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The Challenge

Access to energy, clean drinking water and sanitation are the foundation of a healthy, productive life. Yet more than 12 million Filipinos live without access to electricity, 8 million live without access to clean water and over 25 million lack access to sanitation facilities. Because of the lack of sanitation infrastructure, 58% of the groundwater is contaminated by raw sewerage. Contaminated water harbors bacteria which causes harmful viruses to proliferate, causing acute diarrhea, the 4th leading cause of death among children under five. In 2014 alone, half the country's population (46,305,000 people) reported suffering from one or multiple cases of diarrhea. Repeated diarrhea can lead to malnutrition and negatively impact child development, and is the cause of death of 4,200 people annually. Additionally, the 1,047 mountainous islands that make up the Philippines make infrastructure development of grid-connected electricity problematic and expensive. Thus, the majority of households have no access to electricity and those with access frequently experience blackouts that impact economic productivity. Compounding this lack of basic infrastructure, climate change, increased severity of storms, and rising sea levels also threaten this island nation.

Our Approach

Green Empowerment has been working with rural communities in the Philippines since 2001. Over the years our involvement has blossomed into productive relationships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), SIBAT, YAMOG, and AIDFI, on three islands, serving dozens of villages. We work with our partners to provide the tools and support necessary for individuals to live a healthy life and support their family financially.

Green Empowerment is also partnering with the private sector to enhance the livelihood of community members. By linking our projects to business enterprises, such as power for a lemongrass oil distiller, energy for a grain mill, and light that allows women to weave at night, we are providing a basic service, renewable energy, and providing the tools necessary for long term economic development for the region.

In August 2012, Green Empowerment and its partners in the Philippines received a $1.4 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to deliver simple, affordable clean drinking water technology to 24,000 people in remote areas of Zambale, Leyte, and conflict-affected regions of Mindanao by 2017. This program, the Building Climate Resilience in Water Stressed Communities (CREST), utilizes a community-based, participatory approach to deliver safe drinking water via hydraulic ram pumps and other innovative water and sanitation technologies that do not require electricity, ensuring long-term sustainability and resilience in the face of climate change. The project is led by an interdisciplinary team of NGOs specializing in water and sanitation appropriate technologies and training.

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PHILIPPINES The Challenge Access to energy, clean drinking water and sanitation are the foundation of a healthy, productive life. Yet more than 12 million Filipinos live without access to electricity, 8 million live without access to clean water and over 25 million lack access to sanitation facilities.

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The World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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Gawad Kalinga (GK, is officially known as the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, a Philippine-based poverty alleviation and nation-building movement. Our mission is to end poverty for 5 million families by 2024.

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The table is where you gather to share meals, ideas and the events of your day. It's where you make plans and collaborate to achieve a common goal. Take what you've learned today and help a family who need food and essentials. We've saved you a seat at The Table.

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The table is where you gather to share meals, ideas and the events of your day. It's where you make plans and collaborate to achieve a common goal. Take what you've learned today and help a family who need food and essentials. We've saved you a seat at The Table.

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We provide life-changing resources such as clean water, medical aid, food, equal educational opportunities to girls and boys, vocational training and empowerment in the midst of unimaginable hardships. Our view of poverty is holistic and complex. We honor the people we serve by inviting them to contribute to the process. We are grateful to be invited into the communities we serve and work side-by-side with local leaders, responding to their needs with transformative solutions, which are both sustainable and implemented at the hands of the communities themselves.

Values, Vision & Purpose

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We provide life-changing resources such as clean water, medical aid, food, equal educational opportunities to girls and boys, vocational training and empowerment in the midst of unimaginable hardships. Our view of poverty is holistic and complex. We honor the people we serve by inviting them to contribute to the process.

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Celebrating people as stewards of nature.

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Encompassing over 7,000 islands, the Philippines' large landscapes and long coastlines hold some of the world's richest terrestrial, coastal and marine environments.​​​

It is also one of the world's 17 mega-biodiverse countries, featuring more than 20,000 species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

These natural resources, which stretch 2.2 million square kilometres (849,425 square miles), are of critical importance. They provide food, fresh water, livelihoods and climate resilience to more than 100 million Filipinos. In fact, it is estimated that biodiversity contributes around 5% of the Philippines' gross domestic product and supports livelihoods for nearly 15% of the country's labor force.

The forests and oceans of the Philippines sequester vast amounts of carbon - playing a significant role in the global solution to climate change. Regionally, the Philippines is a part of the Coral Triangle, a transboundary seascape which more than 130 million people from five nations rely upon.

In recent times, accelerating development has led to increasing pressures on nature. Population growth, weak land use planning, industrialization and unsustainable land and sea use have taken a toll on its natural resources, while erratic storms have ravaged its coasts.​​​​​​

There is still time. We must work together to protect nature for Filipinos and the world.​

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Encompassing over 7,000 islands, the Philippines' large landscapes and long coastlines hold some of the world's richest terrestrial, coastal and marine environments.​​​ It is also one of the world's 17 mega-biodiverse countries, featuring more than 20,000 species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

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PhilBio was established for the specific purpose of furthering the biodiversity conservation activities of the 'Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Programme (PBCP)' initiated in the 1990's.

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Considered the center of global coral ecosystem biodiversity, the Philippines' waters contain almost ten percent of the world's coral reefs (93% of which exists in its territorial seas, 0-12 nautical miles from shore), large swaths of mangrove forests and more Marine Protected Areas than any other country.

The Philippines' coastal waters are a life-giving and vital natural resource for the 1.9 million registered small-scale fishers and their families who rely on these waters to provide income and food. 85% of Filipino fishers are coastal, small-scale fishers, and catch nearly half of the Philippines' fish. Further, the Philippines' fisheries sector generates upwards of $3.3 billion/year; and the majority of the country's population of 107 million live in coastal cities and municipalities.

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Considered the center of global coral ecosystem biodiversity, the Philippines' waters contain almost ten percent of the world's coral reefs (93% of which exists in its territorial seas, 0-12 nautical miles from shore), large swaths of mangrove forests and more Marine Protected Areas than any other country.

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