ILOILO CITY — More than 50 delegates from member countries of the CITYNET will gather in this city on August 2-4 for the 11th Disaster Cluster seminar that will serve as venue for the gathering of best practices on disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM).
“It’s really a sharing of the best practices among cities on the best disaster risk reduction and resilience,” said Donna Magno, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), in an interview on Tuesday.
CITYNET is a network of cities from various countries in Asia and the Pacific, with Iloilo as an active member.
Magno said that in the case of Iloilo City, among those that will be shared are “experiences on managing risks in the context of being a coastal city, how we engage the private sector in when it comes to DRR and efforts to introduce intergenerational transfer of knowledge when it comes to risk reduction.”
“Other cities will share their best practices when it comes to ensuring resilience of their structures and enhancement of the knowledge of their residents when it comes to DRR,” she added.
The international gathering has confirmed guests from Taipei, Sri Lanka, Colombo, Thailand, Bangladesh and Japan and CITYNET member cities from the Philippines. They came from local government units, the academe, business sector and other stakeholders.
Aside from Iloilo, there are 11 other CITYNET member cities in the country and these are Marikina, Muntinlupa, San Fernando City in La Union, Naga, Tarlac, Mandaue, Makati, Iriga, Legazpi, Balanga and Baguio, said Paulo Mora, CITYNET Project Coordinator in the Philippines.
The topics to be discussed during the three-day event include Evolving Perspectives on Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction; Understanding Risks and Enhancing Risk Governance: Innovations in Disaster Risk Management in Local Contexts; Risk Reduction for Resilience with Private Sector; Investing in Resilient Structures at Local and National Levels; Inter-generational Transfer of Knowledge in Disaster Prevention; and CTYNET Disaster Cluster Strategic Planning 2018.
Magno said Iloilo City could benefit from the hosting because most of the local participants are members of the local council.
“This is part of strengthening our competencies. So being around they will learn about the efforts, initiatives of member cities, which maybe applicable here,” she said.
Among the best practices it intends to share is the KABALAKA (Kahublagan sa Barangay para sa Lapnagon nga Kahandaan sa Kalamidad) campaign.
It contains package of programs that aim to “create a new generation of children who shows concern during disasters, concern for environment and concern for elderly and persons with disabilities, among others.”
The programs are being integrated in the KABALAKA gallery, where children learn disaster preparedness through games.
“In this program we emphasized self-help and mutual help,” she said.
Iloilo City is a recipient of Community Based Adaptation and Resiliency Against Disasters (CBARAD) facilitated by CITYNET.
CBARAD aims to develop a community-level adaptation and resiliency schemes in the metropolis and increase the resident’s awareness of self-sustaining community during disaster, especially during flood. (Perla Lena/PNA)
