Iligan City : A Recipient of the Shelter Academy 2012 Program

Iligan City, represented by Archt. Gil R. Balondo, City Planning and Development Coordinator, was one of the participants to the Shelter Academy Program 2012 of ARCADIS and UN-HABITAT. 

The program titled  "Adapting and Mitigating Climate Change: Challenges for Port Cities", was held on October 1-4, 2012 in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The seminar was designed to increase participants' knowledge of and improve responses to urban issues related to global climate change through improved economic, environmental and urban planning.   The program have three (3) focus points:

1. Water management and coastal management in the urban planning process 

2. Stakeholder involvement and decision making   

3. Economic development, in balance with environment

And the schedule was composed of  3 sessions :  lectures and presentations, site visits to actual projects implemented in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and Implementation Plan Workshop.

Below is the schedule of the seminar :

DRR-CCA Summary of Initiatives

In the aftermath of the Tropical Storm Sendong, several projects or initiatives from different agencies, both international and local, have been pouring to Iligan to help in the recovery and rehabilitation of the areas affected by TS Sendong, as well as for future planning to prevent the same disaster from happening again.

Agencies providing assistance and support include the Department of Science and Technology, National Economic and Development Authority-Region 10, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board-Region 10, and Climate Change Commission, to name a few.

For the complete list and the details of the Initiatives, click HERE.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Planning Workshop

In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Local Government of Iligan through the Iligan City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (ICDRRMC), will conduct a Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Planning Workshop on July 10-12, 2012 at Crystal Inn, Barangay, Barangay San Miguel,  Iligan City.

The four (4) areas of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management will be tackled during the 3-day workshop are the following :

1.  Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
2.  Disaster Preparedness
3.  Disaster Response
4.  Rehabilitation and Recovery

The workshop aims to :

Mainstreaming of DRR+CCA to the CLUP

The City Planning ad Development Office, in coordination with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), will conduct a planning workshop on the Mainstreaming of DRR+CCA to the city's Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) on July 4-6, 2012 at Salvatori Hall, Ma. Cristina Hotel, Iligan City.

The flow of the workshop will be as follows :

ARCADIS To Visit Iligan City

The UN-Habitat Philippines have been very active in giving assistance to Iligan City's efforts in responding to Typhoon Sending as the coordinator of the Shelter Cluster in Iligan City.

To be able to assist Iligan City in its search for a long term sustainable solution so that disasters such as those brought by Typhoon Sendong will be prevented, UN-Habitat partnered with ARCADIS, an international company that provides consultancy, design, engineering and management services in the fields of Infrastructure, Water, Environment and Buildings.

Mapping and Gap Analysis Workshop Conducted

The City Planning and Development Office, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, conducted the Mapping and Gap Analysis Workshop on April 2-3, 2012 at Elena Tower Inn, Tibanga, Iligan City.

The Mapping and Gap Analysis Workshop is the first step in the implementation of the Strategic Early Recovery Action Planning (SERAP).  The workshop aims to determine the early recovery needs and challenges through analysis of the response of every sector/cluster from the start of the disaster up to the present, identify the gaps that exist between the time which needs to be addressed in the early recovery phase and define or develop strategies that need to be in place or adopted.  

Strategic Early Recovery Action Planning (SERAP)

EARLY RECOVERY encompasses the restoration of basic services, livelihoods, shelter, governance, security and rule of law, environment and social dimensions, including the reintegration of displaced populations.  It is guided by development principles that seek to build on humanitarian programmes and to catalyse sustainable development opportunities. (Source : Guidance Note on Early Recovery prepared by the IASC Cluster Working Group, October 2007)

The STRATEGIC EARLY RECOVERY ACTION PLAN  or SERAP seeks to meet critical early needs of the most vulnerable of the affected population which may potentially remain after the emergency phase is over to enable them to return to certain level of normalcy,