CONCEPT NOTE

1. BASIC INFORMATION

Title Making Vulnerable Communities Resilient thru the Red Cross

Duration (in months or years) 30 months

Country Philippines

Amount of funding requested in 1,150,200 Canadian Dollars (PHP 15 Million)

Target Areas (Covered PRC Leyte, Cebu - Bogo, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Western Samar,
Chapters) Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte, and Iloilo - Passi City

Contact name, title and email Roderic M. Salve

2. DEVELOPMENTAL CHALLENGES

The Philippines is one of the high-risk countries when it comes to disaster, in fact according
to the World Risk Index of 2022, it ranked No. 1 having the highest risk index with 46.82 among
the 193 countries in the world. According to the report this is due to the lack of coping capacities
and adaptive capacities and sustainability issues that made the Philippines number one in the list.
The implementation of the RC143 Volunteer Program in disaster prone and vulnerable community
will serve as a road map on how disaster risk reduction and management can be done to attain
sustainable development through inclusive growth and build the adaptive capacities of
communities, increase the resilience of vulnerable sectors and optimize disaster mitigation
opportunities with the end in view of promoting people’s welfare and security towards inclusive,
gender-responsive and rights-based sustainable development all done in the spirit of volunteerism
and community empowerment.
The RC143 Program is a community-based volunteering program of the Philippine Red
Cross where 1 leader and a minimum of forty-three (43) member volunteers form part of an active
corps of capable, caring, and committed individuals, promoting a culture of self-help in
communities by developing a formidable network of Red Cross Volunteers who will predict
potential risk, plan, prepare, and practice for effective community-based disaster risk reduction.
PRC’s goal is to saturate all the 41,015 barangays in the country with a minimum of 44 volunteers
on-site making all communities responsive, ready and resilient in times of crisis, disaster and
calamities.
This project will target the 9 PRC Chapters, all of which are in the path of typhoons during
the rainy season. To continue the program implementation of the PRC in the areas to be Identified
as part of our support for sustainable disaster preparedness and response. This project will
continue to reach out to other vulnerable communities. In the implementation of this program,
these are the foreseen problems that this project will address viz.,

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 On Recruitment
- There is poor promotion, information dissemination and publicity of the Red Cross 143
Program to the public. Majority of the people does not know what Red Cross 143 Program
of Philippine Red Cross.
- No clear recruitment strategic plans and management of the Red Cross 143 at the Chapter
level
- There is a lack of trained facilitators to conduct RC143 Training at the Municipal and
Barangay RC143
- The lack of funding and manpower to implement RC143 training at the municipal and
barangay level.
On Engagement
- There is the inconsistent and erratic engagement of volunteers in view of their free time or
availability and levels of commitment or willingness to commit.
- Volunteers’ unavailability for mobilization due to being victims or also affected by the
disaster themselves.
On Retention
- There is a high attrition rate of volunteers in the chapter level.
- The lack of strategies and schemes to monitor volunteer status.
- Databased of volunteers are not up to date if not absent in the database.

3. SOLUTIONS

The Red Cross 143 Program aims to promote a culture of self-help in the communities for them
to be able to respond during disaster or emergency situations effectively and efficiently by
strengthening the RC143 Volunteer Management (Volunteer Recruitment, Engagement and
Retention) activities.

Expected Outcomes:
A. Recruitment
- To strengthen the promotion strategies of the RC143 program of Philippine Red Cross
to enhance its public visibility.
- Develop and improve relevant IEC Materials for Promotion and Advertisement
- Implement promotional schemes using quad media and posting of promotional materials
in public areas on recruitment of RC143 volunteers.
- Establishment of regular funds and budgetary allocation for the implementation of the
RC143 Program in the chapters to support community promotion and recruitment
activities like recruitment roving teams and recruitment caravans.
- Chapter should have a comprehensive volunteer training plan to systematically provide
basic training to all Rc143 volunteer particularly those in the municipal and barangay
which includes resource mobilization plans (funds/budget) for training needs.
B. Engagement
- Chapter to update volunteer database and list for mapping focusing on volunteer
availability especially those of the RC143 Team Leaders and Coordinator and other core
volunteers committed to lead volunteer engagement especially during disasters.
- Establishment and maintenance of a stable pool of volunteers (44) especially in the
vulnerable communities
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C. Retention
- Chapter must have an annual Volunteer Retention Plans and Strategies in place.
- Chapter to religiously follow a volunteer retention plan which includes schedule
monitoring of volunteer activities and updating of Volunteer Database.

