Regional Director Shalaine Marie S. Lucero, along with Irish Flor Yaranon, Division Chief of the Logistic Management Division of the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB), and Jun Eso of the Visayas Disaster Response Center (VDRC), recently met with representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The USAID representatives, Ms. Nancy Villanueva-Ebunga, Development Program Specialist, and Rachel Gallagher, Foreign Service Officer for Humanitarian Assistance, visited the DSWD-7 Regional Office to discuss disaster response and camp management strategies and best practices. During the meeting, the USAID representatives inquired about how the field office implemented disaster response strategies. RD Lucero shared the strategy of prepositioning food and non-food items (NFI) in 62 local government units in the region. She added that the prepositioning of goods enables immediate augmentation support for the affected LGU. This strategy has been successful during times of disaster.

Lucero added that a strong partnership and collaboration with the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) and members of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC-7), private agencies, and local government units made it a best practice in the region.

Additionally, the region’s continuous provision of capacity building on camp coordination, camp management, and protection of internally displaced persons and populations, as well as quick response and DROMIC reporting for the staff down to the local government units, made the disaster response in the region more efficient.

Lastly, Lucero added that the region also provides technical assistance to LGUs on warehousing, especially those LGUs that prefer the goods prepositioned in their area. ###

(35) Views