Community Organizing Division (COD) has different projects under its roof. This division represents the goal of FORGE for inclusive and responsive governance, empowering the poor and marginalized, and building resilient communities. Currently, COD is implementing the SINCERE Project (Sustaining, Intensifying and Expanding Community Efforts Towards Resilient Livelihood) in partnership with Christian Aid-UK and the BDRC-MC Project (Building Disaster Resilient Communities in Metro Cebu) in partnership with Misereor-Germany.
COD Strategies include:
This serves as FORGE’s core program which has facilitated the formation of community-based urban poor organizations.
This seeks to bring concrete policy changes that will improve the lives of the urban poor. Together with its partner people’s organizations, FORGE takes a pro-active role in various local, sectoral and multi-sectoral campaigns. FORGE on the other hand, embarks in social research that aims to support the urban poor’s advocacy agenda. It likewise maintains a library of periodicals/literature on urban poor related issues and concerns.
To enhance the capacity of the urban poor leaders to manage and lead their organizations, FORGE implements a popular education program which includes training of community leaders to become leader-organizers and facilitators of study circles which involve the members.
This component seeks to capacitate communities and people’s organizations in disaster preparedness and develop disaster resilient communities.
This component hopes to develop the capacity of partner communities to engage in income generating project’s (IGP).
This component gives emphasis to strengthening the basic unit of the society – strengthening the family relationships, empowering them to identify and address their issues and problems.
This program component involves physical infrastructure development to make relocation sites more livable and less prone to landslides cosidering that they are in slopes. Site Development undertaking are usually in partnership with the Cebu City Government and other NGO partner.