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Philippines

Philippines: National Disaster Preparedness Baseline Assessment - A data-driven tool for assessing risk and building lasting resilience

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OVERVIEW

The Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) completed the Philippine National Disaster Preparedness Baseline Assessment (NDPBA) in partnership with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD). The Center also developed relationships and data-sharing agreements with multiple government and nongovernmental agencies in the Philippines that supported the data gathering and vetting process including the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). A complete list of PDC’s valued partners in the NDPBA effort is included in the Acknowledgements. The NDPBA was funded by the United States Government through the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and was conducted in coordination with the US Embassy in Manilla.

Hazard-based risks, vulnerabilities, resilience, and disaster management capabilities were researched and analyzed to produce scientific data that can be used in the decision-making process during all phases of disaster management. The results are based on data made available by in-country partners during the period of the project from 2018-2021 and include recommendations that will increase disaster management readiness. The NDPBA provides stakeholders with analytical tools, scientific data, and evidence-based practices that allow the disaster management community in the Philippines to reduce disaster risk and support response efforts. The methodology and associated recommendations are in alignment with United Nations Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

Among the most powerful tools to emerge from the PDC-Philippines partnership is the implementation of PDC’s PhilAWARE, in collaboration with the OCD, ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), Yayasan Peta Bencana, and UNOCHA with sponsorship from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). PhilAWARE is a derivation of PDC’s DisasterAWARE web application software that utilizes a massive collection of scientifically verified geospatial data leveraged to provide early warning, multi-hazard monitoring, and modeled impact assessments.

The full report presents the data collected, the results of our modeling, analysis of these results, and the recommendations for closer alignment with the Sendai Framework.