Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management (IPOPCORM)
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) provided complementary funding ($6million over 5 years) for this Initiative - the Philippines largest population-environment project.
Main activities included advocacy communication targeting national and local policy decision-makers with information about population-environment-poverty links and cross-sectoral approaches that can reduce poverty, slow population momentum, and improve food security and the sustainability of coastal resources.
IPOPCORM also supported field-based projects that channel technical assistance and financial support to fisher folk and their peoples organizations for planning and implementation of community based and integrated coastal conservation, reproductive health and alternative livelihood activities in collaboration with local government units and nongovernmental organizations (LGU-NGO). Activities were implemented in 183 fishing communities located in high-growth marine corridors and hotspots ranked by the GOP as “extremely high priority” areas for biodiversity conservation. A rigorous quasi-experimental evaluation design was applied in selected areas where PFPI and partners tested IPOPCORM’s underlying hypothesis that integrated program strategies yield a bigger pay-off than stand alone initiatives.
Poverty-Population-Environment (PPE)Project
The Poverty-Population-Environment (PPE) Project is designed to improve human and ecosystem wellbeing in regions of the country where interrelated poverty-population-environment (PPE) dynamics pose threats to socio-economic development and the viability of life-sustaining ecosystems. It enables local governments and private sector organizations to plan, implement and monitor cross-sectoral approaches to development that have the potential to alleviate poverty, mitigate food insecurity, improve access to family planning and enhance the sustainability of natural resources in high-growth biodiversity-rich areas of the Philippines. Using evidence from the Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management (IPOPCORM) Initiative, the PPE Project is scaling-up the community-based and integrated approach in two globally significant ecoregions – the Danajon Bank and the Verde Island Passage – which rank among the highest priority marine conservation hotspots in the country. Our partners in this effort include the Philippine League of Municipalities, the First Philippine Conservation Inc., the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the US Agency for International Development, the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center, Conservation International, and provincial and local government units in the provinces of Cebu, Leyte, Bohol, Southern Leyte, Western Samar, Oriental Mindoro, Batangas and Occidental Mindoro.
NGO Initiatives to Prevent HIV/AIDS
From 2007-2009, the Asian Development Bank supported the HIV/AIDS prevention project in the Province of Bohol. The goal was to contribute to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. Project objectives were geared towards reducing the risk of exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) among dependents of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and tourism sector-related workers. Key interventions implemented included behavior change communications to increase HIV/AIDS/STI knowledge and encourage appropriate health seeking behaviors; capacity building of government health personnel and community volunteers to improve delivery of HIV/AIDS information and services; and promotion of policies that support behavior change.
The Alternative Advocacy Project
In 2006, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation supported a three-year project to scale up the integrated Population-Environment approach on an ecosystem wide basis. The project promoted linkages between reproductive health/family planning (RH/FP), coastal resource management (CRM) and sustainable development to enhance food security.
The alternative advocacy projet (AAP) was implemented in the coastal municipalities in four provinces bordering the Danajon Bank - sole double barrier reef in the Philippines and one of the most ecologically and economically important ecosystems. The project worked with local government units (LGU) policymaker groups and associations, NGOs and private entrepreneurs. Its main strategies included constituency building for cross-sectoral approaches, capacity building to formulate Population-Environment (P-E) development plans and creation of learning opportunities on integrated P-E approaches.