Background

In 2007, after assisting the province through a 6-month intervention on WASH , food security and livelihoods programme in the province of Albay , Oxfam started its DRR engagement with the Provincial Government through the documentation of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office or APSEMO.  Done under the 5th DIPECHO Action Plan, the good practice demonstrated how the establishment in vulnerable areas of full-fledged office with its own budget, personnel and space instills the people’s preparedness in disaster management and cushions the loss of life and property in times of calamity.

APSEMO’s 15 has years of experience and lessons in disaster risk that other local government units (LGUs) may learn from. Through the institutionalization of the function of disaster risk management, the province has achieved substantial reduction in the loss of lives and assets -- social, economic or environmental.  In line with the Hyogo Framework for Action, this case study traced how the Albay’s government and people succeeded in creating a permanent mechanism to prepare for and respond to various types of disasters, despite the chronic poverty and natural and human-made hazards that beset the province.

 The institutionalization of disaster preparedness and disaster management through the establishment of a DRMO is premised, on the LGU’s readiness to invest time, resources and personnel to such a project.  In the end, the existence of a permanent disaster risk management office is a declaration of a community’s readiness to act in concert to help itself -- a symbol of the community’s maturity in equipping itself with a central coordinating mechanism to steward its response to a disaster. 

Because of the continuing commitment of Oxfam GB to share and replicate this good practice in other local government units, now, the good practice has been adopted and customized in the provinces of Sarangani, Pampanga and Sorsogon under the recently-concluded project supported under DIPECHO’s 6th Action Plan.  Also, this good practice is now being emmulated in other local government units through other partners (i.e., local and/or international NGOs).  The success of sharing and advocating for this good practice has likewise brought the discourse at the national level, particularly in the new DRM legislative measure in both houses of Congress now just awaiting approval in the bicameral conference committee.  Even award-giving bodies recognizing exemplary and innovative actions at the local government levels have recognized the role and importance of APSEMO, particularly the Gawad Kalasag and Galing Pook Awards. 

Oxfam’s intervention has also nurtured the cross-linking and cross-fertilization or complementation of various national government initiatives and projects, specifically those under the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).  Truly, APSEMO became a system integrator not only within the LGU and the community but also between and across programs like DILG’s Good Practices Facility for Replication (GOFAR) and NEDA’s DRR mainstreaming tool, all within NDCC’s DRR framework. 

Last but not the least, from being just a simple project on knowledge management, the APSEMO experience (from documentation to replication), it has now evolved into real and continuing strategic partnerships with Oxfam, with other LGUs, local partners and the national government and aims to build resilient communities and make a lasting impact on poverty.  In fact, documentation and replicaiton good practices in DRR, community empowerment through LGU partnership and highlighting women’s transformative roles are among the current niches Oxfam GB has clearly established in the country.

Overall, the long years of APSEMO’s experience reaped tons of benefits from saving lives to  building confidence and empowering constituents to being a role model to other local government units.  However, continuing challenges face the province and the office.   With climate change, risks and disasters now take a new form and approach.  Seeing how the province is able to adapt, respond and innovate is crucial not only for their own learning but more importantly, for others’ to see.  Oxfam, being a long-standing partner and being the one which documented and initiated the replication and customized adoption of APSEMO in other areas, would be in the best position to (a) continue the documentation through a real-time learning process and see how APSEMO was able (and is continuing) to respond to the new challenges facing it, particularly giving focus on women’s leadership roles, climate changes and the like and (b) help build on the province’s current DRR capacities by ensuring that early recovery is considered at the onset of disaster response, particularly in the areas of WASH and livelihoods.  At a time when  the province is still responding to the needs of the people both in the evacuation centers and those who were already allowed to return home, Albay and APSEMO needs strategic partners like Oxfam to be with them to help identify learnrings and gaps and see a path forward to address them and continue to show our commitment to risk reduction and to a relationship that recognizes and values the unique attributes that each one offers. 

 Objective

To build safer and more prepared communities through knowledge, innovation, partnerships and learning from and documenting the experience of APSEMO, 15 years after its institutionaization

Key Result Areas and Outputs

I.  Documentation on Oxfam’s long years of partnership with Albay

a.      How the partnership has evolved and developed

b.      Key intervention areas

c.      Challenges and opportunities

d.      Impacts to the organization, province, communities

II.  Documentation of APSEMO at Work: 15 years after institutionalization

a.      Pre, during and post disaster response operations

b.      New challenges and innovations

                                                    i.     Open City concept

                                                   ii.     Cluster approach at the local level

                                                  iii.     Pre-emptive evacuation (one-step ahead)

                                                  iv.     Psychosocial care: challenges of protracted evacuation (during Christmas season)

                                                   v.     Animal evacuation

                                                  vi.     AHEM or Albay Health Emergency Management

                                                vii.     Provincial WATSAN

                                               viii.     Permanent Evacuation Center

c.      Early Recovery Measures

d.      Partnerships with communities, LGUs, NLAs, PINGON, etc

e.      Leadership

Indicative Timeline and Activities