“Oras na nga mahan-ay ang CLERFED, makita ang direction aron malambo ang federation ug magpadayon ang tinabangay sa mga association.”
For Community-Led Resilience Federation (CLERFED) Vice President Roger Saludo, the two-day strategic planning held on September 8–9 was about more than putting plans on paper. It was about giving the federation and its member associations a clearer direction for continuing the work they have started together.
Held at the TESDA Training Center in Brgy. Mat-i, Las Nieves, the planning brought together representatives from 15 community organizations established through the project. The initiative to undertake the planning came from the community partners themselves, who saw the need to strengthen their federation, coordination, and collective action.
The process builds on the partnership and learning developed during the previous co-designing workshop with the Local Government Unit (LGU). It provided CLERFED members with space to reflect on their experiences, assess their organizations’ current situation, identify priorities, and develop a shared vision for the federation.
The planning was anchored on the principles of Survivor and Community-Led Response (sclr) – an approach that recognizes communities as actors who can identify their own priorities, lead their own initiatives, and build on the capacities and relationships already present within their communities.
Through values-based planning, situation analysis, visioning, participatory facilitation, team-building, and organizational assessment, participants worked toward strategies to strengthen CLERFED and its member associations.
Representing ECOWEB were Mark Anthony Amarga, SCLR Area Coordinator for Caraga; Imelda Manginsay, SCLR Program Manager; and Levi Cejuela, Monitoring, Documentation, and Program Development Support Staff.
For ECOWEB, the planning reflects a core principle of sclr: community-led resilience grows when communities have the space to decide, organize, and determine their own direction. Through continued collaboration among CLERFED, its member associations, the LGU, and ECOWEB, the federation moves another step toward strengthening mutual aid, collaboration, and its collective voice in shaping decisions that affect their communities.
