The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) recently conducted a business continuity workshop with 30 neighborhood store and canteen owners in Bohol as part of its SIKAP program’s livelihood recovery support to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The two-day training workshop focused on business continuity and foresight planning. On day one, PDRF experts presented the basic principles of business continuity and its importance in preparing one’s business for disasters. Participants identified the risks and hazards they are vulnerable to and the critical business assets and activities they need to maintain during a crisis. They used these outputs to draft a simple business continuity roadmap.
On day two, participants developed strategies to prepare for possible future scenarios that may affect their businesses. An expert from the United Nations Development Programme who developed the “PUHON” Strategic Foresight Toolkit as SIKAP’s free resource for MSMEs, facilitated this session.
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These activities were supported by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Provincial Office.
All participants will also be receiving livelihood starter kits worth P10,000 to further support their recovery. This is the first batch of MSME trainees for SIKAP, with more to follow in Bohol and Dinagat Island.
Launched in 2020, SIKAP, or Synergizing Recovery Initiatives, Knowledge, and Adaptation Practices for MSMEs, provides free resources, training, and mentorship opportunities for MSMEs to boost their disaster resilience. This program was developed with the support of Connecting Business initiative, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the United Nations Development Programme.