Adaptation Community Meeting - Preparing Water Services for Climate Risks: Experience from the Philippines

Situated in the world’s most cyclone-prone region, the Philippines is particularly vulnerable to climate risks and related extremes, having endured increasingly unpredictable rains, intensifying cycles of flood and drought, and strengthening storms forming in the Pacific. These changing weather patterns have not only derailed livelihoods and agricultural productivity in rural areas, they have also exacerbated poor water and sanitation conditions in cities, where 45 percent of the population lives.

To address these risks and improve cities’ resilience and water security, USAID funded the Water Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability (Be Secure) project, which partnered with the national government, regional governments and local governments in six regions of the Philippines from 2013 to 2017.

At the November 2017 Adaptation Community Meeting, Be Secure Chief of Party Mona Grieser and AECOM environment and infrastructure specialist Paul Violette shared the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating climate resilience into water resources and supply planning and development. They also discussed how the project responded to the devastation following Typhoon Haiyan and pivoted to incorporate stronger disaster risk reduction measures in the project’s water security work.

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Speakers

• Ms. Mona Grieser is a behavior change and program management expert with more than 20 years’ experience providing technical leadership to large, complex development programs with numerous technical focuses, including water and sanitation, infrastructure, health, population, education, energy, and environment in various countries around the world. As the Chief of Party of USAID’s Be Secure project implemented by AECOM in the Philippines, Ms. Grieser led a team of more than 40 full time staff across five offices, operating in seven different regions by the close of the project in July 2017. She has spent time working with and leading programs for USAID, as well as advising other multi-national agencies including the World Bank, UNICEF, and UNDP.
• Mr. Paul Violette, Vice President of Environment and Infrastructure of AECOM International Development, has provided managerial and technical oversight over the last 20 years for a range of complex USAID projects in urban services, climate change and environmental governance. For the Be Secure project, he served as Home Office Engagement Manager. Most recently, he completed an assignment as Chief of Party for the USAID Global Climate Change Adaptation and Infrastructure Knowledge Management Support Project.

This event was organized by the USAID Climate Change Adaptation, Thought Leadership, and Assessments (ATLAS) project. All Adaptation Community Meeting webinars can be found here.