WFP And USAID Hold Second National Forum On Disaster Preparedness and Response

Disaster Preparedness and Response (DPR) took centre stage this week as 150 delegates from national government, provincial, city, and municipal local government units (LGUs), academic institutions, and non-government organizations (NGOs) assembled for a national forum organized by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA). This year’s national forum – the second of its kind – focused on the achievements and challenges of DPR practitioners and setting directions for the next year.

United States Supports Disaster Resilience In Benguet

(L-R:) Tublay Mayor Ruben Paoad, US Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Representative and Country Director Praveen Agrawal, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Mission Director Reed Aeschliman visit the women coffee farmers of Tublay, Benguet, who have been assisted by the US Government through WFP for the disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (DRR/CCA) programme. The US Government has announced an additional US$340,000 assistance to the province of Benguet to further improve disaster resilience in the area.

Photo credit: WFP Philippines/Anthony Chase Lim

US and Philippine Governments, WFP, and Non-Government Organizations Join Forces to Build Resilience Against Disasters

In observance of National Disaster Consciousness Month, United States Agency for International Development/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Regional Advisor for East Asia and the Pacific Benjamin Hemingway (fifth from right), Department of Social Welfare and Development Head of Disaster Risk Reduction and Response Operations Office Director Restituto Macuto (second from right), Office of Civil Defense Training Division Officer-in-Charge Brigadier General Juanito Dalmas (leftmost), United Nations World Food Programme Philippines Representative and Country Director Praveen Agrawal (fourth from right), United Nations Population Fund Country Representative Ugochi Daniels (fifth from left), and representatives of non-government organizations and the academe signify their joint commitment to “harnessing synergies to build resilience against disasters” in the Philippines.

PAGTUTULUNGAN.ORG: US Government Up Support For WFP Disaster Preparedness in the Philippines

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) received a US$3.75 million (approximately PhP 160 million) grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which will be used to expand WFP’s disaster preparedness and response programme in the Philippines. 

Working in close partnership with the central government and the Office of Civil Defense, WFP and local government units in four disaster-prone provinces of Sorsogon, Benguet, Cagayan and Laguna have been rolling out a disaster preparedness and response pilot programme focused on building local emergency management capacity, disaster mitigation and protection of livelihoods.