Change Fund Principles in Action: Locally led: The story of CDP Foundation and partners in the Philippines
Join us as we continue our series of impact stories from NEAR’s Flagship Solution: The Change Fund, highlighting five of the Fund's Principles: Swift, Trust-based, Locally led, Context Sensitive + Flexible, Accountable + Always Learning. Our next story is about our member, Center for Disaster Preparedness Foundation (CDP), in the Philippines, exemplifying the Change Fund being Locally Led as principles in practice.
When the Center for Disaster Preparedness Foundation (CDP) in the Philippines applied for a Change Fund grant to respond to Typhoon Gaemi and the Southwest Monsoon, communities there were already weary from disaster.
CDP’s grant was approved, and the organisation started supporting affected areas within weeks. By then, the Philippines had been hit by six more typhoons.
“It's becoming the norm that the Southwest Monsoon is there, and then it will be exacerbated by several tropical cyclones,” Loreine Dela Cruz, CDP’s Executive Director, says, acknowledging the impact of climate risk in the Philippines.
For the past three years, the Philippines has ranked the highest on the WorldRiskIndex, a global assessment of disaster risk from extreme natural events and climate impacts.
By forming a consortium of four community-based organisations, CDP launched a response to Typhoon Gaemi and the Southwest Monsoon rooted in local knowledge and leadership.
They worked in diverse regions, from Metro Manila's urban communities and coastal areas in Bataan to Bangsamoro in the south. Each partner brought a deep understanding of their context.
"Local actors know their communities best,” says Eena Geslaine Barrun, CDP’s Anticipatory and Humanitarian Action Team Manager. “They understand the nuances, the risks, the histories and the relationships that outsiders often miss."
Unlike traditional humanitarian responses, each organisation in the consortium had equal decision-making power, collaboratively designing strategies from proposal to implementation.
Key to their approach was empowering communities with microgrants for their own solutions. In Quezon City, women challenged gender norms by leading efforts to rebuild walkways and bridges. Other communities cleared drains and continued maintaining them together.
And the response went beyond immediate relief. Community members were trained to offer psychosocial support to their neighbors. Fishing and farming families developed disaster preparedness plans. In every stage, the communities actively lead their response.
The Change Fund's support played a crucial role, allowing flexibility that traditional donors don’t. Loreine says, independently, CDP’s response would have been limited.
But through collaborative, community-based actions, the impacts on more than 26,000 people across the Philippines show that even the most complex disaster responses should start with the people living through them.
The Change Fund supports local leaders like Loreine and Eena, strengthens local organisations like CDP, and ensures resources for crisis-affected communities.