Story by ACCORD, Inc.

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting not just the health but also the livelihoods of people the world over. In Cotabato City, many from urban poor communities have been unable to work because of strict quarantine measures imposed across the Philippines midway through March 2020.

To help partner communities tap alternative sources of livelihood during the COVID-19 crisis, the Moving Urban Poor Communities Toward Resilience Project (MOVE UP) organized a mobile palengke (market) in five barangays of Cotabato City on June 13, 2020. This was also one way to make affordable, fresh, healthy food accessible to locals as they observe stay-at-home rules.

MOVE UP worked with the local government and two community savings groups (CSG), which are livelihood groups formed as part of the project’s strategies to enhance urban resilience by improving financial literacy and making livelihoods more resilient. Members of the participating CSGs – who, before the pandemic, made a living by selling food products, tailoring, or working as housekeepers – sold fish, chicken, fruits, vegetables, and spices at the mobile palengke.

Pre-activity consultations and planning

Throughout the whole process, the CSG members were actively involved in decision-making, and there was always proper coordination with the local government.

The first step was to conduct consultations with the relevant stakeholders. The team met with the barangay and city local government through the members of the project’s Technical Working Group on Resilient Livelihood, and members of the CSGs. The next phase involved figuring out which commodities to sell, making the necessary logistics arrangements, looking for cost-efficient suppliers, and computing for potential revenue, among other planning-related tasks.

To promote the activity, city and barangay local governments worked together to help spread the word.

Market day

The group went to all five barangays – Poblacion 3 and 9, and Rosary Heights 3, 4, and 5 – in one day. They had planned to spend two hours in each site, including the loading and unloading of items from the rented trucks. Staff members made announcements on-site in the local language using a megaphone. Physical distancing was observed, and the team used masks and disposable gloves.

Challenges and lessons

During the post-activity evaluations, several challenges were discussed. Planning and coordination was made more difficult by the quarantine because face-to-face meetings were discouraged, if not prohibited. Making sure the perishable goods stayed fresh – on the day itself and a few days after, in case there were leftovers – was also challenging. There were difficulties during procurement because stock availability was limited, another effect of the lockdown on supply chains. There was also a sharp price drop, particularly for fish, from the day of procurement to the day after the activity. Lastly, five barangays, with one to two market sites per barangay, may have been too many to cover in one day, as the loading and unloading process in each site was laborious and time-consuming.

Some CGS members also expressed hesitance to join future sessions. For one, sales projections made during this run of the mobile palengke may not be applicable to subsequent runs, as buyers begin to have more choices available due to the loosening up of movement restrictions. Some are also less inclined to do it again because they incurred some losses due to the price fluctuation.

But despite these concerns and the challenges they faced, the team has decided to try again and adjust based on the lessons they learned from the previous activity.

Focusing on people rather than just profit

The mobile palengke gave partner communities a chance to explore an alternative livelihood, and also brought food closer to communities whose access to markets has been difficult. It also allowed the MOVE UP team to see how else they could help improve the livelihoods of CSGs.

It was a good reminder that exploring alternative livelihoods entails taking risks – as all livelihood pursuits have associated risks – and learning from the challenges.

Most importantly, it was a reminder that making livelihoods more resilient is more than a quest for profitability. The systems that make livelihoods more likely to be profitable, sustainable, and humane must also be improved. This requires allowing communities to fully participate in the process (thereby improving their social positions) and working hand-in-hand with local governments (as a result, helping create a more enabling environment). The gains from these efforts may not be as tangible and immediate as turning a profit, but they pave the way for the longer-term, systemic changes needed to help empower urban poor communities.

To bolster urban resilience, then, we must place people, rather than just profit, at the center of livelihood efforts.

Through the EU Humanitarian Aid, the Move Up Project has been able to reach out to the most vulnerable families affected by the social and economic impacts of COVID-19.

Cebu City, which has been under stringent community quarantine measures due to its increasing COVID-19 cases, is home to more than 900,000 people as of 2015.

To date, the Community Savings Groups which are established through the project, have been continuously finding ways to diversify their livelihood options given the uncertain circumstances.

Hear more about their stories in this Champions’ Vlog .

The MOVE UP Project is an urban resilience effort funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. It is implemented by Plan International Philippines, CARE Philippines, Action Against Hunger Philippines, and ACCORD Incorporated.

