(Sorsogon City, Sorsogon, Philippines)
This proposed project will focus on building capacities and resiliency of 40 households in the above-mentioned area that represents almost half (45%) of the total unserved households in Sitio Gumang. These 40 households will be selected based on the family’s willingness to be active partners of the project, with children in the families, with poor or very limited access to other support and is willing to pass-on the knowledge, skills and resources that they have received. This criteria for selection of household partners is imperative to ensure the project’s prioritization for the most vulnerable members of the community.
The notes below presents the different vulnerabilities identified by the community during the PVCA workshops;
1.) Physical Vulnerability- since Sitio Gumang is located in the sea shore of the municipal waters of Gubat, most of the residents are significantly vulnerable to the rising tides, storm surges, flooding and tidal waves but there is no sea wall or any other protection structure and mechanisms to protect them from these hazards.
2.) Economic vulnerability- the area lacks sources of livelihoods except to their limited income from small scale fishing. Employment opportunities for these people is also nil due to their lack of skills and education. In addition to these economic difficulties, the marine resource of the community is also gradually depleting due to various harmful human activities, i.e. overfishing, illegal fishing, improper waste disposal and recently the mining spill from the opposite island of Rapu-Rapu that caused fish kills and heavy metals contamination in marine resources.
3.) Social vulnerability- from the PVCA results also of this sitio, one of the major concern also is their condition as informal settlers in the area. Their houses are also very weak since they cannot afford to construct more stronger housing but also they are not allowed to construct permanent structures. Though there is already a barangay plan to relocate some of these households through the assistance of Gawad Kalinga Program, it will still take time. As also mentioned above, 80% of households in this sitio have no access to sanitary toilets and potable water. Access to education is also a problem since they are economically poor.
In order to minimize the above-mentioned vulnerabilities and to build their capacities towards disaster resiliency, this project specifically aims to employ strategies on risk management and vulnerability reduction (Thematic 4, John Twigg’s Guidance Notes on DRR). Using this guideline, this project will focus on the specific components of resilience which include the health and well being, sustainable livelihoods, and social protection. Described below is the characteristics of Sitio Gumang that we want to achieve at the end of the project;
Keeping in line with the Coastal CORE’s principle in project implementation, this project will be participatory and gender-responsive in its approaches. Hence, this project will be collaboration between and among the Barangay LGU, the Municipal LGU through the Office of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development, Coastal CORE, COTIPABA and the target households. These target pilot families will be group into two (2) self-help groups to enhance participation and co-management approach and also foster harmonious relationships among them. These self-help groups will be given tasks related to project management and monitoring and so honing their skills on basic project management and also develop their communication and negotiation skills. For the part of the LGUs, the Barangay and Municipal government both committed to provide technical and financial counterpart for the project. COTIPABA on the other hand will assist Coastal CORE in mobilizing the target families; co-facilitate training and community activities as well as monitoring of the project.
Coastal CORE will also try to leverage this project with the LGUs and other development agencies to access additional support for water system development, mangrove reforestation and seedlings provision for communal vegetable garden.
Having enumerated the above activity plans, the characteristics of a disaster resilient community that these activities aim to create are summarized in table 1.
Project Objectives:
To provide selected households of a sustainable and hazard-resilient livelihoods.
To ensure a healthy and sanitary environment.
To ensure access to health insurance.
Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies:
Given the characteristics of the target pilot area, the stakeholders and beneficiaries, this project will mainly be using three (3) DRR strategies delving on sustainable livelihoods development, social protection and improvement of health and environmental sanitation.
