policy. The evaluation sought to help implementers understand how the project was
supporting communities adapt to climate change, and also posed the question: what
does successful adaptation look like from the perspective of children, youth and
their communities?
16.2 The Project
Across the Philippines, many communities are extremely vulnerable to climate
change due to high levels of poverty combined with high exposure to a wide range
of climate change impacts. The Philippines was ranked 2nd on the 2014 World Risk
Index
3 and 122nd out of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development
Index.
4 All areas of the Philippines are expected to see increased average daily
temperatures and a spike in the number of very hot days. Rising sea levels and
increased storm surges will impact coastal zones, whilst changes to seasonal rainfall
patterns are likely to affect food security. The wet season is likely to become wetter,
while the dry season becomes drier. However, given the diversity across the
Philippines, the effects of these changes will vary across the country and will
ultimately be localised and highly context-specific.
5
The Child-Centred Community-Based Adaptation (CC-CBA) project,
implemented from 2012 to 2015 and funded by the Australian Government,
aimed to respond to these challenges by enhancing the resilience of children,
youth, and their communities to the unavoidable impacts of climate change in
40 barangays across four vulnerable provinces (see Fig. 16.1): Aurora (led by
Save the Children), Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Southern Leyte (led by
Plan). The four provinces were targeted due to their high poverty levels and
vulnerability to climate change impacts. The design assessments found that the
majority of the population had a low level of understanding of climate risk and
vulnerability and low capacity to adapt. Likely impacts of climate change upon
children include reduced ability to attend school, malnutrition, food insecurity,
increased workloads, increased child abuse and increased morbidity and mortality
from water and vector-borne diseases. All four provinces are located on the Eastern
seaboard and are regularly subjected to extreme weather events such as typhoons,
storm surges and flooding. The project areas were severely affected by Typhoon
Haiyan in November 2013, as well as earlier Typhoons Utor and Nari in Aurora
province.
3 United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). 2014.
World Risk Report 2014. Bonn, Germany.
4 United Nations Development Programme. 2014. Human Development Report 2014, Sustaining
Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience. New York.
5 PAGASA. 2011. Climate Change in the Philippines: PAGASA, ADAPTAYO & MDG.F.
16 Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation in Practice: A Child-Centred. . .
291
supporting communities adapt to climate change, and also posed the question: what
does successful adaptation look like from the perspective of children, youth and
their communities?
16.2 The Project
Across the Philippines, many communities are extremely vulnerable to climate
change due to high levels of poverty combined with high exposure to a wide range
of climate change impacts. The Philippines was ranked 2nd on the 2014 World Risk
Index
3 and 122nd out of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development
Index.
4 All areas of the Philippines are expected to see increased average daily
temperatures and a spike in the number of very hot days. Rising sea levels and
increased storm surges will impact coastal zones, whilst changes to seasonal rainfall
patterns are likely to affect food security. The wet season is likely to become wetter,
while the dry season becomes drier. However, given the diversity across the
Philippines, the effects of these changes will vary across the country and will
ultimately be localised and highly context-specific.
5
The Child-Centred Community-Based Adaptation (CC-CBA) project,
implemented from 2012 to 2015 and funded by the Australian Government,
aimed to respond to these challenges by enhancing the resilience of children,
youth, and their communities to the unavoidable impacts of climate change in
40 barangays across four vulnerable provinces (see Fig. 16.1): Aurora (led by
Save the Children), Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Southern Leyte (led by
Plan). The four provinces were targeted due to their high poverty levels and
vulnerability to climate change impacts. The design assessments found that the
majority of the population had a low level of understanding of climate risk and
vulnerability and low capacity to adapt. Likely impacts of climate change upon
children include reduced ability to attend school, malnutrition, food insecurity,
increased workloads, increased child abuse and increased morbidity and mortality
from water and vector-borne diseases. All four provinces are located on the Eastern
seaboard and are regularly subjected to extreme weather events such as typhoons,
storm surges and flooding. The project areas were severely affected by Typhoon
Haiyan in November 2013, as well as earlier Typhoons Utor and Nari in Aurora
province.
3 United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). 2014.
World Risk Report 2014. Bonn, Germany.
4 United Nations Development Programme. 2014. Human Development Report 2014, Sustaining
Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience. New York.
5 PAGASA. 2011. Climate Change in the Philippines: PAGASA, ADAPTAYO & MDG.F.
16 Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation in Practice: A Child-Centred. . .
291