Category Archives: Philippines

(Re-)Writing the Book on Disaster Risk Reduction

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IIRR leads a discussion on building community leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation at the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) International Disaster Management Symposium

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Ms. Emily Monville Oro, IIRR Philippines Representative, presented case studies from IIRR’s community-focused work in Bicol, Philippines and led a discussion on Early Warning Systems and contingency planning within a Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction framework to more than 200 scientists and specialists at the UNCRD symposium in January 2011 in Kobe, Japan. Ms. Oro also participated in a roundtable that concluded Disaster Risk Reduction guidelines and toolkits must be revised with Climate Change Adaptation in mind. In response UNCRD has decided to revise its “Sustainable Community-Based Disaster Management Practices in Asia” to focus on India, Bangladesh, Fiji, and the Philippines. IIRR will be a contributor to the new publication, revising guidelines for community workers and local representatives. IIRR has also recently developed plans for a sourcebook on Participatory Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Methods and Tools to be aimed at local community leaders and local governments and is looking for partners in this potential writeshop.  

For more information, please contact Emily Monville Oro at IIRR, Philippines.  

IIRR Highlights Continued Need for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Philippines

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(Manila, 2011) There is a continued, urgent need for Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction in the Philippines! In just the last month, approximately 56 people have been killed in intense flooding and landslides in the Philippines and another 19 are missing. The increase in weather-related incidents is attributed to an unusually large amount of rainfall and storm frequency for the season. The country’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reports that 1.6 million citizens have been affected and nearly 500,000 people required relief assistance in the last month. The council is bracing for additional battering because the typhoon season of 2011 is expected to be aggravated by La Nina effects.  <news article source: The State, January 18, 2011>

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Photo source: Froilan Gallardo /AP Photo

IIRR is doing its part to prepare communities for natural disasters and organize their own disaster relief and management plans through our Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction work (both in the Philippines and in Africa). In 2010, we held 16 separate community managed disaster risk reduction trainings and awareness events in the Philippines alone. Our next training courses for development organizations and community leaders will be held May 9-20 in the Philippines and June 6-17 in Ethiopia.

For more information on IIRR’s Disaster Risk Reduction work, follow the links below:

Health as a Foundation of Safety in Disaster Risk Reduction

Roundtable Discussion on Disaster Risk Reduction (IIRR)

IIRR to sit on Technical Working Group for Climate Change Adaptation

IIRR Discusses Community Climate Resilience at 2010 Climate Investment Funds Partnership Forum

Building Capacity of Cordaid’s India Partners

Study Program on Sustainable Resources Management Springboards Partnership with NABARD

Local Group Organizes Training on CMDRR 

Local Group becomes first ever Philippine Certifed Emergency Response Team

IIRR joins training of trainers on Sphere Disaster Response

CMDRR Training of Trainers in Cagayan de Oro

“Most Outstanding Rural Woman” Honored

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(via loQal.ph, Anna Valmero, November 5, 2010)

The Philippine Commission on Women has named farmer and single-mother Amelia Gresones the Most Outstanding Rural Woman of the Philippines. She will be representing the country at the World Summit for Women in Geneva Switzerland in the spring.

Ms. Gresones is a widowed mother of 5, who grows organic produce on her two hectare farm to support her family’s nutrition needs and sells the surplus to her neighbors. She is also an accomplished fisherwoman (a skill passed down from her father). Amelia has dedicated her life to helping her community adopt sustainable farming and is an active member of her local Rural Improvement Club.

Click here for the story and her picture

Women around the worlsd bear the responsbility for feeding and supporting their families. The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction is doing its part to support them through Adult Education, Food Security, Asset Building, and Wealth Creation programs. To learn more, please visit our website at www.iirr.org and read this related article:

Helping Entrepreneurs Harness Local Value Chains

How to Celebrate Organic Harvest Month

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September is Organic Harvest Month! You can recognize the importance of organic and sustainable gardening by supporting IIRR’s Bio-Intensive Gardening Program.

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We train rural communities to farm with organic and locally appropriate techniques and materials. Over the past 20 years, IIRR’s work has successfully established more than 630 school gardens, changed government nutrition policy in the Philippines, and trained more than 2,000 parents and teachers in organic and locally appropriate methods and materials. Now IIRR has the ambitious plan of “growing” our Bio-Intensive Gardening Program to reach 5,000 new schools and integrate environmental education, nutrition, health, and climate change adaptation. If you are interested in supporting Bio-Intensive Gardening, please visit our website – http://www.iirr.org/index.php/getinvolved/donate

US $6.5 million mega-grant for the Philippines from EU, GTZ

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via DevEx, The Northern and Southern Leyte Provinces in the Philippines are the target communities for a “mega-grant” of about US $6.5 million for a one-year program to combat rural poverty and improve food security. From initial reports, it seems that the plans include cash-for-work programs through funding from the European Commission, the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, and the Philippine Department of Agriculture. I hope that these projects include training and sustainability plans so that it is not a temporary cash infusion, but a long-term change in these communities.

link to article – EU, GTZ Boost Food Security in the Philippines by Ma. Rizza Leonzon (DevEX, The Development Newswire, August 24, 2010)

IIRR and the International Potato Center

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The International Potato Center (CIP) and IIRR recently held a 3 day conference on Writeshop Methodologies. International POTATO Center? Don’t you want to know more about them? Known by their spanish acronym, CIP is fighting to reduce poverty and to improve food security through sustainable systems by supporting the responsible use of natural resources and promoting root and tuber crops. Sounds a lot like the work IIRR does (minus the tuber fixation)! For more on our bio-intensive gardening and natural resources management projects, check out IIRR’s website -

Bio-Intensive Gardening

Natural Resources Management 

Philippines – USAID-funded trial of GM Eggplant shows pest resistance

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via SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center online discussions (July 21, 2010)

Philippines – The first harvest of USAID-funded genetically modified (GM) eggplants has shown resistance to fruit-and-shoot borer worm infestation. With current non-GM eggplant, Filipino farmers lose 50% of their harvest to the worms. To fight infestation, farmers spray insecticides dangerous to their health and the environment as often as every other day during the 3-5 month growing season.

more info here -Manila Bulletin Online (June 28, 2010, Melanie Aguiba) and Business Mirror (July 3, 2010, Lyn Resurreccion)

You are invited: 50th Anniversary Kick-Off Event in Silang, Cavite, Philippines | April 30, 2010

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International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year. Five decades of participatory learning, mass education and community empowerment. The celebration is a proof that Rural Reconstruction is still relevant after 50 years.

 

The 50th Anniversary is a tribute to its founder, Dr. Y.C. James Yen, and to those who have devoted their lives to advancing the vision and mission of the rural reconstruction movement for five decades.

 

A kick-off activity announcing the celebration will be held on April 30, Friday, 3pm at the Yen Museum.

 

The museum will be opened anew to share the life, work and legacy of IIRR’s founder, Dr. Y.C. James Yen. Testimonials from IIRR friends, partners and staff will also be shared during the program.

 

For further details, contact the 50th Anniversary Secretariat in Silang, Cavite, Philippines, at +63 46 414 3216 or email lilibeth.sulit-villela@iirr.org.

You are invited.

IIRR Supports the National Strategy Formulation of REDD Plus in the Philippines

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by Marise Espineli

 

IIRR provided support to Non-Timber Forest Products and other partners in the National Strategy Formulation of Reduce Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) Plus in the Philippines through the ‘writeshop’ process. REDD is an effort to create financial value for carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.

 

Read the full article here.