European humanitarian aid agency supports project
SURGE in Surigao Norte
By John Glenn A. Platil
SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte, June 13 (PIA) –
Representatives from the European Commission on Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
and Oxfam signify strong support to the provincial government in the
implementation of project SURGE (Scaling Up Resilence in Governance) during the
joint meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
(DRRMC) and City DRRMC held recently at the PGO New Conference Hall, this city.
Mercy Alidri of Oxfam Uganda explained the sincere
desire of Oxfam to support the province in line with the project SURGE which
was launched early on by Oxfam.
She narrated that on June 1, her team went to
Barangay Karihatag in the municipality of Malimono as part of their community
immersion activities.
She added that they were able to teach the
community on how to cope up with disasters and scale up to other places. She
also said that her group wants to get champions, especially those who have
technical knowledge.
Moreover, Alidri affirmed that there is a need to
mobilize Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), on how to adequately support them,
with a special focus on women and children for disaster planning and
management.
Meanwhile, Arlynn Aquino of the European
Commission on Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection thanked Governor Matugas
for inviting them. She said that as a strong partner of the said project,
disaster preparedness, response and mitigation are special concerns and
interests shared by exemplars and champions to showcase extraordinary resilience.
Gilbert Gonzales of Oxfam Philippines, Ricky Senoc
and Ann Ria Barrera of People's Disaster Risk Reduction Network (PDRRN) were
also there to demonstrate their support in the call to prepare for the 'Big
One.'
On her part, Governor Matugas thanked Oxfam for
helping the provincial government in many ways. She said that the people should
work together to make the province more progressive and effectively address
climate change which is part of the academe's concern.
“By putting emphasis on education to sustain our
efforts, we now shifted our focus on making our schools child-friendly by
helping the young learners understand what is happening,” the lady governor
said. In addition, she also noted that the media is focusing on a giant
earthquake, dubbed as 'the Big One.' She
said that the provincial command is now studying where the major fault lines
are located.
Governor Matugas stressed the importance of
becoming champions in making partners to connect with other organizations and
understand what disaster resilience is all about.
She said that she wants the children to understand
what resilience got to do with their lives. She also described barangay
Karihatag in the municipality of Malimono as one of the best diving sites,
which has a big potential to grow in terms of tourism. (SDR/PIC-Surigao del
Norte/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
