Members of ARISE Philippines gather for the 2019 Annual
General Meeting held recently at the Mall of Asia Arena Annex Building in Pasay
City. The AGM was led by ARISE global
member & chairman of the executive committee of SM Prime Holdings Hans Sy
(seated, center)
Representatives from both public and private sectors,
including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and the SM Group, convened
recently for the annual ARISE General Meeting held at the Mall of Asia Arena,
Pasay City.
ARISE Philippines is a network of private companies that
are united under the common objective of establishing innovative disaster
resilience practices within organizations. This initiative supports the United
Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), and the Sendai
Framework. Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement
which recognizes the role of UN member countries to reduce disaster risk, and
which should be shared with other stakeholders including local governments and
the private sector.
Through their membership with ARISE Philippines,
companies from the private sector are enabled to build their own capacity and
develop strategies in making their organizations resilient to disaster risk, by
learning from subject matter experts and engaging in workshops that discuss
best practices. In recent studies, the Philippines have been globally ranked as
the third most vulnerable country, in terms of disaster and calamity.
The government sector was represented by the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) National Disaster
Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC).
Director Susan Juangco delivered message from
Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, Executive Director of NDRRMC, “As private organizations
begin to understand their roles in disaster risk reduction management, and
actively collaborating with the public, the government’s vision for a disaster
resilient nation is coming to its reality. We are here not to boost the
self-interests of our organizations, but to attain our goal for our
stakeholders and assure quality of life beyond disaster.”
Asst. Director of the Bureau of Small and Medium
Enterprise Development of DTI, Alicia M. Opeña, added, “The MSME sector has a
vital role in the welfare of our society as it serves as a proximity market or
immediate provider of most goods and services, and we believe that integrating
disaster risk reduction initiative in the MSME structures will ensure that
businesses can continue to operate their core services even in the occurrence
of an adverse situation.”
During the roundtable discussions, participants gained
shared understanding of key performance indicators in each of the presented
work themes, which are organizational initiatives that respond to preventive
measures against disaster, and eventually develop a joint action plan to ensure
progress in creating disaster resilient societies. Some of the key topics
covered were disaster risk management strategies, education and training and
urban risk reduction.
At the annual meeting, the vision of Hans T. Sy was
reiterated, “As a member of ARISE, I encourage everyone to promote disaster
preparedness and risk resiliency. We must continue to help each other in
minimizing property damages and most especially in protecting lives because
disaster resilience is everybody’s business”.
To know more about ARISE Philippines, you may contact its
secretariat through arisephilippines@smprime.com or
https://cc.preventionweb.net/arise/asia_pacific/arise_philippines
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