Description:
The potential beneficiaries are target municipalities under the area of responsibilities of
the nine chapters with an estimate of 5-10 barangays per chapter (10 barangays per chapter
=4,000 target volunteers for the nine (9) chapters covered.

The criteria were established in the identification of the target beneficiaries, viz.,
- High Risk areas
- Highly populated areas
- Geographical location possible to be isolated during disaster (i.e., barangays situations
in the island, mountainous, and coastal areas)

The Project will focus on the recruitment, training, and formation of the RC143
Volunteers in the Chapter, Municipalities/Cities, and barangays. The following Activities will
be the focus of this project proposal in the areas covered:
1. Strengthening the RC143 program by providing technical trainings in Volunteer
Management Cycle (Recruitment, Engagement and Retention)
2. Organizing and Mobilization of the RC143 Volunteers in the Chapter, Municipal/City
and selected Barangays.
3. To Implement cross cutting themes such as Community Engagement and
Accountability, Protection Gender and Inclusion and disaster risk reduction.

This project will start upon approval of the project and cover at least nine (9) upon
approval (criteria of selection). The Intervention will provide the Community with Channels
and resources to actively participate, stay informed, and to be prepared in operations under
the humanitarian principles, guidance, and framework of the Philippine Red Cross.
Relative to this, the country continues to be affected by the various disasters the
main goal is to capacitate the Chapters to establish a well effective volunteer Management,
communication, to train the RC143 Volunteers on the Disaster Preparedness management
and welfare Services.
The sustainability of the project will be possible through the Chapters ownership of
Volunteer Management and continuous effort to maintain the recruited, mobilized and
retained RC143 volunteers after the project. The chapters will still be able to continuously
recruit additional volunteers, maintain the active volunteers through continuous capacity
development, simulation drills, tabletop exercises, and pursue the retention and volunteer
support activities after the project.
The impact of the project will strengthen the recruitment, engagement, and retention
of the volunteers of the Philippine Red Cross. This will enable the sense of belonging to
them that they recognize as part of the organization as the Philippine Red Cross Flagship
program for Volunteering is our Red Cross 143 Volunteers.
Further, the project is mainly to capacitate the target communities in attaining a
sustainable and resilient RC143 Volunteers. The Volunteers play a crucial role in providing
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 support and assistance to the most vulnerable communities affected by the disaster,
equipping them with a capacity building program such as Protection gender and Inclusion,
disaster Risk Reduction and Management training will enable the Volunteers to become
resilient members of the communities.
Capacitating and strengthening the community will enable them to be resilient in
disaster or emergency operations and to be able to contribute to their chapters development
in their AOR even during normal times. Empowering the target communities in which all
genders are accepted to be RC143 volunteers in all roles they want to fit and join in.

Outcome statements
In the implementation of this project in the target Chapters, the following are the outcomes:

1. Recruitment
- Strategic planning on the Chapters Volunteer management plans and resource
management and mobilization.
- Conduction of Basic Volunteer Orientation Course and RC143 Orientation to newly
recruited volunteers
- Creation of Funding and budgetary schemes to support RC143 Recruitment Teams
(Recruitment Roving in Muni/Brgy Team & Recruitment Caravan team)
- Annexation of the RC143 Volunteer Program esp. on promotion and volunteer
recruitment in the activities of other PRC Services e.g., during Mass Blood donation,
First- aid training, PEP talks through MAAB recruitment to name a few.
- Production of updated IEC materials for promotions and recruitment
- Conduction of the following trainings as part of a comprehensive training plans of
the chapter:
 RC143 Team Management training
 Mass casualty Incident simulation training
 Disaster Risk Reduction basic training
 Protection, Gender, and Inclusion training

2. Engagement
- Conduction of RC143 Orientation to newly recruited volunteers in the community
- Completion of Volunteer Mapping always ensuring availability of team leaders /
point persons.
- RC143 Team Management Training for RC143 Coordinators, Team Leaders, and
point persons.
- Volunteer Commitment Forms must be understood and signed by volunteers.

