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Wednesday, 10 July 2024 03:50

Support to communities, fundamental in building and sustaining peace

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JULY 10, 2024/COTABATO CITY-BARMM. Peacebuilding is a shared responsibility. It must involve all sectors, from the grassroots level up to the top leaders.   

This article highlights the significance of bringing development assistance to the remote communities as one action towards peacebuilding, through inclusive and transparent approaches.

For instance, an island community that has received assistance from the Bangsamoro Government, for the first time; a village that was once a hideout and a refuge during the war in the past, a women group by the lake in Lanao, the hopes in rehabilitating a village in Basilan, transformation in camp communities, and all other tales all over the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, an elderly religious leader witnessed the struggle and life of people in the village, thus he hopes for a continuing assistance towards community progress.

Fatima Baluno of Brgy. Balakacayon in Pigcawayan, SGA-BARMM is glad that from a jungle, their village has significantly developed with the coming of different aids.

“It was hardly accessible, it was once a forest. Now it has transformed into a developed community”, she stated.

Meanwhile, women group in a village along Lake Lanao sees hope that in joining community development initiatives, they will become more productive for their families.

In Basilan, while leaders target for rehabilitation of the area, women join hands in organizing and strengthening their group through livelihood activities where they generate income.

These people, whom we spoke are engaged in the various activities conducted in relevance to the on-going project that supports the Bangsamoro Transition.

The project, dubbed as SUBATRA-ECSO: Enhancing CSOs Capacities for Inclusive Development Interventions in BARMM in Support to Bangsamoro Transition, works for the Component 4: Justice and Society Project- The capacity of civil society to contribute to a peaceful transition to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is enhanced.

SUBATRA-ECSO covers 24 villages within and outside the Bangsamoro Region, where there are People’s Organizations (POs) formed to help manage the project at the community level.

These POs were being provided with various trainings that build their capacities to be able to help facilitate project activities in the ground.

These community organizations now operates their respective local enterprises using the knowledge and skills taught to them during project trainings with the set of tools and equipment provided to them through the SUBATRA-ECSO.

Support to communities with these approach has been crucial in building peace at the grassroots level. For the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA Inc.) implementing the SUBATRA-ECSO, bringing the project to the communities means communicating peace and development.

It helps send the messages that these communities, despite the distance, are not forgotten.

Through the series of Community Assembly with Provision of Services in Support to Bangsamoro Transition, BDA, together with officials from the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) and the BARMM MOAs (ministries, offices and agencies) has brought the Bangsamoro Government closer to the people.

People were able to speak and relayed their concerns and needs to the BARMM while receiving basic aid such as food packs and educational kits.

Together with partner civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Bangsamoro, BDA has been touching the lives of many people across the region, and even beyond, for instance the camp communities.

Indigenous people (IP) communities are also counted in this development interventions, recognizing their needs and rights as one people.

Partner CSOs in delivering support to communities are the Raja Mamalo Descendants of Southern Philippines, Inc.; Kapagawida Development Services Association, Inc.;League of Bangsamoro Organizations (LBO); Ittihadun Nisa Foundation, Inc.; Kabalikat CIVICOM (Sulu), and Taga Youth Concerned Association (Basilan).

Launched in 2021, SUBATRA-ECSO is a project funded by the European Union European Union in the Philippines and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation AECID Philippines.

Read 429 times Last modified on Wednesday, 10 July 2024 03:56
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