In the third installment of the Move Up Project vlog series, let’s get to know more about the journey of the Community Savings Groups (CSGs) in Cebu City. In one of the project training sessions, some key members of the groups were able to identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats which are crucial to their enterprises.

Through the said exercise, the groups were able to plan ahead the mitigating measures and how to maximize solutions available given the existing threats to their businesses’ success.

CSGs are the entry point of the project’s Resilient Livelihood intervention. Using this social group, capacity building activities are made to diversify their livelihood options and help the existing ones become more resilient and sustainable.

The MOVE UP Project is funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid and run by a consortium of Plan International Philippines, CARE Philippines, Action Against Hunger Philippines, and ACCORD Incorporated.

MOVE UP Philippines conducted a two-week seminar on Community-based Enterprise Development and Financial Literacy in Cebu City last January 20-24 and 24-27, 2020 which aimed to build the participants’ capacity for business management.

In attendance were 32 members of five different Community Savings Groups (CSGs) members from different sitios of Barangay Apas and Barangay Basak Pardo. All participants were small business owners and workers who are also members of barangay councils, sitio leaders, and active members of various women’s organizations.

This activity is very helpful to us because we were provided with useful ideas on how to manage a business, how to manage our finances, and how to prevent possible losses.

– Aiza Marie Gimpayan, CSG Member, Brgy. Apas, Cebu City

At the end of the sessions, the participants were asked to produce a comprehensive business plan for CSGs.

Check out the video to watch vlog number 2 of the MOVE UP Philippines Vlog Series.

COVID-19 cases are continuously rising causing an immediate need to address hospitals’ surge capacity in the country. MOVE UP, PfR, and a Czech-funded urban resilience projects responded to this challenge by translating the Alternative Temporary Shelter  System (an urban resilience strategy addressing the lack of dignified space and shelters for internally displaced families affected by disasters) into CQFs. The CQFs are made to complement the government’s effort to address the increasing need for isolation facilities for cases of COVID-19.

To learn more about Community Quarantine Facilities, view and download the link to the factsheet by clicking on this link.

The MOVE UP Philippines conducted a Community Risk Assessment in July 2019 which was designed to encourage the participation of vulnerable sectors such as women, children, and persons with disabilities, among others in partner areas B1rangay Apas and Barangay Basak Pardo in Cebu City.

The assessments were attended by barangay council members, barangay disaster risk reduction and management committee members, barangay emergency response teams, leaders from people’s organizations, health workers, and gender and development personnel among others.

Through the communities’ active participation in the assessment, appropriate and area-specific interventions are implemented by the project and barangay local governments.

Check out the video below to see the first vlog of the MOVE UP Philippines Vlog Series.

The May 2018 Catmon fire incident in Malabon displaced more than a thousand families. Deployment of ATS was participated by the local government, technical volunteers, and affected communities. Post-displacement interviews reveal that then displaced families appreciate the setup and were able to continue with their lives because they have a safe, decent, and enough space for rest and domestic activities.

Partner cities during a three-day workshop on ATS Systems and Camp Coordination and Camp Management. One of the activities is a tabletop exercise wherein participants plan an evacuation site based on their city’s contingency plan on a particular hazard.

To learn more about the Alternative Temporary Shelter (ATS) System deployed in Catmon, download the file below.

View and download the material here.

What is a resilient community?

Resilience is defined as “The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to, and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management” (UNISDR, 2017). Communities to be resilient should also be able to anticipate, adapt, respond, and transform into hazards, shocks, and stresses.

The MOVE UP Project envisions resilient communities as those that are able to prepare and bounce back from shocks and stresses because: 1) they have the resilience capacities to do so, 2) the society they live in is inclusive and equitable, and 3) good governance provides an environment that enables them to participate in public life and decision-making.

Resilient urban communities, thus, have proper access to natural, physical, human, social, economic, and political resources, which may come in the form of essentials such as land and water, sufficient and durable income levels, structurally sound homes in safe locations, good health, diverse skills and high level of education, health insurance, social inclusion programs, micro-credit, retirement schemes, and disaster preparedness training programs, among other things (Wisner, Gaillard, & Kelman, 2012).

View and download the material here.