrative and labor costs.

Now, the CLA is motivated towards creating a more resilient and sustainable livelihood. Through the mushroom business, the CLA is optimistic that it will be able to provide support to the needs of its 98 women strong membership in the following years. They planned to expand from fresh mushrooms production to other product derivatives and they now understand that the increase in supply and demand in mushroom and its derivatives are key in doing so. The then CLA started to expand their production capacity by advocating mushroom as a viable livelihood option and teaching other barangays how to grow mushrooms. They continued this as an effort to involve more communities in their journey to create a resilient livelihood and better life for all.
The group was able to restart with 2,500 fruiting bags and started to expand their mushroom products to crispy mushroom chicharron with different flavors. By March 2020, they harvested 65 kilos with 1,200 bags worth ₱20,000.

Rowena Villarin, the Treasurer of MATATAG, in reflection to their group’s experiences shared, “when handling a business, you have to be focused and be prepared for any struggles that may come along. Never give up.”

GENERATION NUTRITION: ACTION AGAINST HUNGER JOINS THE NATION IN MAKING SURE ALL CITIZENS OF OUR NATION HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES TO BE HEALTHY AND SAFE

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Every year, the Philippines commemorates National ‪‎Nutrition Month and National ‪‎Disaster Consciousness Month in August under the auspices of Department of Health’s National Nutrition Council and the National Risk Reduction and Management Council’s Office of Civil Defense respectively.‬‬
On this occasion, Action Against Hunger joins the nation in making sure individuals, communities, and all citizens of our nation have the same opportunities to be healthy and safe from external shocks through resilience and nutrition security approaches.
The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, ranking third among countries most prone to calamities, according to the 2015 World Risk Index report. While the level of child malnutrition in the Philippines is declining due to significant nutrition initiatives, malnutrition remains an important public health concern among children aged 0-5. In the 2016 Global Nutrition Report, the Philippines tops the countries in Southeast Asian region with the prevalence of wasted children (underweight) at 7.9% and critical levels of stunting (short for their age) at 30.3%.
Following a disaster, the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged groups, particularly the women and young children, are the most vulnerable social groups to the impacts of hazard events including climate change. Action Against Hunger Philippines believes that it is crucial to build the resilience of the Filipino people, by supporting initiatives that ensure food security and livelihoods through programs, which aim to increase people’s resilience to food crises and prevent undernutrition during and after emergency interventions. Action Against Hunger Philippines’ nutrition and health interventions contribute to reducing the vulnerability to climate related hazards. Children with good food, health and nutritional status are better equipped to face climate-related hazards compared to undernourished children.
Action Against Hunger Philippines implements programs in increasing the resiliency of the vulnerable communities in different parts of the country, providing life-saving interventions to the poorest communities through risk reduction (emergency preparedness and response planning); support adaptation strategies (resilient livelihoods approach); mitigation (social protection mechanism; cash transfer and promoting micro-insurances); and boost community and household capacities through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs; capacity-building; disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation planning and advocacy.
The increasing impact and threats of climate change and natural disasters calls for concerted efforts now. The expected increase in natural hazards related to climate change will further amplify the vulnerabilities of millions of Filipinos, especially the most vulnerable groups. Action Against Hunger Philippines calls on President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration to prioritize a multiple-track approach:
• Address the drivers of climate change though climate change mitigation and adaptation in order to minimize the extent of future negative and potentially disastrous impacts induced by climate change.
• Scale-up coverage of and increase access to interventions to treat and prevent malnutrition adopting a multi-sectoral approach.
• Mainstream climate sensitive nutrition initiatives and nutrition objectives into national and local Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Plans.
• Secure dedicated funds from both the local government unit development fund and local DRRM fund to ensure institutionalization of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions to effectively address wasting and stunting among Filipino children.

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE KIDNAPPING OF ITS EMPLOYEE ISHAIKU YAKUBU AND CALLS FOR HIS IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Last June, Ishaiku Yakubu was abducted along with 4 other aid workers from different organizations by a non-state armed group.

Action Against Hunger is extremely concerned and fully mobilized so that the hostage can quickly find his family, safe and sound.

Action Against Hunger provides neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian aid in the state of Borno by providing basic services to the most vulnerable, in particular women and children.

Action Against Hunger asks the public and journalists to respect the dignity and privacy of the person by refraining from sharing images or videos that may circulate on the Internet.

Action Against Hunger has no further comments at this stage.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD: A WOMAN’S INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT FELLOW EVACUEES

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Malou Mendoza-Mamerto is an evacuee residing in the improvised evacuation center at Barangay Poblacion in Talisay, Batangas. She stepped up and volunteered to manage the 150 families staying in their camp. As a volunteer camp manager, Malou posted a call for help on social media to raise awareness on their current situation to potential donors. Because of her initiative, their camp received several donations and even temporary shelters built to house pregnant and lactating women, children, senior citizens, and differently-abled individuals. As the camp leader, Malou takes initiative in referring her fellow evacuees to nearby health centers and clinics in case they need medical assistance.

Malou used to live in Pulo, Talisay, Batangas with her husband and three kids prior to the eruption of the Taal Volcano. She worked as a vendor and often made a living out of the thriving tourism in the area. Now, they are living in an improvised evacuation center in Poblacion, Talisay, Batangas with no stable source of income. She mentions that their current situation in the camp is quite difficult especially for the women in terms of privacy in sanitation facilities, but she says that everyone eventually helps each other out.

As a mother, Malou also worries that she cannot give the same amount of time and attention she gives to her children prior their evacuation especially since the situation has urged Malou to have two of her children stay with their relatives for the mean time. “As much as I would like to look for a job so that we can have some income and I could provide my children’s needs, it’s hard,” she said, explaining that the entire camp’s needs have kept her preoccupied.

Malou’s family is one of the 2,697 families who received emergency humanitarian WASH assistance from Action Against Hunger through the funding of the Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID). Food packs and hygiene kits were also provided to 801 individuals through the support of Grab Philippines.

The Taal Volcano is the second most active volcano in the Philippines. On the afternoon of January 12, 2020, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) detected increasing activity of the Taal Volcano causing heavy ashfall, volcanic tremors and lightning, and lava fountains. This affected approximately 468,000 people. Our Mission Emergency Response Team (MERT) was immediately on the ground on January 15 to conduct an assessment in Batangas province to assess the immediate needs of evacuees.

MOVE UP HEADSTRAINING FOR COMMUNITY LEADERS

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QUEZON CITY – Resilience through Financial Freedom and Preparedness: The Moving Urban Poor Communities towards Resilience Project (MOVE UP) holds its Training of Trainers on Financial Literacy and Community Savings Groups, Torre Venezia, Quezon City, March 6-9, 2018. Attended by around 60 participants representing barangays from MOVE UP target cities Malabon, Quezon City, Valenzuela, Caloocan and Navotas, the training aims to boost the understanding and skills of target communities on financial planning, insurance and investments while linking it to disaster risk reduction and management.

As an outcome, a pool of trainers is formed to deliver financial literacy sessions and form community savings groups in barangays.

The training is one of the series of projects of MOVE UP which seeks to demonstrate systems and models of Alternative Temporary Shelter, resilient livelihoods and risk transfer modalities to improve the disaster risk reduction and management in MOVE UP target cities in Metro Manila. Funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) under its Humanitarian Action Plan for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, MOVE UP is an urban disaster risk reduction project implemented by a consortium composed of Action Against Hunger Philippines, Plan International Philippines and CARE Nederland with its local partner, ACCORD Inc. ●