THE GOP-UNDP-EC REHABILITATION PROGRAMME FOR THE IDP FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES

Background of the Project:

The recurrent armed-conflict especially in the ARMM provinces has created a general situation of uncertainty and instability and stifled the overall development initiatives in Mindanao particularly in the island provinces of Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi where support systems have always been so weak compared to the mainland provinces.  A deficient support system coupled with the continuous armed-conflict would only further aggravate and dehumanize the situation of extreme poverty in the region.  Its effects on the lives of the people are simply devastating and unimaginable.  There is a different dimension of poverty among displaced communities. On the psychological aspect, the trauma of war no doubt has developed deep paranoia and insecurity to everyone thus preventing them from engaging in sustained productive ventures such as farming and or other forms of livelihood thereby resulting to a much deeper form of impoverishment and deprivation of the victims.

As noted in the World Bank social assessment of conflict-areas in Mindanao, Sulu has a registered number of 118,366 IDPs by just the year 2000 alone (based on DSWD-DROMIC record) as a result of an all-out war following the Sipadan Case.  Perhaps, the province has the longest history of displacement among all the conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.  With the continuing military pursuit operations against lawless elements in the region particularly in the province of Sulu, the number of evacuees has been increasing.  In April 2002, the Amnesty International reported that close to 300,000 people in the Province had been displaced. 

The Sipadan Case in the year 2000 has turned Sulu into a war zone with a massive population displacement while the province of Tawi-Tawi becomes a safe haven to many internally displaced families who have evacuated.  Fortunate though that many of these families managed to survive out of relief assistance extended by both government and non-government agencies for a short period of time. 

Per record of DSWD-Sulu there are still 1,688 barangay-based evacuees with only 169 families in the evacuation centers. In Basilan province, about 1500 displaced families are found in most of the barangays in the 6 municipalities. Heavily affected municipalities are Sumisip, Lantawan, Maluso, Tipo-Tipo and Tuburan.  Likewise IDPs from Sulu and Basilan who find temporary safety nets in Tawi-Tawi were also vulnerable as manifested of having difficulties of living. Rapid survey of MIRD conducted last December 13-18 in the province of Tawi-Tawi found out that there were three municipalities where IDPs from the mentioned provinces find their temporary safe refuge.  These are in the municipalities of Bongao, Languyan and Panglima Sugala.   

And still a big number of IDPs severely affected by war have been left un-served by the government and other humanitarian local NGOs because these IDPs have not been documented.  These IDPs are still on the stage of struggling for survival and human security.  These numbers of displaced families are still in the same situation to date.  Their chances of getting back to live normal life lies on how strong would be the external support as well as how international attention can be maximized in a manner as it would complement ongoing efforts with local service providers, either NGOs, LGUs and government agencies particularly the DSWD.

In response to the needs of these IDP families and communities in the conflict affected areas in Southern Philippines, the government, nevertheless, having tapped the support of the European Commission, has launched a program designed to provide interventions to alleviate the plight of the IDPs.  Hence, this package of assistance program for IDPs dubbed as “GOP-UNDP Programme on rehabilitating the IDPs in southern Philippines. The MIRD, as one of the active NGO members of the Mindanao Emergency Response Network (MERN), sees the situation as its prime concern and responsibility as it is within its mandate under the component program of Relief and Emergency Response.  Thus, its dedication to provide the needed available services it could offer – expertise of its manpower resource, assets and other existing resources, and its accessibility to reach out to these communities in complementation to the proposed assistance from GOP-UNDP programme for IDPs.

The project adopt an integrated approach for strategic and effective rehabilitation of these conflict affected communities with provision of basic services, reinvigorating livelihood opportunities, capacitating and reintegration of people who have been in psychological stress for a quite long period of time. 

 

PROJECT OBJECTIVE 

A.     General Objective 

In support of the Government’s objective of transforming settlement areas into vibrant communities, the project intends to directly implement portion of the project component of the GOP-UNDP Programme on IDPs to ensure the provision of a comprehensive rehabilitation package for the internally displaced persons in the three ARMM Island provinces while capacitating them to promote the culture of peace in the area and strengthening the different support mechanisms and institutions.  

