This session provided a snapshot of the journey towards the establishment of an Anticipatory Action (AA) Technical Working Group (TWG) for the common goal of institutionalizing AA in the Philippines. AA TWG Co-Chairs, Dir. Clifford Riveral, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) , Ms. Cheryl Leal, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) and Ms. Maria Ruzzella Quilla, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with Mr. Mark Cervantes, World Food Programme (WFP), member of one of the thematic sub-working groups covered discussions on the lessons learned and challenges in establishing and operationalizing the AA TWG as well as the ways forward to make the AA TWG better and stronger in the coming years.

The AA TWG of the Philippines, formed in 2016, brings together humanitarian actors and national government agencies responsible for hazard forecasting and warning, preparedness, and response. It is currently chaired by the Office of Civil Defense, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and has four Thematic Sub Working Groups (TSGs) namely: Triggers, Early Action, Financing and Monitoring and Evaluation. Members of the AA TWG bring in the technical expertise of their respective organization to be able to address the gaps in operationalizing AA in the Philippines, thus serving as a platform for advocating the implementation of AA both at the national and local level. The biggest milestone to date of the AA TWG is the adoption of the Adaptive and Shock Responsive Social Protection (ASRSP) Roadmap in the Philippines, as mentioned by Ms. Cheryl Leal of OCD.

Recognizing that one of the complexities in operationalizing AA is communicating the said concept to the various national government agencies and local government units, Ms. Cheryl Leal discussed how the OCD included AA as one of the priority strategies in the updated National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan (NDRRMP). To quote Ms. Leal, “AA is not a new mechanism, we have been doing this, we just need to come up with an umbrella project where all initiatives will be mutually reinforcing.” Meanwhile, Ms. Maria Ruzzella Quilla from FAO Philippines mentioned the necessity for an enabling policy environment to hurdle the challenges of operationalizing AA in the Philippines and to actually make it work. To quote Ms. Quilla “policy issuances and legislations that can aid in implementing AA is something that needs to be pursued. AA TWG as a venue for rallying support from government partners to unlock barriers in implementing AA.”

Evidence plays a key role in the advancement of AA in the country. As such, the critical role that LGUs play in the implementation of AA was zoomed in on by Ms. Ana Dizon from START Network who highlighted the importance of filtering up and filtering down of data/ information -filtering up of data/information which comes from actual experience of the local government units to be able to generate evidence on the effectiveness of AA and filtering down of data/information to be able to gain the appreciation and understanding of government units what AA is and its benefits. This point of view also supports Mr. Mark Cervantes of the WFP’s statement on the importance strengthening partnerships with the LGUs for sustainability purposes.

On how to make the AA TWG better and stronger in the coming years, Dir. Clifford Riveral discussed several strategic directions to take such as the DSWD and OCD as co-chairs working together to create a unified approach to steering the AA TWG bringing together DRR and SP principles closer. He also zeroed in on establishing a clear purpose for the AA TWG and strong leadership from the government supported by a sound and practical plan and a mechanism to monitor the TWG’s work. Another key direction he mentioned is “to take the experiences of humanitarian actors and participate in Joint simulation exercises in order to help all of us understand the roles, challenges and implications of a full scale AA approach. So that when the time comes and an activation is made, both government and humanitarian actors will be ready. “ Finally, Dir. Riveral mentioned on how all the learnings and sharings from the AA Dialogue Platform should be taken into consideration by the AA TWG to be able to come up with a “one-size fits all” solution to providing relief interventions by the humanitarian community.