Governor-General visits Australian aid programs in Manila
27 April, 2012
Governor General Quention Bryce listens in as Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano gives a briefing on the damage brought by Tropical Storm Ketsana to Taguig City residents in 2009, and how the Australian Government-supported ‘BRACE’ program will help the city become safer and more disaster-resilient in the future. Photo: Red Santos/AusAID
Governor General Quentin Bryce meets the residents of a Habitat for Humanity housing community in Taguig City. The housing community is an example of cost-effective, safe housing for the poor. Photo: Red Santos/AusAID
The Governor-General, Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, visited two Australian Government supported programs in Taguig City, Metro Manila as part of her State Visit to the Philippines earlier this month.
She met with women leaders and families who were affected by tropical storm Ketsana and the resulting floods that inundated Metro Manila in 2009.
Australia is deepening its commitment to disaster risk management in the Philippines through a new program entitled BRACE (Building the Resilience and Awareness of Metro Manila Communities to Natural Disasters and Climate Change Impacts).
The BRACE program is to be piloted in Taguig City, assisting urban communities ‘brace’ for the impact of natural disasters. BRACE will demonstrate that by ‘building back better’, the damage bill for future disasters—both in human and economic terms—can be significantly lessened.
State-of-the art hazard mapping technology will promote better understanding of disaster risks in order to drive effective land use planning on the ground. Families living in vulnerable areas will be relocated to safer housing.
The Governor-General also met beneficiaries of an Australian supported conditional cash transfer program at the city’s Gen Ricardo Papa High School. The program provides education and health grants to poor families as long as they meet conditions on school attendance, health checks and attend parenting seminars.
Australia is supporting the expansion of the Philippine Government’s social protection programs, particularly the conditional cash transfer program which aims to reach three million poor households by the end of 2012.
More information
Australia's aid program in the Philippines
Last Reviewed: 22 April, 2012