The Programme has the following specific objectives:

1. Provision of relief packages to the most vulnerable IDPs  

2. Provide livelihood assistance to increase household income, and household food sufficiency;  

3. Facilitate resettlements through the provision of core shelter and installation of basic social services, and livelihood support infrastructure facilities; 

4.  Facilitate community declaration for peace and development centers through peace covenant among stakeholders, and generate mutual support from the armed groups through consultation and dialogue;  

5.  Strengthen institutional support mechanisms by promoting local support and counterpart from among LGUs, and with strong collaboration and coordination among line agencies and other stakeholders for a continuing support to peace building and development.

Specifically, the project intends to deliver the following: 

 

SCOPE OF WORK

The Project has four interrelated components such as: [i] community organizing through capacity building; [ii] emergency response and relief; [iii] support to livelihood component; [iv] project management and impact assessment. 

Project Component 1:  COMMUNITY ORGANIZING THROUGH CAPACITY BUILDING 

This component composed of two sub-components such as: [ii] empower communities to promote sustainable human development, and [ii] strengthening of institutional support for community renewal and regeneration. 

The first sub-component aims to empower communities to promote sustainable human development by organizing and strengthening the capacities of target communities to collectively plan, mobilize internal and external resources, and organize community development activities in partnership with local governments. This project component addresses community-level needs, beginning with those identified in target communities through a participatory process. Institutional support mechanisms will enlist the support of local, barangay, municipal and provincial governments in supporting the communities being served. Communities will effectively mobilized for action and community priority needs will be addressed through the implementation of Community Action Plans. Strengthening the capacity of communities for planning and implementation and mobilization will provide the means for improving basic services delivery and carrying out livelihood projects. 

This component will also strengthened the capacity of community leaders and active members of the communities and enhance community participation in the decision-making process. Building the capacity of the communities will allow the IDPs to plan and implement projects together. This will increase confidence and enhance the environment of peace and development.

The selection of the communities will provide a venue for convergence planning by the communities, LGUs, Agencies of the National Government and NGOs. The Technical Working Group (TWG) established within the Local Development Councils at barangay and municipal levels will become the coordinating mechanism for programme/project implementation. These Technical Working Group could be derived from the existing Disaster Coordinating Councils. Some specific capacity building activities include participatory appraisal and community diagnosis, and the preparation of community plans and project proposals.

 The training of the community-appointed Community Organizer Volunteers (COVs) will provide knowledge skills and attitudes in the effectiveness in organizing communities, to undertake various sectoral activities while promoting peace and development, in general. This component will also look at strengthening the existing community organizations through leadership training and helping the organization of community cooperatives, or community associations and other task-oriented or sectoral groupings. Ultimately, the priority needs of the community will be provided through the implementation of Community Action Plans. 

The second sub-component designed to strengthen the institutional supports for community renewal and regeneration. Under this sub-component, the Project will (i) build municipal and barangay local government units capacity to (a) plan such community renewal activities including both physical investments and community consultation and mobilization activities, and (b) assess the impact of such activities; (ii) assess the capacity for cost recovery for housing, physical infrastructure, and social services provision; (iii) undertake awareness raising programs that will increase the understanding between IDPs and non-IDPs; and (iv) strengthen skills of the NGO, PO and other existing organization in the selected IDP areas in working as intermediaries in community mobilization and in planning for relocation and skill development, especially for building and neighborhood management. This component will also assess the physical infrastructure, social services, and financing required for the IDPs to successfully regenerate communities in the resettlement areas. PO and other community-base organization will be strengthened for their work in undertaking the required social analysis and supporting the relocation of IDPs.

 Project Component 2:  EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND RELIEF 

This project component addresses the need to mitigate the effects of armed conflict with special attention to the displacement of the civilian population. It will assist and coordinated with and among the key national government agencies, NGOs and LGUs in responding effectively to emergencies and build capacity for special emergency response and relief. This project will be conducted in the thirty (30) identified and selected IDP areas that have high numbers of displacement and in communities with the arduous demands of hosting displaced civilian populations like Tawi-Tawi province. 

Displaced families and evacuees will be provided with emergency relief and rehabilitation packages of goods and services. The packages, which include emergency food rations, non-food family packs, medical supplies, and play and learning materials for children, will be distributed through community mobilization. The project will also provide basic services within the evacuation centers and communities under rehabilitation such as water, sanitation, and temporary shelter, educational materials, and makeshift classrooms as identified in the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) or the Program for Immediate relief and Short-Term rehabilitation of Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao.

