Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Response in the Philippines

The Philippines is one of the most natural hazard-prone countries in the world. With the social and economic cost of disasters in the country increasing due to population growth, migration, unplanned urbanisation, environmental degradation and global climate change, disaster resilience and management are more important than ever.

In 2020, Dr Aaron Opdyke spoke with Dr Natali Pearson about his work in disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response in the Philippines.

About Aaron Opdyke:

Aaron is a Lecturer in Humanitarian Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney and the Philippines Country Coordinator for the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre. His research seeks to strengthen preparedness for and recovery after disaster and conflict, through the lens of safe and equitable shelter and housing. He has worked for nearly a decade on disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response programmes in the Philippines, both in practice and research. Aaron was named as one of the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2021 New Faces of Civil Engineering.

For more information or to browse additional resources, visit the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre’s website: www.sydney.edu.au/sseac.