DSWD girds for El Niño

THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is strengthening water access, food production and heat protection measures to help vulnerable communities prepare for the possible effects of a super El Niño.
The preparations extend from community reservoirs and vegetable gardens to temperature monitoring in relief warehouses and planned heat insulation in evacuation centers, the DSWD spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao, said during the agency’s media forum on Thursday.
Dumlao said the agency is implementing its Risk Resiliency Program–Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (RRP-CCAM), including Project Local Adaptation to Water Access (Lawa) and Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished (Binhi).
The initiatives aim to strengthen communities’ access to water and food before climate hazards disrupt their daily needs and livelihoods, she said.
“We are focused on water access and sufficiency, and food security is also one of the concerns we