3. Retention
To have an effective volunteer retention, the Chapter must:
- Have an annual Volunteer Retention Plan
- Conduct monthly volunteer meeting.
- Conduct volunteer sharing experience seminar and volunteering fora.
- Conduct Volunteer Recognition activities at the chapter-level
- Update and verify of the Volunteer Database, Mapping, and corresponding
volunteer list.
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The Philippine Red Cross Volunteer Service in Partnership with the local Chapters and
communities.
1. Implementing Office:
This Project will be implemented jointly with the following PRC Offices:
1. Volunteer Service
2. Disaster Management Services
3. Welfare Services
4. Chapter Development Office
5. Support Office:
- International Relation and strategic Partnership Office
- Office of the Secretary General

2. Implementing Arrangements:
1. Volunteer Service- Responsible for the implementation of the RC143 recruitment,
training and formation at the Chapter and to support the implementation at the
Municipal/city and the barangay levels.
2. Welfare Service- will train the Volunteers on how to manage welfare service
activities such as Protection, Gender and Inclusion.
3. Disaster Management Services- will train the Volunteers on the Disaster Risk
Reduction training to capacitate the Volunteer in the disaster response.
4. Chapter Development Office- Will be responsible for the coordination, monitoring
and harmonious implementation of the program and activities.
5. International Relations and Strategic Partnerships Office and Office of the Secretary
General - will be responsible for the monitoring of the project development and
progress and will be responsible for the coordination with the Partner- Donor
National society regarding the project related concerns.
3. Implementation Plan
1. Implementation Inception Phase of the project includes conduct of the project
orientation to the Chapters in this project proposal, targeting and selection of the
project areas.
2. Hiring of Project staff for the Implementation
3. Implementation and RC143 recruitment, engagement and retention strategies in the
selected Chapters, Municipality/city and barangays.
4. Implementation of cross cutting activities in the identified areas of intervention such
Disaster risk reduction, Welfare Services and Volunteer Management.
5. Project Monitoring, Coordination, and reporting
6. Project review, lessons learned and evaluation.
7. Sustainability Plan
4. Organization capacity
The RC143 Volunteer Program is not new to PRC; rather it is the flagship initiative of
the organization on its volunteer program. The target 9 chapters (upon approval and criteria of
selection based on those who have been implementing the program for some time already and
currently have the pool of volunteers. There are also dedicated staff or the Chapter Service
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 Representative for Volunteer Service to plan, manage and monitor the implementation of the
project. In some chapters they have the RC143 Focal Person that functions as the main staff to
work on the implementation and management of the RC143 Program. PRC national
headquarters continuous delivery capacity building to chapter staff, focal persons and
volunteer leaders on volunteer management and the implementation of the RC143 in their
respective area of responsibilities.
The presence of Memorandum of Agreements, Local Government legislations and other
partnership establishing mechanisms are in place in these chapters. These partnerships both in
government and private sector also ensure additional resource mobilization such as additional
manpower and staffing, logistical support and even financial aid for training, honorarium, and
administrative expense support. The chapters currently are being capacitated as part of their
chapter development, most of the chapters have ongoing MOA, MOU, with their local
government that can be utilized to successfully implement all RC143 activities.
PRC had a similar project in these chapters named Post Haiyan Chapter Development
(PHCD) on which the RC143 Volunteer program implementation is a component of the
project, most of the target of the said project was achieved. The PHCD has the same target
goals within this project scope.
The RC143 Program has been implemented using the Volunteer Management Cycle of
Recruitment, Engagement and Retention. all strategies, programs, and activities in the
implementation of this program circumnavigates in this cycle. So, the implementation of
recruitment, engagement, and retention activities. Terminal objectives were planned i.e.,
completing the presence of 44 individuals in target barangays and providing the proper training
and equipping of the said volunteers. Components of disaster risk reduction training, first aid
training, and psychosocial support training were implemented.

4. ANNEX

a. Estimated Budget Costing

Prepared by:

Arianne Nillo-Goli Peter Miles Sollesta Melissa Delos Santos

Noted by:

Roderic Salve
Manager, Volunteer Services