ARISE Philippines kickstarts new round of disaster resilience network initiatives
Representatives
from both public and private sectors, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),
and the SM Group, convened recently for the annual ARISE General Meeting held
at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City.
ARISE
Philippines is a network of private companies that are united under the common
objective of establishing innovative disaster resilience practices
within organizations. This initiative supports the United Nations International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), and the Sendai Framework. Sendai
Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes the role
of UN member countries to reduce disaster risk, and which should be shared with
other stakeholders including local governments and the private sector.
Through their
membership with ARISE Philippines, companies from the private sector are
enabled to build their own capacity and develop strategies in making their
organizations resilient to disaster risk, by learning from subject matter
experts and engaging in workshops that discuss best practices. In recent
studies, the Philippines have been globally ranked as the third most vulnerable
country, in terms of disaster and calamity.
The government
sector was represented by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Office
of Civil Defense (OCD) National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council
(NDRRMC).
Director Susan
Juangco delivered message from Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, Executive Director
of NDRRMC, “As private organizations begin to understand their roles in
disaster risk reduction management, and actively collaborating with the public,
the government’s vision for a disaster resilient nation is coming to its
reality. We are here not to boost the self-interests of our organizations, but
to attain our goal for our stakeholders and assure quality of life beyond
disaster.”
Asst. Director
of the Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development of DTI, Alicia M. Opeña,
added, “The MSME sector has a vital role in the welfare of our society as it
serves as a proximity market or immediate provider of most goods and services,
and we believe that integrating disaster risk reduction initiative in the MSME
structures will ensure that businesses can continue to operate their core
services even in the occurrence of an adverse situation.”
During the
roundtable discussions, participants gained shared understanding of key
performance indicators in each of the presented work themes, which are
organizational initiatives that respond to preventive measures against
disaster, and eventually develop a joint action plan to ensure progress in
creating disaster resilient societies. Some of the key topics covered were disaster
risk management strategies, education and training and urban risk reduction.
At the
annual meeting, the vision of Hans T. Sy was reiterated, “As a member of ARISE,
I encourage everyone to promote disaster preparedness and risk resiliency. We
must continue to help each other in minimizing property damages and most
especially in protecting lives because disaster resilience is everybody’s
business”.
To know more about
ARISE Philippines, you may contact its secretariat through arisephilippines@smprime.com or https://cc.preventionweb.net/arise/asia_pacific/arise_philippines
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