Philippines: Handicap International launches Pamilya Handa campaign for inclusive DRR
In celebration of the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) on October 13, Handicap International on Friday launched on Facebook and Twitter its campaign to encourage Filipino families to create their own Preparedness Plans.
Entitled “Pamilya Handa: Dapat Lahat Handa sa Disaster,” the online campaign introduces the Handa family as the model of inclusive disaster preparedness or disaster risk reduction (DRR) at the household level.
Being “inclusive” means that everyone – including persons with disabilities, older persons, and other vulnerable groups – participates in the decision-making and implementation process of an activity. Being inclusive is crucial in DRR because vulnerable people are often ‘invisible’ or left out in activities such as planning, training, and disaster relief, rehabilitation, and recovery.
The main event of the Pamilya Handa campaign is the Grand Handaan on October 13 (Monday). This will mark the online release of Handicap International’s Inclusive Household Disaster Preparedness Workbook, which will be used by Filipino families and households in creating their inclusive Preparedness Plans.
The campaign also makes use of Thunderclap to invite people to the Grand Handaan. Thunderclap is a platform that creates an online “flash mob” by automatically posting the same message in the social media accounts of a campaign’s subscribers. Pamilya Handa’s Thunderclap campaign is at http://bitly.com/pamilyahanda.
Throughout the campaign, the Handa family will be giving tips and simple quizzes to increase people’s knowledge on inclusive DRR.
The United Nations started the International Day for Disaster Reduction in 1989 to “promote a global culture of disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparedness.” This year, the IDDR’s focus is on older people, “including their needs and what they contribute to better planning and understanding of disaster risk in their communities.”
Handicap International is an independent aid organization supporting people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working in over 60 countries, it is a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and the Conrad N. Hilton Prize in 2011. It is also a member of the Aging and Disability Task Force (ADTF) in the Philippines.