The project “Empowering Communities for Sustainable Self-Reliance: A Two-Year Phase II Project, Cebu City, Philippines” takes place in the four highly vulnerable and densely populated informal settlements in Cebu City (Sitio Lawis in Pasil, Sitio Tierra Dulce in Inayawan, Sitio Wang Yu in Mambaling, and Sitio Nangka Ville in Quiot Pardo). All sitios are located within the Archdiocese of Cebu. These urban poor settlements are highly exposed to frequent flooding, fires, and environmental hazards. They are characterized by severe overcrowding, poor housing conditions, lack of proper sanitation and water access, and a high prevalence of health issues such as malnutrition, respiratory infections, dengue, and hypertension.
This Phase 2 project aims to sustain the gains and achievements of the three-year resilience program concluded in 2025. While the first phase established initial community committees and health training, Phase 2 essentially sustains community participation, financial independence, and policy integration.
Organization and Partners
The initiative is jointly promoted by CADIS International, responsible for general monitoring, and impact evaluation, and the local implementing partner VPHCS (Visayas Primary Healthcare Services, Inc.), a Cebu City-based NGO in charge of daily field operations, community mobilization, and technical staffing. The project is funded by CEI, the Italian Bishops’ Conference.
Project Objectives
The project aims to foster sustainable, community-led resilience and development, empowering residents to self-manage disaster risks, public health, and livelihoods. Its specific objectives include:
- Developing and institutionalizing long-term, self-managed sustainability plans for disaster management, health, and livelihoods.
- Leveraging project successes to conduct policy advocacy with Local Government Units (LGUs).
- Initiating and scaling up community-based livelihood projects to strengthen economic self-reliance.
- Expanding and professionalizing the training of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in specialized areas (maternal health, child nutrition, mental health, and environmental sanitation).
- Designing and implementing targeted health campaigns to promote wellness and prevention.
Key Activities
The two-year action plan is structured into distinct, interconnected operational phases:
Year 1 Activities:
- Sustainability Planning: Conducting participatory needs assessment workshops (SWOT analyses) and sessions with community committees to define roles and draft 4 formal sustainability plans (one for each Sitio).
- Advocacy and Documentation: Training community members to gather data and compile successful case studies; mapping out key LGU departments and initiating institutional dialogues.
- Livelihood Launch: Conducting participatory market analyses, formally organizing livelihood groups, providing training in business planning and financial literacy, and distributing initial seed capital or raw materials to start micro-enterprises.
- Advanced Health Training (Maternal & Child Care): Assessing CHW needs, developing custom training modules, and conducting training courses focused on maternal health and child nutrition, supported by field practicums.
- Health Campaigns and Screenings: Baseline surveying of local knowledge and attitudes (KAP survey); developing culturally appropriate IEC (Information, Education, and Communication) materials, and launching community campaigns on dengue, nutrition, and sanitation.
Year 2 Activities:
- Consolidation and Monitoring: Holding quarterly review meetings with community committees to monitor sustainability plans and facilitating peer learning exchanges between the different settlements.
- Policy Integration: Developing formal policy briefs and infographics for high-level meetings with LGU decision-makers to institutionalize the community models into local government agendas.
- Advanced Economic Resilience: Evaluating the performance of the established micro-enterprises, delivering advanced training on marketing and value chain management, and linking groups to broader markets.
- CHW Professionalization (Mental Health): Developing modules and conducting training courses on psychological first aid and basic mental health, while facilitating CHW inclusion in local health planning.
Expected Outcomes
The intervention aims to achieve lasting impacts, leading to full community autonomy by 2028:
- Institutionalized Resilience: 4 local community committees that are well-structured, independent, and capable of implementing and monitoring their own emergency and development plans without constant external aid.
- Policy Recognition: Formal integration of community-led initiatives into local government (LGU) development plans and ordinances, ensuring institutional backing and potential access to public funding.
- Economic Self-Reliance: At least one operational and profitable community livelihood project per Sitio, resulting in increased household income and diversified livelihoods to withstand economic shocks.
- Qualified Community Healthcare: A highly skilled corps of Community Health Workers (CHWs) capable of independently providing primary care, nutritional monitoring, first-level mental health support, and efficient medical referrals.
- Awareness and Prevention: Substantial improvement in local sanitation and hygiene habits, leading to a reduction in the incidence of preventable diseases (such as dengue and waterborne infections).
Sustainability Factors
The Phase II design is intrinsically built around a gradual exit strategy:
- Economic Sustainability: The heavy emphasis on entrepreneurship, advanced business training, and market linkages allows the community groups to generate their own profit, ensuring that health and disaster-response activities become self-funding over time.
- Institutional Sustainability: Securing official accreditations and signing formal Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) or resolutions with LGUs creates a permanent structural link with government authorities.
- Socio-Cultural Sustainability: By employing an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach, the project does not impose external solutions. Instead, it professionalizes the human resources already present within the settlements, transferring complete ownership of the processes to the residents themselves.
The project “Empowering Communities for Sustainable Self-Reliance: A Two-Year Phase II Project, Cebu City, Philippines” is carried out with the contribution of funds from the 8xmille to the Catholic Church. Remember to also allocate the 8xmille to the Catholic Church.
