Project overview

The agreement proposes to improve the protection of the natural environment, access to livelihoods, and disaster response by strengthening civil society to combat the root causes of poverty, with a focus on gender, rights and the environment. The shared vision is that a civil society strengthened with the inclusion of indigenous women will trigger a transformation, abandoning old harmful dynamics and promoting social change based on the common good. For this, this project focuses on several aspects of the livelihoods of these communities: 1) economic impact, 2) social impact with the empowerment of indigenous women, 3) human capital investment, 4) positive environmental impact, and 5) institutional impact by working with local government and other agents.

OBJECTIVES

General Objective: Reduce climate vulnerability in northern Luzon by promoting socioeconomic development and protection of the ecological integrity of indigenous communities, based on gender equality, cultural acceptability and ecosystem sustainability.

Specific Objectives:

1. Strengthen community organizations for their active participation in local governance.

2. Increase the income of the most vulnerable households through the development of efficient, ecological and inclusive economic initiatives.

3. Strengthen the capacities of local governments (LGUs), the local community and other institutions to adequately respond to disasters.

4. Improve the environmental management of local governments (LGUs) and civil society organizations.

5.To promote efficient, transparent and quality aid, strengthening Caritas agents as responsible subjects, open to learning processes and accountability.

COUNTERPART

Caritas Philippines is the humanitarian, development and advocacy arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Since its birth in 1966, it has been in the forefront implementing programs on poverty alleviation, sustainable agriculture, empowerment of women and children, and ecology protection. It also implements programs on good governance, peace building, agrarian justice, microfinance, and emergency response.