(BARANGAY KINEBEKA, Datu Odin Sinsuat Maguindanao Del Norte/ February 15, 2023). Officials from the World Bank took a mission to a camp community of the MILF particularly in this village under Camp Badre on February 15, 2023.
Ndiame Diop, Country Director for Philippines of World Bank said, “At the World Bank we truly value this partnership with the BARMM….and we have been supporting communities like yours for many years and we have been very committed to continue this collaboration”.
He also said that the visit was a part of a two day visit to discuss with different stakeholders for this partnership. Diop elaborated the purpose of the visit which is to have insights on the needs of the community and what are the ways forward.
He even recalled the Mindanao Trust Fund (MTF Phase 1-3) and how it developed many projects for the community and now they came with a new program through the Bangsamoro Normalization Trust Fund (BNTF) that will soon to start.
The visit encompassed a short community program that allowed the community members shared their needs, concerns and stories relevant to understand their life conditions in the camp.
“We are thankful, we are consulted as well as we participate in this and we are happy for it” Indigenous People (IP) Representative Agustin Apit said.
The open forum addressed issues on road accessibility issues which centered on ease access of the community to a farm to market road for their crops and other products. Alternative Learning System (ALS) in support to access to basic education for the community, packaged implementation instead of piece meal approach was pointed out as a more effective tool, lack of connectivity or signal which foster difficulty in communication and in schooling. Also, the pressing issue of climate change like deforestation, wherein this community was affected by the Typhoon Paeng last October 2022.
During the community visit, Sokeyna Kane, Fragility, Conflict and Violence Director of World Bank said “We will try to fix the problem as much as we can…”.
She did mention the community driven development (CDD) and a long-term project implementation for the community as support and to promote the welfare of the community.
The said activity concluded with a fruitful community driven discussion. The visitors took home insights which will be paramount to the implementation of the upcoming program for the above-mentioned community related to Normalization in the Bangsamoro
