Strengthening Partnerships: Livelihood at the Forefront of Recovery after Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)

The ILO's Emergency Employment and Livelihood Recovery for Super Typhoon Haiyan will hold a one-day culminating event, “Strengthening Partnerships: Livelihood at the Forefront of Recovery after Haiyan” on Thursday, 6 August 2015.

Three panel discussions and presentations will highlight partnerships, results, and lessons learnt. The participants are national government agencies, members of the diplomatic corps, development partners, local governments, international and local non-government organizations, academe, and those who have worked towards placing livelihood and social protection at the forefront of disaster response.

The objectives of the event are to:

• Share lessons learnt and experiences as well as highlight the results and the partnerships that have been integral to implementation of sustainable livelihood recovery.
• Showcase decent work practices, particularly social protection, that can be replicated where there is need for disaster response and preparedness initiatives – reinforcing national policies that uphold the rights of workers to decent work and social protection;
• Promote the principle that livelihood support should be at the forefront of recovery efforts and recognise the rewards this brings, the processes that enhance this, and key players and implementers that have maintained this work.

Discussion 1 will present “Lessons Across Borders: Learnings from Disaster Response in Japan and the Philippines”. This session will focus on the human aspects and personal experiences of those who have encountered disaster, and link them to the importance of livelihood and decent work in the response, both from a personal and a societal perspective. It will also show what lessons and similarities can be seen in regards to different disasters and different countries and what underlying conditions or messages can be found.

Discussion 2 will be on “Spearheading Sustainability and Livelihood Recovery through Collaboration in the Super Typhoon Haiyan Disaster Response”. This session will elaborate on subjects such as rebuilding livelihood assets and supporting community-driven enterprises as a task to be shared among the national government, local government units, community-based organizations (CBOs), local and international non-government organizations, the private sector and employers’ groups, workers’ organizations, and other local organizations.

Discussion 3 will tackle “Social Protection in Haiyan Disaster Response”. This session will take up subjects such as access to social security, gaps between national policy and actual coverage, inclusion of the informal sector, and alternative methods of extending coverage.

With the support of the Governments of Norway and Japan, the Department for International Development (DFID) UK, and the International Maritime Employers' Council (IMEC), the ILO’s Haiyan Project has reached out to affected communities through emergency employment, social protection, local resource-based work, skills training, and enterprise development.