As part of its commitment to help advance progress in the country, leading building solutions provider Holcim Philippines, Inc. is proud to partner with Build Change Philippines, an organization focused on building disaster-resilient homes in developing nations, to strengthen local structures against natural calamities.
Holcim Philippines Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer Zoe Sibala and Build Change Philippines Country Director Arnel Capili sealed the partnership on May 11 to work on disaster-resilient housing projects and advocate this approach among stakeholders. The parties agreed to work together to initially support areas impacted by super Typhoon Odette in 2021.
The partners will collaborate on possible projects to build or retrofit houses, schools, and evacuation centers for disaster resilience and capacity-building through training and advocacy of policies or financing strategies to key stakeholders. Finally, both organizations are committed to develop a scalable affordable housing program in collaboration with other key stakeholders like microfinance institutions to increase access to affordable, disaster-resilient homes, particularly for the more vulnerable segments of society.
Capili highlighted the importance of making structures more resilient in the Philippines given its vulnerability to natural disasters such as earthquakes and storms since the country is within the Pacific Ring of Fire and the typhoon belt. He added that climate change further heightens these threats as it intensifies extreme weather around the world.
Holcim Philippines Vice President and Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility Cara Ramirez, meanwhile, noted that the partnership strengthens the company’s support for communities to be more disaster resilient having done such projects for survivors of Typhoon Pablo in Compostella Valley and neighbors of its Davao Plant living in flood-prone areas.
Build Change has worked in the Philippines since Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. During this period, it has supported both post-disaster reconstruction and work to prevent housing loss against future disasters. Among its accomplishments are the construction of over 2,000 safer buildings for 40,000 people, training of over 4,700 individuals in safe construction practices, creation of 560 jobs, and expansion of its network of partners in local government, business sector for greater impact.
