WeVNet gears towards rebuilding communities of resilience
Ted Aldwin Ong
In its 8th General Assembly held in Iloilo City last June 2014, the Western Visayas Network of Social Development NGO’s (WeVNet) vowed to work on rebuilding better communities of resilience and preparedness in light of the enduring impact of Typhoon Yolanda that hit the Visayas region including Panay Island in November last year.
The theme for this year’s general assembly; “Rebuilding Better Communities of Resilience and Preparedness” encapsulates the demands of recent catastrophe for civil society organizations (CSOs) “to recast and rethink its current programs in order to address the challenges that CSOs confront in responding to the needs of victims of disasters,” said Emmanuel “Boyet” Areño, regional coordinator of WeVNet.
“The theme is not only relevant in light of recent events but also consistent with the national networks’ thrust,” added Areño.
The main guest of the assembly was Tanya Zaldarriaga, program officer for membership of CODE-NGO. She provided an overview of CODE-NGO’s institutional programs on membership and advocacy and also discussed current project initiatives that will require involvement by WeVNet and its member network.
In her presentation, Zaldarriaga outlined the main feature of the national network’s membership program on capacity building and institutional reforms and initiatives which covered WeVNet among participants of the activities in the program implementation.
The general assembly was a gathering of member networks of CSOs in six provinces in Region VI – the Western Visayas region, namely; Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Negros and Iloilo.
The leaders representing the networks that attended the assembly likewise shared its reports comprised of Aklan Alliance of NGOs, Antique Federation of NGOs, Capiz CODE, Guimaras Alliance of Civil Society Organizations, Negros Caucus and Iloilo CODE-NGO.
The organizational matters was discussed in the afternoon and with the business meeting formally opened by Wilfredo “Boy” Homicillada, WeVNet chairperson.
Homicillada presented the business meeting agenda composed of report presentation from the chairperson, treasurer, and program and project implementation from the regional coordinator.
He also highlighted that a second day was set for the strategic planning session right after the general assembly.
“The strategic planning is an essential part of the assembly and which will concretely lay down the steps that the network will take in its aim of rebuilding communities of resilience and preparedness. The main part of the steps that will be taken is to address the necessary requirements needed by the network in order to effectively carry out activities in line with the thematic mandate that we adopted,” said Boy Homicillada in his message.
The strategic plan defined six key result areas (KRAs): namely, network development and strengthening, resource mobilization, capacity building, knowledge development and advocacy and networking. All KRAs were tackled and discussed exhaustively and with WeVNet acquiring a strategic plan at the end of the activity.
The general assembly was concluded with an election of the new set of officers. The newly-elected officers of WeVNet are: Wilfredo “Boy” Homicillada, chairperson; Edwin Balajadia, vice-chairperson; Marilou Llavan, secretary; Ted Aldwin Ong, treasurer; and Roger Gazo, member. ###
Ted Aldwin Ong is a Board Member of CODE-NGO, representing the Western Visayas Network of NGOs (WEVNET).
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