These strategies are:
1.) Capability-Building for DRR and Behavioral Change Towards Better Health and Environmental Sanitation
The state of poor sanitation in Sitio Gumang is a concern which must be equally addressed to further reduce various risk and vulnerabilities of these households and the community as a whole. The unhealthy and unsanitary practices of the residents in Sitio Gumang have a significant effect to their lives as well as to the coastal environment and resources. To prevent this, the project plans to initiate or facilitate various learning activities on the importance of environmental sanitation to their health and to the marine resources as their primary source of livelihoods. Values enhancement exercises will likewise be carried out to strengthen the culture of caring for self, for others and the environment as well as values of service and accountability. The following orientations and learning activities will be facilitated by the project;
a) Orientation on Basic Health and Environmental Sanitation
b) Disaster Preparedness and Management Training
c) Community Visioning and Planning (Health, Environment, Sanitation and Disaster Management)
d) Sustainable Livelihoods Planning
2.) Improving family/community nutrition and access to potable water
Part of the initiative towards building a disaster resilient community is the ability of the people to adapt to change, absorb stress, manage disaster events and recover from disasters (Twigg, John. Characteristics of a Disaster-Resilient Community: A Guidance Note. August, 2007.). This therefore requires and entails the need for healthy members of communities.
Considering the above area description, the area’s vulnerability to hazards’ risks is aggravated by its poor health and sanitation conditions. Hence, the project will strive to improve households’ access to potable water as well as improve its health and nutrition practices. The project then proposes to facilitate the provision of bio-sand water filters to be utilized by the community. One (1) unit bio-sand filter will serve 8-10 families for their potable water and the project could initially provide five (5) units of this facility while the LGU (municipal and barangay) will also provide the other 5 units. The project will also attempt to resolve the problem on the use and maintenance of the existing communal toilets by reviewing and enhancing its policies together with the self-help groups and LGUs. These interventions are planned as this because according to the Barangay Officials, these households are their target beneficiaries for the Gawad Kalinga Housing Project and maybe relocated in the next coming years.
As mentioned above, the family health savings will also be introduced by the project as a social protection strategy. This health savings will be part of weekly or monthly savings of the households that will be set aside from their livelihoods income.
For the improvement of family and community nutrition, the approach will be two-pronged. One is for the long term, and the other is for the short term or the immediate need for nutrition as part of the projects’ capability building strategy. Lectures, seminars and demonstrations on how to achieve better nutrition by meal planning in the family will be initiated by this project. A community crops and vegetable garden will be established in the area using organic farming technology to ensure supply of organic and nutritious food that will also respond to the nutrition problem. This could again be managed by the self-help groups and the seedlings will be the counterpart of the Local Government Units. Products of this communal farm could be utilized for children feeding program as well as for community consumption. During the establishment of communal garden, families will be encouraged to actively participate and a rice-for-work scheme (Participating families will receive 2 kilos of rice per 3 hours work in the communal garden) will be carried out as form of support to participating families and this gardening period should coincide with the starting of family livelihoods implementation so as to avoid also the possible misuse of their livelihoods funds (some families are forced by the situation to use part of the livelihood funds to buy rice or other basic goods and thereby reduces its revolving capital for livelihoods and will eventually diminish rather than increase).
3.) Hazard-Resilient & Sustainable Livelihoods Development
All the target pilot families with no previous livelihood assistance from the organization and other agencies will be given the chance to identify, develop and sustain hazard-resilient livelihoods based on their expertise and capacities. The project will ensure diversity and linking of livelihoods activities in the communities to avoid conflicts. During the PCVA workshops, women in the communities were insisting to train and support them on sewing/dress-making/tailoring, food cooking and handicraft-making. Technical assistance will be provided by Coastal CORE as the main implementer of this project and will link also these households to various service agencies of the government to further develop their knowledge, skills and livelihoods. Similar with the household organizing strategy, these households will first define their vision and goals for their family and community before it will proceed to livelihoods planning. The project will provide financial and material support to these households to develop and enhance their livelihoods. As mentioned above, these activities will be jointly managed by the Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Coastal CORE, COTIPABA and Barangay LGU. Monitoring and capital build-up management for replication strategies will be simultaneously handled by the same group though COTIPABA and the SHGs directly keep the funds.
