By Wilson J Hormeguera

The Governance and Leadership Institute (GLI) of Xavier University conducted a two-day workshop on effective leadership and management towards achieving sustainable disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) at the local level on April 14-15 at XU-AVR1.

The workshop focused on the governance of disaster, review and updates on legal DRRM mandates, understanding budget appropriation for disaster management, community-based disaster risk mitigation and response, and the science of disaster.

“The Department of Interior and Local Government is giving much priority on DRRM considering that climate change has become the new normal,” regional director Arnel Agabe said in his message to the training participants who were mostly DRRM officers from various local government units in Northern Mindanao.

“We have to strengthen the capacity of our officers at local level because they are directly linked to the people in the communities,” Agabe added.

As part of the thematic agenda on the environmental protection, XU has been engaged in DRRM initiatives led by XU - Engineering Resource Center director Engr Dexter S Lo.