Humanitarian challenges of urbanisation in Manila: the position of the Philippine Red Cross in a changing disaster and aid landscape

Recognising increased vulnerabilities because of ongoing urbanisation, the Philippine Red Cross has embarked on a five-year programme to strengthen the resilience of poor settlements in the National Capital city of Valenzuela. The programme expands the organisation’s traditional response orientation to also address underlying causes of structural vulnerability, and as such puts the organisation ahead of many other Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. While this engagement fits the organisation because of its mandate, strategies and reach, the traditional strengths of the organisation increasingly emerge as challenging factors. Applying a ‘resilience approach’, particularly in Manila’s urban humanitarian arena, also puts pressure on how the Philippine Red Cross is able to be guided by its Fundamental Principles, especially in relation to donor obligations, working with non-Red Cross organisations, engaging with communities and taking a more critical role towards the government. The approach requires a transformation in mind set and activities that requires time to achieve. Keywords: urbanisation; resilience; Red Cross; Manila; humanitarian arena; humanitarian principles