The social action arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Caritas Philippines, in a statement on Saturday, Oct. 28, announced that it is set to commemorate the 10th year of Super Typhoon Yolanda on Nov. 7 to 8 in Tacloban City, Leyte.
Under the theme "Caritas Legacy: 10 Years of Community Resilience and Sustained Development," the commemoration will showcase and appreciate communities' best practices and their impact on community resilience and sustained development.
Caritas also aims to inspire solidarity among various stakeholders to ensure ongoing support for community initiatives, including climate change advocacy.
Caritas Philippines President Bishop Jose Colin M. Bagaforo expressed his gratitude for the support of partners and the resilience of communities over the past decade.
"This commemoration is an opportunity to celebrate our progress and to recommit ourselves to working together to build a more disaster-resilient and sustainable future for the Philippines," he added.
Along with Caritas Internationalis Member Organizations (CIMOs) who have supported the intervention, participants include partner humanitarian organizations and government agencies that have backed the project's 4-year intervention and community partners directly involved in the implementation.
Dioceses that helped the nine most affected dioceses, namely Palo, Cebu, Calbayog, Borongan, Jaro, Capiz, Antique, Kalibo, and Taytay, will also participate in the commemoration, as well as new partners who wish to gain insight into the community's experience and intervention.
"Yolanda" was one of the strongest tropical cyclones in history — that made landfall in the Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013, with over 6,000 people killed and over four million displaced.
The social arm was one of the first organizations to respond to the disaster, providing relief and rehabilitation assistance to affected communities.
Since the super typhoon, Caritas has worked with communities to rebuild their homes and livelihoods and to strengthen their disaster preparedness and response capacity.
Furthermore, the organization has also supported communities to adapt to climate change and build more sustainable livelihoods.