Save the Children Philippines and the Local Government Academy have partnered to develop a Quality Assurance System that would help barangay disaster risk reduction and management officers plan for calamities, especially villages in high-risk areas.
With initial support from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, the two groups have developed the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (BDRRM) Plan Quality Assurance Tool and Simplified BDRRM Plan Template—the main components for the QAS for Barangay DRRM Plans.
The system has been piloted in 7,006 barangays in the three regions of Caraga, Eastern Visayas, and the National Capital Region in 2017.
QAS features a technological and approach innovation that aims to empower local government units when it comes to preparedness. More information can be found at www.alertandready.ph.
According to Junica Soriano, Alert and Ready Communities Manager from Save the Children: “The Quality Assurance System consolidates best practice standards and processes by on-ground practitioners.
“It provides barangay LGUs clear benchmarks against which to measure and improve their DRRM plans. The QAS enables LGUs to further enhance their strengths and target investments where there is room for improvement,” Soriano added.
In 2017, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council issued Memorandum Circular number 1 series of 2018 that formally adopts the QAS for quality-based barangay DRRM planning in the Philippines.
This means that all barangays in the country can now benefit from using the BDRRM plan review and enhancement features of the Quality Assurance System.
The system, tools and policies surrounding the QAS were jointly created by government agencies, local government units, non-government organizations, civil society organizations and learning resource institutes.
For Silvestre Barrameda, OIC Division Chief of the Local Government Training Development Division, it’s not a black-and-white rule to be followed by all. The importance of bringing the QAS to the barangays is to give an idea of important elements of preparedness planning.
“There were a lot of people who got to appreciate the new template because now there’s minimum guidelines to developing a DRRM Plan, and there’s more clarity as to what a quality DRRM plan looks like,” Barrameda added.
But like any other country-wide initiative, there are still challenges in promoting preparedness and resilience.
For Barrameda, as in the case of the QAS, the challenge lies in the delivery mechanism-—the communication system to be used.
“We have to consider important questions like how many people can reach the communities to explain these things without diluting the substance and meaning?” he asked.
As for Soriano of Save the Children, the challenge also has to do with changing mindsets and practices towards preparedness and resilience-building actions. “It is a matter of prioritization. And for us, making resilience governance child-sensitive,” she said.
However, the success factors far outweigh the challenges.
As Soriano has pointed out: “Leadership is the biggest success factor. Our success is from having many stakeholders come together, and it’s in the same vein that building Filipino children, families, and communities’ resilience will continue.”
“In our experience, what’s most important is local leadership that bridges diverse stakeholders, and pools their resources and capacities towards common resilience goals,” she ended.