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Local women's organisations assume essential roles during disasters in hazard-prone, rural poor communities, especially when government capacities are overwhelmed and non-government resources are required to meet affected people's needs. Yet, they are often deprioritised as international actors' partners of choice in the well-established humanitarian system of the Philippines. This paper illustrates how they navigate vertical social ties with international humanitarian organisations to enhance their resilience in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. It examines whether strengthening the linking social capital of local women's organisations with international humanitarian non-governmental organisations can: improve women's ability to access resources in disasters; challenge the power dynamic in such a way that women are able to engage meaningfully in decision making and attain an equal footing in the partnership; and increase the capacity of women to build community resilience as an outcome of improved access and meaningful engagement. The study engaged 10 leaders of the National Rural Women's Coalition (PKKK) in semi-structured interviews and applied a social constructionist, feminist standpoint framework to the analysis. It found that rural women navigate asymmetrical power dynamics in creative ways and value partnership behaviours that demonstrate equitability and true accompaniment.
Kara Danielle Medina (Sun,) studied this question.