ANDAG CITY - The Oxfam Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), a non-government international organization, has identified 11 barangays (villages) as pilot communities in Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga region) for a project on disaster risk management.
The 11 villages are located in the five municipalities in Surigao del Sur.
The Safer Communities Project (SCP) of Oxfam-AusAID identified two barangays in five municipalities, except in the municipality of Carmen where three barangays are beneficiaries of the program.
The selection was based on hazard maps presented by the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomic Service Administration (PAGASA).
The previous record of disasters in the province was also considered as suggested by the members of Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC).
Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Regional Director Blanche T. Gobenciong had participated during the selection of the five municipalities as pilot areas, by sharing the disaster risk profile in Caraga region.
Surigao SEDF Executive Director Ms. Amparito Carmen said project uses the Participatory Capability Vulnerability Approach (PCVA) to help communities become resilient to disaster amid climate change.
''PCVA is to empower poor men and women to increase their resilience to disaster risk and climate change,'' she said.
Identifying pilot areas were done during a series of forums on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. PCVA trainings were also held in seven of the 11 barangays in the pilot study.
Last week, week (AusAID conducted disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) forums in Tandag City and in identified pilot areas with participants coming from the national line agencies, local government officials, and some representatives from different sectors.
The program also had a counterpart from the Provincial Government of Surigao del Sur the Technical Working Group (TWG) in coordination with its local partners from Non-Government Organization the Surigao Economic Development Foundation (SEDF).
Oxfam had been working in the Philippines since 1987, with the concept of improving disaster risk reduction knowledge management system to create a safer environmental men and women in vulnerable communities, said Oxfam official Lyra Magalang.
