USAID Climate Change Adaptation Project Preparation Facility for Asia and the Pacific (USAID ADAPT) conducted a workshop on developing, managing and financing projects for reducing local government’s risk to disasters and adapting to environmental changes from June 19-23, 2017 at the Privato Hotel in Pasig City. Participating cities are Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iloilo, Legazpi, Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran, and Zamboanga.

The workshop was supported by Strengthening Urban Resilience through Growth and Equity (SURGE) project of USAID, Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), Climate Change Commission, and ICLEI Southeast Asia Secretariat (ICLEI SEAS).

Developing better project proposals

The five-day workshop included topics on global climate finance, adaptation and resilience finance options in the Philippines. ICLEI Southeast Asia Secretariat’s Project Officer for Adaptation, Jose Bernardo Gochoco III, presented the Philippines’ National Adaptation Strategy and the legal and institutional frameworks of which the participants need to anchor their proposals on so that they will have a more compelling justification to access national funding sources. Keith Bettinger, Team Leader for Capacity Building of USAID ADAPT, presented various tools the participants could employ to create their project proposals such as problem tree analysis, logical framework, and cost-benefit analysis among others. The participants were then asked to create draft proposals of their desired climate change adaptation projects following the step-by-step guide prepared by USAID ADAPT.

Accessing the People’s Survival Fund

The participants were trained to draft proposals which will merit funding support from the People’s Survival Fund (PSF). The PSF was created by the National Government as an annual fund intended for local government units and accredited local/community organizations to implement climate change adaptation projects that will better equip vulnerable communities to deal with the impacts of climate change. This fund was identified as one of the possible funding streams which the local governments can try to access by applying what they have learned from the project preparation workshop.

It is USAID’s hope that the 25 city officials from Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iloilo, Legazpi, Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran, and Zamboanga are now better prepared to sustain their work in urban resilience after learning how to gain access to funding from local and international donors.