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The purpose of this paper is to look into the socio-cultural contexts that shaped people’s evacuation decisions during typhoon Haiyan in three affected areas in the Philippines.

This is a multi-sited ethnography that utilized interviews, focus group discussion and participatory risk mapping among selected women and men in areas affected by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Coastal communities encounter threats from storm surges as brought about by typhoons. During such periods, disaster evacuation programs are implemented. In some instances, evacuation programs are met with resistance from community members. Such resistance has been attributed to the people’s hard headedness and ignorance of the potential impacts of living in hazard prone areas. This paper argues that it is not solely for these reasons that people refused to evacuate. Results showed that hesitance may also be due to other considerations and priorities vital to people. It is also because people had faith in the knowledge and strategies that they were able to develop by engaging with hazards through time. Furthermore, previous experiences with disaster evacuation programs cast doubt on their value in saving their lives. Life in the evacuation areas can be as dangerous if not more compared with living in their coastal homes. Some of the informants believed that they were being moved from hazard zones to death zones. This paper ends with recommendations for the development of evacuation programs that build people’s resilience while taking into consideration the local moral world in identified hazard zones in the Philippines.

The study focused on three areas affected by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, namely, Tacloban City, Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and San Francisco, Cebu.

Most research on disaster mitigation looked into the engineering and technology aspects. This paper looks into the socio-cultural contexts of disaster evacuation.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of a community-based resilience intervention for Filipino displaced survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

The researchers used a quasi-experimental and mixed-method design comparing a treatment group with a control group across three time periods: before, immediately after, and six months after the intervention.

Results showed significant improvements in survivors’ anxiety scores and resilience scores compared to those who did not undergo the program. However, although there was an increase in adaptive coping of participants immediately after the program, there was a reduction in adaptive coping behaviors for all groups six months after the program. Focus group discussions revealed this might be due to significant environmental challenges among displaced survivors.

A limitation of the study was the lack of randomization and a small sample size due to attrition.

The study highlights the positive effects of culturally adapted group interventions.

The results suggest the importance of a systemic approach to enabling the recovery of displaced survivors in developing countries.

This study provides evidence for a resilience intervention developed in a low-middle income country in Southeast Asia.

Although half a decade have already passed following the devastation of super typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, limited studies on the status of the seaweed aquaculture industry have been reportedly published, specifically on the gendered differences of the key players in the production activities. The purpose of this empirical research is to present the different characteristics of producers; technology used in farming; gendered differences in labor; sources of propagules; and yield, productivity and income of seaweed farmers in five rural-poor coastal communities in Eastern Samar, the Philippines.

The data were gathered through a combination of fieldworks and desk research and were analyzed using a value chain and gender needs assessment analyses. A four-part, self-made guide questionnaire was used as an instrument. The data were presented and analyzed using thematic analysis.

The results demonstrate that the modified monoline method is the technology used by the seaweed farmers. Propagules are usually supplied for free by the BFAR or bought from neighboring villages. A monthly income of PhP 19,500.00 (US$393.00) can be generated from seaweed farming. Division of labors in most of the seaweed production processes is equally distributed between men and women with help from their boys-and-girls children. Increasing further the number of lines per seaweed grower to at least 25 will enable them to go beyond the poverty threshold, based on 2015 figures of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This study provides additional empirical data to substantiate and prove that women’s active involvement in seaweed production provides them an important opportunity to earn some income for themselves and their families and contribute to livelihood and enterprise development in their communities.

This study is helpful in constructing an Industry Development Plan to serve as the Seaweed Industry Road Map for progress, thereby, helping men and women seaweed growers especially in rural-poor coastal areas.

Aside from being conducted in a post-disaster context, the data and recommendations presented in this paper contribute to the body of knowledge that government and non-government institutions, private individuals and groups and the academia could use in understanding the economic, commercial and community development contributions, gaps and constraints in producing seaweed in rural-poor coastal communities.

This paper serves as an in-depth empirical study reflective of the post-disaster, current gendered labor practices, culture, knowledge and attitude of the seaweed producers in the Philippines. More importantly, this study was conducted by a local researcher, thereby reflecting empirical findings and recommendations that are strategic, gender and culture-sensitive and timely and relevant.

The tikog handicraft industry in Basey, province of Samar in the Philippines, was heavily devastated by super typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. More than five years after the disaster, very few studies have been published regarding the status of this industry. Thus, this paper aims to examine the roles of men and women farmers, weavers, converters and other chain actors of the Tikog Value Chain Industry in Basey and presents the status of the industry in terms of (a) operations, (b) performance and contribution to the economy, (c) capacity (materials, product and people), (d) market and (e) its current challenges in a post-disaster context.

For this case study, data were gathered through desk research and field works. The data were thematically analyzed using elements of a value chain analysis to provide insights and to help develop strategies to improve women’s contributions in developing the tikog handicraft industry.

Among the structures in the industry are associations comprising of formal and informal groups of tikog farmers, weavers, converters and traders. About 2,000 families in Basey are engaged in the tikog industry. This generates an estimated additional family income from PHP 4,200.00 (USD84.00) – PHP 18,000.00 (USD360.00)/year. Supply of raw materials is not only hampered by the depleting natural resources but also by the availability of drying facilities. Weavers continue to buy from Leyte suppliers due to challenges in drying tikog grasses. The author strongly argues that there is a need to increase capacity building opportunities for those involved in tikog to avoid stunted growth of the industry.

