DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
& RESILIENCY
Honing Agents for National Disaster Awareness (HANDA)
Program: Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity
Planning for MSMEs
Joanna Rose T. Laddaran | Glennis S. Uyanguren
UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries
E-mail: [email protected]
The Philippines is a nation susceptible to many different kinds of natural and
human-induced disasters, making resilience an important characteristic of Filipino
businesses. For this reason, building resiliency in the micro, small, and medium
enterprise (MSME) sector is a priority area of the country’s MSME Development
Plan 2017 – 2022. In times of disasters, the ability of enterprises and service
providers to deliver goods, services, and employment is tied with disaster recovery
efforts within the community.
The UP ISSI Honing Agents for National Disaster Awareness (HANDA)
Program: Disaster Preparedness and Business Continuity Planning for MSMEs
was developed to foster a culture of preparedness in the country by teaching
MSMEs to be proactive, rather than merely reactive to devastating climate events.
The HANDA program brings together MSME owners and managers,
cooperatives, and representatives from local government units to learn about
safeguarding employees, customers, and assets, and ensuring that their
organization can prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural and human-
induced disruptions. Since July 2014, UP ISSI has trained over 2,500 MSMEs
nationwide to develop their own business continuity plans and pledge their
organization’s commitment to action for business resilience.
The HANDA program was also designed in line with the expected outcomes of
the Sendai Framework which include a greater focus on protecting livelihoods
16 | UP Diliman SALIKSIKHAY