Developed by the Philippine government in consultation with civil society, the PHRP4 is a comprehensive roadmap for national action on the protection of all human rights for everyone in the country. The PHRP4 is composed of eight chapters covering continuing and emerging human rights issues, including civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; promotion of gender equality; child-rights; rights of persons with disabilities; elimination of racial discrimination; migrant workers’ rights; and the prohibition of torture and other forms of cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment. This is aligned with core international human rights treaties the Philippines has ratified. Each area is led by a relevant government department that will support implementation.Launching the plan, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said, “The PHRP4 is crafted to transform our nation’s human rights landscape into a beacon of inclusive growth and social justice, dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Filipinos.” “The development of this Philippine Human Rights Plan involved a high number of stakeholders in government and civil society. Its successful implementation will certainly rely on preserving and expanding this inclusive approach,” said United Nations Philippines Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez during the launch.He also shared that the UN Country Team has mainstreamed human rights in all areas of work outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), the partnership agreement between the United Nations and the Philippine Government.“Through the UNSDCF, the UN will actively support the implementation of the PHRP4,” said Mr. Gonzalez.

One of the best-preserved Spanish colonial towns in Asia that was damaged in a huge earthquake in the Philippines is being repaired with an eye to reducing the impact of future disasters thanks in part to the support of the UN educational and cultural organization UNESCO.In July 2022, a magnitude-7.0 earthquake shook western Luzon , killing 11 people and injuring nearly 600 others. The quake and its aftershocks caused an estimated 1.6 billion pesos ($27.3 million) in damage to infrastructure and agriculture.Among the hardest hit areas was the historic city of Vigan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. About 100 ancestral homes, as well as the city’s 19th century cathedral and bell tower, were severely damaged. Most of the homes are in private hands and securing funding for their repair has been beyond the means of most residents. Lasting impacts of the quake Homeowner Milagros “Mitos” Belofsky remembers well when she received a phone call about the impact of the earthquake on her family’s historic house, the Syquia Mansion—one of the largest Spanish-era homes in Vigan.“I was in Manila and our staff called me right away to say that there was a strong earthquake,” she said, adding that she made the seven-hour drive from Manila to Vigan the very next day. “I saw the house in shambles, what had fallen, what had broken. It was overwhelming.”  Two years after the earthquake, the Syquia Mansion and many other Vigan heritage houses have yet to be restored to their former glory.The families that serve as custodians of these historic homes said that aside from the high costs of repair and restoration, they are also facing challenges in rehabilitating the houses the right way, using appropriate techniques and materials to conserve structural integrity and authenticity. UNESCO steps in To help support the Vigan heritage community in post-disaster recovery, UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in the Philippines mobilized a team of experts for detailed assessments of several damaged houses and capacity building workshops for homeowners and local craftsmen.The yearlong project was implemented through UNESCO’s Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF), a multi-donor fund for the protection of cultural heritage in emergencies. The initiative is the first to be funded by the HEF in the Philippines.Moe Chiba, Head of the Culture Unit at UNESCO’s regional office in Jakarta, said the HEF Vigan project is meant to supplement efforts to rehabilitate the city’s ancestral homes, as the bulk of the Philippine government’s funding for post-earthquake recovery was channeled towards the restoration of the cathedral and bell tower, which are publicly owned monuments  “[There was] very limited funding to support the owners of privately owned houses. But the uniqueness of this city [is the] traditional houses which are a perfect example of the blend of Spanish colonial and Chinese trading history,” she said.The project was allocated over $105,000 and was launched in October 2023. Preserving craftsmanship and techniquesOver the course of one year, UNESCO, ICOMOS Philippines and local partners completed the screening of 30 priority ancestral houses—two of which were ultimately chosen to be the project’s main “sample” houses for full structural assessment.A team of 40 architects, engineers and other technical experts examined the Syquia Mansion and the Cabildo House to document the extent of damage and develop recommendations for the proper repair and restoration of the structures.“The utmost challenge was making people realize that documentation is probably the most essential part of restoring historic structures. If you don’t do documentation along the way, if you proceed directly to the restoration, there’s a possibility that you will obliterate the attributes that are significant to that heritage structure,” said ICOMOS Philippines Chairman and President Cheek Fadriquela. Blueprint for restoration Findings of the assessments formed the basis for a master plan to rehabilitate the Syquia Mansion and the Cabildo House. These were also translated into the building blocks of a capacity building programme for over 80 of Vigan’s homeowners and craftsmen, including masons and carpenters.The series of workshops and hands-on training activities were conducted to provide the city’s residents with the technical knowledge needed for proper maintenance and upkeep of heritage houses, including information on woodwork, plastering, painting and the sourcing of appropriate materials for repairs.According to Emmeline Versoza, homeowner and custodian of the Villa Angela ancestral house and a participant in the workshops offered through the HEF-Vigan project, such capacity building activities should continuously be provided to homeowners and those who work in heritage house restoration.   “If we say that we are a heritage city, the architects, engineers and contractors should really have the expertise,” she said.The HEF-Vigan project will share the lessons learned from the assessments of the Syquia Mansion and Cabildo House through publications outlining best practices in heritage conservation in Vigan.Most notable of these is guidance to help the city mitigate hazards and better prepare for any future natural hazards.The project’s recommendations will be used to update and revise the Vigan Heritage Homeowner’s Preservation Manual, which was originally published by UNESCO in 2010. Looking ahead and building resilience Efforts are underway to include heritage conservation in disaster risk reduction and management plans following the grave impacts of the 2022 earthquake and 2023 flooding on the city since both the local government and residents are determined to help Vigan weather any future storms.“The identity of Vigan is not the same without these historic ancestral houses and structures,” said Vigan City Architect Christian Nico Pilotin, adding, “They are important to Vigan because [the city] used heritage conservation as a tool for development.” This article was originally published on UN News. 

