Investment case for anticipatory action through adaptive and shock responsive social protection in the Philippines

Many households in disaster-prone areas hover precariously close to the poverty line, and the devastating impact of disasters on their assets, income, and well-being exacerbates this vulnerability. Anticipatory Action and adaptive and shock-responsive social protection emerge as critical approaches to mitigate the effects of disasters. Specifically, anticipatory cash transfers have shown promise in reducing asset and income losses for affected households.

The Policy Brief recommends:

• Facilitating access to disaster risk funding;
• Streamline funding arrangements between the national government and LGUs;
• Continue to build the capacities of LGUs;
• Couple anticipatory actions with response programmes;
• Pre-design and pilot programming options for anticipatory cash transfers;
• Link data on households’ vulnerability status to the social registry;
• Include households in electronic payment delivery processes.