The main target beneficiaries of this livelihood engagement are the women in the community. The PCVA results showed their specific desire to be productive members of the community since fishing as the dominant source of livelihood in the area is basically a male-oriented. The women of the community characterize themselves mainly as idle or support systems of their spouses’ livelihood. This have led most of them to believe that they are the less productive members of the community which highly affects their tendency to be involved in small time gambling activities (card games), chatting all day, and other nonchalant activities. The goal for this strategy is additional income generation for the selected families, wherein women members of the household will be given the chance to create or develop her choice of livelihood depending on her skills and interest. Capital or seed fund will be provided to the women beneficiary after capability-building and cooperative membership orientation.
This strategy is seen by the project as an important opportunity for the family to increase their income, generate funds for savings, and thus promote stronger family resiliency to disaster with their stronger capacity to bounce back from its damages. In the gender sensitive lens, the PCVA results show low confidence amongst the women members of the society with their “passive and spouse-dependent” self images. Part of the characteristics aimed by this project for a disaster resilient community is gender sensitivity since women compose half of our population, they too must be empowered as part of our DRR strategies.
Negotiated Strategies and Indicators
Vulnerability of livelihoods:
Approach:
Capacity building to develop livelihoods (gender, social enterprise and value-chain approach?) Provision of seed capital
(NOTE: Fund management and replication managed by COPATIBA and SHGs) Increase in income (due to alternative livelihood developed)
Savings mobilization
Indicators:
HH-based disaster-resilient alternative livelihoods developed Small enterprises given technical and marketing support by DSWD, COPATIBA, CCS, LGU
Health vulnerability
Health savings mobilzation
Use of HH savings for health insurance
Use of bio-sand filters for drinking water
Health and sanitation education in cooperation with BHWs
Community plan for the use a maintenance of communal toilets
Communal garden
(NOTE: use of rice for work scheme in developing communal garden)
Nutrition program
Indicators
Family savings
Family health savings
Access to health insurance
50% of HHs with access to bio-sand filters for clean drinking water Signed community agreement on sanitation maintenance
Consumable and medicinal plants planted in communal garden
Crops from communal garden used by LGUs in the feeding program in the barangay
Communal plan and agreement for access and use of produce from the communal garden
The notes below presents the different vulnerabilities identified by the community during the PVCA workshops;
1.) Physical Vulnerability- since Sitio Gumang is located in the sea shore of the municipal waters of Gubat, most of the residents are significantly vulnerable to the rising tides, storm surges, flooding and tidal waves but there is no sea wall or any other protection structure and mechanisms to protect them from these hazards.
2.) Economic vulnerability- the area lacks sources of livelihoods except to their limited income from small scale fishing. Employment opportunities for these people is also nil due to their lack of skills and education. In addition to these economic difficulties, the marine resource of the community is also gradually depleting due to various harmful human activities, i.e. overfishing, illegal fishing, improper waste disposal and recently the mining spill from the opposite island of Rapu-Rapu that caused fish kills and heavy metals contamination in marine resources.
3.) Social vulnerability- from the PVCA results also of this sitio, one of the major concern also is their condition as informal settlers in the area. Their houses are also very weak since they cannot afford to construct more stronger housing but also they are not allowed to construct permanent structures. Though there is already a barangay plan to relocate some of these households through the assistance of Gawad Kalinga Program, it will still take time. As also mentioned above, 80% of households in this sitio have no access to sanitary toilets and potable water. Access to education is also a problem since they are economically poor.