Aside from being a survivor himself, the author directly worked with the men, women and communities involved in this study. This highlights the ability of this research to realistically reflect the current knowledge, practices and attitudes of actors involved in the tikog handicraft industry in Basey, Philippines.

The purpose of this research is to understand whether an organization knows if it is ready to respond to a disaster and whether it has the capabilities to deliver relief. Our initial motivation was to identify unique resources possessed by the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) due to their unique and critical capabilities for humanitarian operations. The recent frequency of disasters around the world suggests these events will continue to create demand for relief capabilities. For this reason we need to understand readiness metrics not just for USN and USMC but for humanitarian organizations (Hos) in general.

We survey relevant literature for understanding how HOs define and develop readiness metrics and associated factors. We studied documents including peer-reviewed scholarly articles, government documents, white papers, research papers and Department of Defense (DoD) briefings. We study literature that is significantly written for DoD, one, the vast experience of USN and USMC and two, the lessons learned have been documented. The literature offers substantial information on what readiness means and why it is important. This documented information is critical because it is known to the researchers in humanitarian operations that data is hard to come by.

The framework for readiness proposed at the end of this article is context the emergency responder probably uses in an informal fashion. The validation of readiness framework, we find exists in the supporting literature we review.

The understanding of readiness metrics for humanitarian operations for the organizations we study may offer insight into other HOs. The insights we gain may not be pivotal or counterintuitive to the conclusions based on commonsense. However, they are supported by the literature review. We formalize the concept based on conclusions of a set of diverse set of researchers and practitioners such as academic scholars, DoD personnel and government officials involved in humanitarian missions, USAID representatives that are repeatedly tasked for being ready, military and government officers from host and foreign countries and many more.

The need in disaster response to assess how reliably and equitably funding was accounted for and distributed is addressed by a standardized report and index applicable to any disaster type. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Data from the Nepal earthquake (2015), Typhoon Haiyan (2013), the Haiti earthquake (2010), Sri Lankan flood (2011), and Hurricane Sandy (2012) illustrate uses of a public equitable allocation of resources log (PEARL). Drawing from activity-based costing and the Gini index, a PEARL spreadsheet computes absolute inequity sector by sector as well as a cumulative index. Response variations guide index value interpretation.

Index values indicates major inequity in Nepal hygiene kit distribution and Haiti earthquake (both PEARL indices near 0.5), moderate inequity for the Sri Lankan flood (index roughly 0.75) and equitable distributions for Typhoon Haiyan and Hurricane Sandy (both indices approximately 0.95). Indices are useful to approximate proportions of inequity in the total response and investigate allocation under uncertainty in sector need specification.

This original tool is implementable using a website containing a practice PEARL, completed examples and downloadable spreadsheet. Used across multiple sectors or for a single sector, PEARL may signal need for additional resources, correct inequitable distribution decisions, simplify administrative monitoring/assessment, and foster greater accounting transparency in summary reports. PEARL also assists historical analysis of all disaster types to determine completeness of public accounting records and equity in fund distribution.

The purpose of this paper is to examine religious struggles and loss of faith in Christian survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and explore whether any demographic characteristics or experiences during the disaster may have contributed to these responses.

A quantitative survey was used to assess a variety of concepts related to religious responses after disaster. Data were collected using a mix of non-random, convenience sampling methods, with a total sample of 1,929 responses.

Religious struggles, anger toward God, and apostasy after the typhoon was generally low, although a significant minority of respondents expressed feelings of confusion about God and wondered whether God cared about them. Factors that influenced the experience of religious struggles included: education level, socio-economic status, denomination, barangay, loss of loved ones in the disaster, format of post-disaster church fellowship meetings, and the importance of God in their lives prior to the disaster.

Having an appropriate and supportive faith-based environment for those of faith to work through religious struggles is important for supporting emotional and psychological recovery after disaster.

This study explores how disasters can impact individuals’ beliefs and their relationship with God in a non-Western context. This information enhances our understanding on how humanitarian and faith-based organizations can help support emotional and psychological recovery among impacted populations, particularly those who experience struggles.

The occurrences of natural hazards in Southeast Asia have become not only more frequent but their severity has also intensified. More than 200,000 persons perished from the 2004 tsunami resulting from the 9.1 magnitude earthquake in coastal Sumatra, Indonesia, which was the third strongest since 1900. A record-breaking typhoon internationally named Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) ravaged Central Philippines in 2013. Failure of the communities, as well as the countries, to cope with the hazards has led to disasters that have compelled them to seek external assistance, especially internationally. In the 2004 and 2013 disasters referred to, one specific form of assistance was the conduct of art therapy especially for children. This chapter surveys the literature and examines why and how art therapy has been used in disasters in the region, and which areas either need further exploration or research.

When a senior field journalist attempts to cover super typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, body guards were assigned to protect end-up obstructing. Disagreements between the news team and security team followed. The teams had different opinions regarding how situations should be handled. The clients were not satisfied with the services provided by the security, while the security felt the clients failed to understand safety considerations. What should the security company have done to ensure safety while supporting the news team’s objectives?