PILCD wins the 2019 Okayama ESD Award

PILCD’s project entitled Strengthening Capacities of Communities for Inclusive Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction was one of the two winners of the 2019 Okayama ESD Global Prize Award. The Okayama ESD award was launched in 2015 by the city of Okayama in Japan, with the aim to showcase good practices worldwide and to further advance Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Awards are given to outstanding projects contributing to the promotion of ESD in local communities. 

Awarding ceremony was held in Okayama City on November 24, 2019. The award was accepted by Ms. Marivic Patawaran – PILCD’s program coordinator.

PILCD’s winning project is an education and capacity development program on disability inclusive community-based disaster risk reduction and management. It aims to contribute in the strengthening of  disaster resilience  of high risk communities with the inclusion and participation of vulnerable groups particularly persons with disability.

The projects core strategy involved the Multi-Stakeholders Training of Trainers on Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk and Climate Change Education; second is the Community-based trainings and workshop on climate change and disaster preparedness; and third is the development of inclusive education materials on climate change and disaster preparedness.

The project was implemented in the cities of Calbayog and Catbalogan in Samar, Philippines from 2015-2018 with the support of the by Arbeiter Samariter Bund (ASB) and Aktion Deutchsland Hilft (ADH).

The project strongly promotes sustainable development by being holistic, ownership-based, there is strong participation and partnership, and that the process is empowering.

  • It is holistic as it integrates learning about the environmental, social, economic, cultural, political, including the local and global dimension of the nature and impacts of disasters. The projects learning activities in the communities facilitated the identification and planning of local solutions to address the communities’ vulnerability in disasters. It also facilitates the interaction and co-learning among groups of different age, social and economic backgrounds.
  • It is Ownership-based in the sense that it builds shared commitments among different stakeholders and groups to sustain the project in addressing the vulnerability of their communities.
  •  It is participatory and ensured the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups like persons with disabilities. It also forged partnerships among different stakeholders to ensure inclusion;
  • It is Empowering that it builds the capacities of the marginalized and most vulnerable groups in addressing their vulnerabilities and strengthening their resilience.