About Us

Pope Francis for Resilient and Co-Empowered, Sustainable Communities (FRANCESCO) is a consortium of organizations composed of Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCO-DP), Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines- National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA), the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorist Community of Tacloban), and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte (RCAP). It is  currently implementing a permanent  in–city  relocation project for 550 families affected by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The aim of this integrated and people-driven intervention is to help the affected communities regain their lives and assets through resilient dwelling houses, rebuilding livelihoods, and continuous strengthening of their organizations so that  they can fully participate in  community governance and effectively engage the local governments. The project is known as “Pope Francis Village”.

FRANCESCO functions as the decision-making body of the project of which two (2) elected leaders representing the community support groups are members.

Project Teams
Under the Project coordinating team are the Secretariat, Technical and Social Teams composed mainly of individuals who have expertise in the management of integrated, people-driven community project. The team members include among others, architects, engineers, community organizers, accountants, DRR and livelihood experts.  The following are the specific tasks under each teams:

 SECRETARIAT
  •  Secure all the necessary legal permits for the project
  • Provide admin, finance, communication and logistics support to the project
  • Provide support to the community in the materials procurement for the project
TECHNICAL
  • Complete the Site Development Plan for the project
  • Complete the Housing type participatory designing
  • Formation of Community Construction Team
  • Conduct skills inventory of communities and construction workers
  • Complete the Detail budgeting
  •  Create community workshops for construction and procurement management
  •  Implement and complete the entire construction process
SOCIAL
  • Lead in screening and selection of target families
  • Strengthening of Community Construction Team
  • Mapping of Community Skills and talents
  • Training of Community Leaders
  • Formation of Community Committees on Livelihood
  • Monitoring of construction process
Formation of a Community Council (CC) composed of Community Leaders – it is important to ensure that the communities are fully integrated in the decision-making processes on the establishment of integrated, people-driven model community building. A total of 20 leaders have been elected from the communities which will become the accountable body in the long run. These elected leaders will provide, at the outset of the formation, inputs on land development, design of houses taking into consideration the community culture and traditions. They are also actively participating in the selection of families to be qualified for the project. The decision making authority will be devolved to the Community Council as soon as the development of the PFV is fully completed.

The Priority Coordination Team (PCT).
With the actual construction at the onset, enhanced coordination among the secretariat, technical and social teams is imperative. The PCT will ensure that the activities of the three (3) teams employ the “people – driven approach” which means the community, through the concerned community support groups (e.g. Community Procurement Committee, Construction Committee) are performing their roles in the project. This will be a manifestation that the community is not seen as recipients of this development program but rather a critical stakeholder that has an important role to play in the sustainability and the management of the PFV.  The creation of the PCT will ensure that the secretariat is providing support to the activities of the social and technical teams; and that the activities of both social and technical teams are coordinated with each other; and that the community is part of the entire project cycle. 

The project taps the unique expertise and resources of CCO-DP partners. These organizations have broad experiences in various development interventions such as community organizing, lobbying and advocacy work, livelihood development, training, research and organizational development. These are the very core competence required in the integrated, people-driven model community project. CCO-DP partners are more than willing to share their expertise in the project including sourcing-out funds for other developments requirements of PVF.


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