Lesson Learned: For Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Disaster and Climate Risk Governance in the Philippines
Projects on democratic governance involving Local Government Unit partnerships should fully anticipate the expected effects brought about by major political events, such as national and local elections, as these can disrupt planned project activities. As was the case in some municipalities included in the project, the change of leadership after the elections resulted in the duplication of project activities, for example, the orientation provided to the Local Chief Executive, which negatively affected the project milestones and budget.
This project works to empower people with disabilities to participate in disaster risk reduction approaches in 20 local government units in Cebu Province. It will build capacity for 20 organizations of persons with disabilities to have a real voice in formal community planning processes, with the goal of influencing local government to break barriers, open spaces for inclusion, and encourage at-risk populations to take an active role in disaster preparedness, risk reduction and other community development agenda issues.