Building resilient, inclusive communities through Project TRANSFORM
When the supertyphoon Odette hit the town of Malimono in Surigao del Norte in December 2021, the damage was devastating: 5,856 families were affected, and 2,686 houses were destroyed, not to mention millions of pesos worth of damage to infrastructure and agriculture.
“Odette caused severe damage to our area,” Malimono councilor Marianne Marina Escaño said.
Nearby towns of San Franciso and Burgos suffered the same fate as Odette became one of the strongest typhoons to hit the country in a decade.
To build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable communities in these municipalities that can withstand shocks like typhoons, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), with support from the private sector, signed a pledge of partnership to institutionalize Project TRANSFORM in Surigao del Norte during the DENR multistakeholder’s forum in Cagayan de Oro City last February 3.
Transforming communities
The Transdisciplinary Approach for Resilience and Environmental Sustainability through Multistakeholder Engagement or Project TRANSFORM aims to enhance disaster preparedness, achieve sustainable development goals, mitigate the effects of climate change, and support the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 through strong collaborative partnerships between the government and the private sector.
Aside from the DENR, the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF), Zuellig Family Foundation, National Resilience Council, Philippine Business for Social Progress, and Energy Development Corporation will work together on this project.
In January, the project was launched to support the city of Ormoc in their similar aspirations.
PEF support to Surigao del Norte
To support the relief and rehabilitation in Surigao del Norte after Odette, PEF provided P500,000 in funding support to two organizations, reaching 900 households in five municipalities, including Malimono and San Francisco.
The Foundation will look to follow up this support through Project TRANSFORM.
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