In order to minimize the above-mentioned vulnerabilities and to build their capacities towards disaster resiliency, this project specifically aims to employ strategies on risk management and vulnerability reduction (Thematic 4, John Twigg’s Guidance Notes on DRR). Using this guideline, this project will focus on the specific components of resilience which include the health and well being, sustainable livelihoods, and social protection. Described below is the characteristics of Sitio Gumang that we want to achieve at the end of the project;
Keeping in line with the Coastal CORE’s principle in project implementation, this project will be participatory and gender-responsive in its approaches. Hence, this project will be collaboration between and among the Barangay LGU, the Municipal LGU through the Office of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development, Coastal CORE, COTIPABA and the target households. These target pilot families will be group into two (2) self-help groups to enhance participation and co-management approach and also foster harmonious relationships among them. These self-help groups will be given tasks related to project management and monitoring and so honing their skills on basic project management and also develop their communication and negotiation skills. For the part of the LGUs, the Barangay and Municipal government both committed to provide technical and financial counterpart for the project. COTIPABA on the other hand will assist Coastal CORE in mobilizing the target families; co-facilitate training and community activities as well as monitoring of the project.Coastal CORE will also try to leverage this project with the LGUs and other development agencies to access additional support for water system development, mangrove reforestation and seedlings provision for communal vegetable garden.
Having enumerated the above activity plans, the characteristics of a disaster resilient community that these activities aim to create are summarized in table 1.
Project Objectives:
To provide selected households of a sustainable and hazard-resilient livelihoods.
To ensure a healthy and sanitary environment.
To ensure access to health insurance.
Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies:
Given the characteristics of the target pilot area, the stakeholders and beneficiaries, this project will mainly be using three (3) DRR strategies delving on sustainable livelihoods development, social protection and improvement of health and environmental sanitation.
These strategies are:
1.) Capability-Building for DRR and Behavioral Change Towards Better Health and Environmental Sanitation
The state of poor sanitation in Sitio Gumang is a concern which must be equally addressed to further reduce various risk and vulnerabilities of these households and the community as a whole. The unhealthy and unsanitary practices of the residents in Sitio Gumang have a significant effect to their lives as well as to the coastal environment and resources. To prevent this, the project plans to initiate or facilitate various learning activities on the importance of environmental sanitation to their health and to the marine resources as their primary source of livelihoods. Values enhancement exercises will likewise be carried out to strengthen the culture of caring for self, for others and the environment as well as values of service and accountability. The following orientations and learning activities will be facilitated by the project;
a) Orientation on Basic Health and Environmental Sanitation
b) Disaster Preparedness and Management Training
c) Community Visioning and Planning (Health, Environment, Sanitation and Disaster Management)
d) Sustainable Livelihoods Planning
2.) Improving family/community nutrition and access to potable water
Part of the initiative towards building a disaster resilient community is the ability of the people to adapt to change, absorb stress, manage disaster events and recover from disasters (Twigg, John. Characteristics of a Disaster-Resilient Community: A Guidance Note. August, 2007.). This therefore requires and entails the need for healthy members of communities.
Considering the above area description, the area’s vulnerability to hazards’ risks is aggravated by its poor health and sanitation conditions. Hence, the project will strive to improve households’ access to potable water as well as improve its health and nutrition practices. The project then proposes to facilitate the provision of bio-sand water filters to be utilized by the community. One (1) unit bio-sand filter will serve 8-10 families for their potable water and the project could initially provide five (5) units of this facility while the LGU (municipal and barangay) will also provide the other 5 units. The project will also attempt to resolve the problem on the use and maintenance of the existing communal toilets by reviewing and enhancing its policies together with the self-help groups and LGUs. These interventions are planned as this because according to the Barangay Officials, these households are their target beneficiaries for the Gawad Kalinga Housing Project and maybe relocated in the next coming years.
As mentioned above, the family health savings will also be introduced by the project as a social protection strategy. This health savings will be part of weekly or monthly savings of the households that will be set aside from their livelihoods income.
