SURIGAO CITY – Department of Health (DOH) Caraga with support from the UNICEF conducted a Provincial Wide Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Health (DRRM-H) Planning Workshop for the Province of Surigao del Norte on October 5-7, 2022 at EY Miner Suites, Surigao City with the National Nutrition Council- Caraga as Cluster facilitator during the activity.

DRRM-H planning is a participative process, carefully studying the hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks of an area. Additionally, it is a systematic, systemic, strategic, evidence-based, and consultative process to come up with a regional, provincial, city, municipality, barangay, and hospital DRRM-H Plan and properly implement it to ensure resilient health systems at all levels of governance.

In his message, DOH DMO V Erwin Pingal thanked the local government units for giving time in the planning workshop. Likewise, he acknowledged UNICEF Philippines for the support provided for Caraga region.

On the other hand, Officer-in-charge Dr. Niño Archie S. Labordo provided inputs about the NNC being the lead in the Nutrition Cluster with UNICEF Philippines as the Co-lead with the Cluster experiences during the typhoon Odette response.

The Cluster approach is essentially a "sectoral coordination group" of humanitarian actors, introduced by the United Nations in the Humanitarian Reform Agenda.

The National Nutrition Council appreciated the DOH Center for Health Development-Caraga for making it possible for the Nutrition Cluster to be part of this milestone for the DRRM H formulation.

The contents of the planning workshops include: hazard assessment; vulnerability assessment; risk assessment and analysis; DRRM-H preparedness assessment; prevention and mitigation plan; preparedness plan; response plan; and recovery and rehabilitation plan.

It is aimed that the plan will help strengthen the disaster risk reduction activities in order to prevent fatalities, diseases, impairments, and the psychosocial impact of emergencies and disasters through people-centered actions and collaborative strategies.

The three (3)-day workshop was attended by more than seventy (70) participants from different local government units of Surigao del Norte. #GASaromines