   

The Philippines is preparing for the possibility of either a super typhoon or a significant  earthquake, often referred to by Filipinos as the “big one.”The Southeast Asian country is the most prone to natural hazards in the world, and these hazards are becoming more intense due to climate change.The UN has been working hand-in-hand with the authorities in the Philippines to prepare for a wide range of disasters, as the UN Resident Coordinator in the country, Gustavo González, explains ahead of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction marked annually on 13 October.“The Philippines, with its 7000 islands and many coastal cities, has always been extremely vulnerable to intense weather events and natural hazards. Each year there are some 20 typhoons, and many can transform into super typhoons, which are very destructive extreme weather events.   We are seeing more super typhoons as the seas in Southeast Asia warm due to climate change.There are also around 20 active volcanoes across the country, and according to experts, we can expect a 7.2 magnitude earthquake at any time. So, the serious threat of super typhoons, volcanoes and earthquakes, exacerbated by climate change, compels us to prepare for the eventuality of a “big one”, a natural event of huge potential destructive force.  The Philippines ranks number one globally in the World Risk Index, which measures vulnerability and exposure to natural extreme events.However, the extent of the country’s vulnerability is not well known outside the region. Indeed, when I arrived in this country as the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, equipped with my long experience in crisis situations, I immediately recognized the uniqueness of this country. I realized that we needed to profoundly reassess the standard toolkit for humanitarian aid and development programming used in other countries to better align it with the distinctive circumstances of the Philippines. In response, there has been a paradigm shift in the work of the UN Country Team towards investing in resilience building, which means enhancing national and local capacities to cope with, adapt to and recover from present and future shocks. This is reflected in a very popular Filipino proverb which says “when the blanket is short, learn how to bend”.Not one-size fits allFurthermore, our approach in the country also must take into account regional differences.  When I visited an area affected by Super Typhoon Odette in 2021, I assumed that it would share the same cultural identity and political dynamics as other parts of the country, but this was far from the case.Even on a tiny island you can be confronted with totally different socioeconomic realities, in locations just a few kilometers apart. While one community may ask for mobile phones to rapidly re-establish communications and put solidarity in motion, the neighbouring community may require livelihood support or just some materials to start rebuilding their homes.I remember one inspirational local leader on Dinagat island who was very clear about the priorities of her community following a super typhoon.  She respectfully questioned some of our standard and globally practiced humanitarian interventions. She argued that some items were superfluous, while highlighting gaps in other areas, and requested a customized response to improve the effectiveness of the response.What we learn from such experiences is that building resilience starts by recognizing the invaluable capital of knowledge, skills and assets that a community can offer. The people affected are in the best position to decide what they need and where the UN can add value in the aftermath of a disaster.  Factoring such wealth of local knowledge into the humanitarian response represents a paradigm shift away from the UN’s standard approach. Portraying affected communities just as a combination of needs and vulnerabilities is oversimplifying a complex reality. Developing the humility to listen, discover and genuinely engage with communities is an absolute requirement.Preparation and ResilienceBuilding [MG1] resilience and preparedness remains the most cost-effective way of addressing natural hazards like earthquakes, floods or typhoons. In the Philippines, an ongoing decentralization process provides local municipalities with a major role in assessing risks and planning for disasters, as well as in developing early warning systems.

I visited a UN Development Programme and UN Habitat-supported project in Albay province in the shadow of the Mayon Volcano where communities were learning to fly state-of-the-art drones. The digital mapping of disaster-prone areas provides essential information for the planning and risk assessment to better predict, prepare for, and mitigate the negative impacts of disasters and other natural hazards. In Mindanao, I met the Bajaus, a group of seafaring indigenous people whose houses were severely damaged by Super Typhoon Odette in 2021. Supported by UN Habitat, members of the community rebuilt their houses according to traditional construction practices and using locally available materials. Recognizing and incorporating local ingenuity has been critical to develop tailor-made solutions. Their houses are now more likely to survive a typhoon.UN collaborationWhile communities are being empowered to take the initiative and prepare for and mitigate the impact of extreme weather or an earthquake, the United Nations is also working alongside the government and other partners to coordinate an international response to those possibly catastrophic events.As the UN Resident Coordinator as well as the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, my role is to, firstly, put global knowledge and practices at the disposal of the government, secondly, to build alliances to support integrated humanitarian and development solutions and, finally, leverage financial resources to make them sustainable. When I started working for the UN, almost three decades ago, there was an artificial division of labor between humanitarian and development work. Such divide was across programmes, strategies and budgets. Today, there is a humble recognition that the nature and magnitude of crises require a more holistic and integrated approach. We call it the “nexus approach”.Our new Anticipatory Action Pilot Programme* brings community knowledge, technology, digitalization and logistics together, in a single formula.  We generally only have a  36-hour warning ahead of the arrival of a super typhoon to activate anticipatory action including arranging cash transfers to previously identified people. This money can help families to move valuable assets like boats and tools, as well as to stock up on food or move to evacuation centres. Experience shows that for every dollar we invest in prevention, we save four dollars in reconstruction. As we see, the exposure to disasters and the vulnerability to climate change have compelled Filipinos to cultivate a unique sense of resilience. The “saving lives” spirit is widely spread within local communities. As Filipinos frequently say, “as long as there is life, there is hope.”*The Anticipatory Action Pilot Programme is implemented by UN agencies: the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, and supported by the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)UN Resident CoordinatorThe UN Resident Coordinator, sometimes called the RC, is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level.In this occasional series, UN News is inviting RCs to blog on issues important to the UN and the country where they serve.Learn more about the work of the UN in the Philippines here.Find out more about the UN Development Coordination Office here.This article was originally published on UN News.