emi

The United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) in the Philippines and the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI) have completed a Capacity Needs Assessment for Disaster Preparedness and Response. The main objective of the project was to map existing capacity development activities for disaster risk reduction, identify key gaps in capacity and recommend specific areas of intervention at the national level and in four (4) highly disaster-prone provinces in Luzon, namely Benguet, Cagayan, Laguna, and Sorsogon. The outcome of this capacity assessment will inform UNWFP as it prepares to implement a 9-month project to enhance the capacity of communities and key government agencies on disaster preparedness and response, which is funded by the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Two municipalities were chosen from each of the four provinces  where the Disaster Risk Resiliency Indicators (DRRI ) were applied. The DRRI is an assessment tool developed by EMI composed of 10 indicators aimed at establishing an initial stakeholders’ benchmark for  disaster risk reduction (DRR) mainstreaming in a local government’s functional, operational and development systems and processes. EMI conducted local field investigations where participants were introduced to the indicators concept and guided through a ranking process that evaluated the performance of the provinces/municipalities in terms of DRR, based on the attributes of the 10 indicators that comprise the DRRI. The existing legal and institutional arrangements for DRR at the provincial and municipal levels were also assessed during the field investigations through key informant interviews.

At the national level, a desk review of relevant documents and focus group discussions were conducted with key personnel of the DSWD, OCD, DILG, Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, and League of Cities of the Philippines who are involved in disaster risk management, in order to characterize the policy and institutional environment at the national level, as well as identify past and existing capacity development programs for DRR.

The data collected from the review of legal and institutional arrangements and inventory of DRR capacity development initiatives and practices were used to describe the current state of DRR knowledge, capacity and practice at the national, provincial and local levels. Appropriate capacity development recommendations were also formulated to address the identified gaps. The full assessment findings and recommended actions are contained in the Project Report, which can be downloaded here: http://www.emi-megacities.org/home/library.html?task=mdownload&id=71

For more information please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Project Manager.