For the improvement of family and community nutrition, the approach will be two-pronged. One is for the long term, and the other is for the short term or the immediate need for nutrition as part of the projects’ capability building strategy. Lectures, seminars and demonstrations on how to achieve better nutrition by meal planning in the family will be initiated by this project. A community crops and vegetable garden will be established in the area using organic farming technology to ensure supply of organic and nutritious food that will also respond to the nutrition problem. This could again be managed by the self-help groups and the seedlings will be the counterpart of the Local Government Units. Products of this communal farm could be utilized for children feeding program as well as for community consumption. During the establishment of communal garden, families will be encouraged to actively participate and a rice-for-work scheme (Participating families will receive 2 kilos of rice per 3 hours work in the communal garden) will be carried out as form of support to participating families and this gardening period should coincide with the starting of family livelihoods implementation so as to avoid also the possible misuse of their livelihoods funds (some families are forced by the situation to use part of the livelihood funds to buy rice or other basic goods and thereby reduces its revolving capital for livelihoods and will eventually diminish rather than increase).
3.) Hazard-Resilient & Sustainable Livelihoods Development
All the target pilot families with no previous livelihood assistance from the organization and other agencies will be given the chance to identify, develop and sustain hazard-resilient livelihoods based on their expertise and capacities. The project will ensure diversity and linking of livelihoods activities in the communities to avoid conflicts. During the PCVA workshops, women in the communities were insisting to train and support them on sewing/dress-making/tailoring, food cooking and handicraft-making. Technical assistance will be provided by Coastal CORE as the main implementer of this project and will link also these households to various service agencies of the government to further develop their knowledge, skills and livelihoods. Similar with the household organizing strategy, these households will first define their vision and goals for their family and community before it will proceed to livelihoods planning. The project will provide financial and material support to these households to develop and enhance their livelihoods. As mentioned above, these activities will be jointly managed by the Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Coastal CORE, COTIPABA and Barangay LGU. Monitoring and capital build-up management for replication strategies will be simultaneously handled by the same group though COTIPABA and the SHGs directly keep the funds.
The main target beneficiaries of this livelihood engagement are the women in the community. The PCVA results showed their specific desire to be productive members of the community since fishing as the dominant source of livelihood in the area is basically a male-oriented. The women of the community characterize themselves mainly as idle or support systems of their spouses’ livelihood. This have led most of them to believe that they are the less productive members of the community which highly affects their tendency to be involved in small time gambling activities (card games), chatting all day, and other nonchalant activities. The goal for this strategy is additional income generation for the selected families, wherein women members of the household will be given the chance to create or develop her choice of livelihood depending on her skills and interest. Capital or seed fund will be provided to the women beneficiary after capability-building and cooperative membership orientation.
This strategy is seen by the project as an important opportunity for the family to increase their income, generate funds for savings, and thus promote stronger family resiliency to disaster with their stronger capacity to bounce back from its damages. In the gender sensitive lens, the PCVA results show low confidence amongst the women members of the society with their “passive and spouse-dependent” self images. Part of the characteristics aimed by this project for a disaster resilient community is gender sensitivity since women compose half of our population, they too must be empowered as part of our DRR strategies.
Negotiated Strategies and Indicators
Vulnerability of livelihoods:
Approach:
Capacity building to develop livelihoods (gender, social enterprise and value-chain approach?) Provision of seed capital
(NOTE: Fund management and replication managed by COPATIBA and SHGs) Increase in income (due to alternative livelihood developed)
Savings mobilization
Indicators:
HH-based disaster-resilient alternative livelihoods developed Small enterprises given technical and marketing support by DSWD, COPATIBA, CCS, LGU
Health vulnerability
Health savings mobilzation
Use of HH savings for health insurance
Use of bio-sand filters for drinking water
Health and sanitation education in cooperation with BHWs
Community plan for the use a maintenance of communal toilets
Communal garden
(NOTE: use of rice for work scheme in developing communal garden)
Nutrition program
Indicators
Family savings
Family health savings
Access to health insurance
50% of HHs with access to bio-sand filters for clean drinking water Signed community agreement on sanitation maintenance
Consumable and medicinal plants planted in communal garden
Crops from communal garden used by LGUs in the feeding program in the barangay
Communal plan and agreement for access and use of produce from the communal garden
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