The capacities of key institutions such as the Local Disaster Coordinating Councils (LDCCs) will be strengthened in the areas of: [i] Management and coordination; [ii] Implementation of Relief Programmes (LGUs, NGOs and Communities); [iii] Coordination and Support

The component would also assist in catalyzing communication between and amongst LDCCs and NGOs to achieve a coordinated response to humanitarian emergency.

The component will be implemented in close coordination and collaboration with the provincial, municipal and barangay local government units and government line agencies. People’s Organizations that are actively involved in the community activities may be tapped as partners and to be mobilized for action.

The housing component will enable IDPs currently living in schools and other public facilities to move to their own living quarters. The Project will provide the basic materials for the construction of core shelters. To promote spirit of volunteerisms and culture of cost-sharing scheme, beneficiaries will contribute the labor on the construction of their respective shelters. The relocation sites will be identified through the assistance of the Provincial and Municipal Government in each of the identified areas.  An initial environmental assessment (participatory agency i.e. the Department of Environment & Natural Resources [DENR] ARMM) will be conducted on the sites selected to identify issues to be addressed in site design.  

Project Component 3:  SUPPORT TO LIVELIHOOD IMPROVEMENT

This component has two sub-components, such as: [i] project on community enterprise & Entrepreneurship Development in Non-Farm Sector; [ii] Sustainable Livelihood Development Programme.

Project on Community Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Development in Non-farm Sector aims to increase income from livelihood opportunities and gainful employment of beneficiaries through community enterprise and development of entrepreneurship in non-farm sectors. In order to achieve this, the project aims to expand self-employment and wage employment opportunities. The outcome of this endeavor will create employment placement to the beneficiaries.

The component will strengthen the capacity of the communities in managing their own viable and functioning community-level enterprises/systems by offering assistance in community enterprise organizations such as: cooperatives, rural workers associations and others. Management capability assistance will be offered to new enterprises, as well as increased access to community-based and formal financial schemes. Formal linkages with the private sector through joint-venture arrangements will be forged to raise sustainability of the projects. A harmonized approach for developing community-based savings and micro-credit schemes for both agriculture and non-agriculture enterprises will be installed. Improved access to formal credit sources will be facilitated.

The project will endeavor to re-orient the career choices of IDPs especially the youths towards vocational trades and entrepreneurship through vocational prep and enterprise literacy (VPEL) this is intended to prevent out-of-school youth from seeking recruitment into the armed conflict, and expand their occupational horizons.

The project will enhance partnerships and the capabilities of partners’ agencies, government and NGOs through training and participation. Best practices and case studies will be documented, and management systems and methodologies will be manualized to institutionalized lessons learned.

Thirty (30) viable community enterprises were organized in the first semester of operation of the project. These enterprises will continue to be assisted until they become self-sustaining enterprises even the programme of the IDPs phase out. Training workshops will be established where in-house training at the community level will be conducted together with existing government agencies in the area.

Sustainable Livelihood Development Programme aims to increase incomes in agriculture-related sectors. This component will give support to livelihood projects where there is clear value added to the agricultural products of beneficiaries. The part one of this component described above will be engaged in all other livelihood initiatives. The project will strengthen the capacity of agricultural communities/cooperatives and local institutions, including LGUs to provide effective and efficient delivery of extension services on the propagation of sustainable agriculture management and natural resources conservation and protection. Through this, farm workers including women, will be trained in sustainable agriculture practices. Newly formed linkages between LGUs, farm leaders and NGOs will strengthen extension services.

Farm production will be enhanced through crop diversification and the provision of agricultural inputs and production technologies. Farmers managed demonstration cum seed farms, nursery and fish fry and multiplication farms will be identified and established to serve as technology transfer models. Selected barangays will receive seeds, planting materials, and other inputs including grain seeds, poultry, livestock, fish cages, and fish farms tools. Sustainable agricultural practices will be overriding framework for all economic activities. In addition, community-based resource management projects will be implemented in selected environmentally-at-risk areas, particularly in coastal, upland and forested areas.

The project will hone the capabilities of farmers’ organizations/cooperatives to become effective and efficient conduits of production, marketing, credit and community-based agro-processing. It will facilitate linkages among agricultural communities/cooperatives, business enterprises and financial/credit institutions, and provide savings and micro-credit schemes indirectly through links with communities and NGOs that are capable of providing training on the subject, as well as to financial intermediaries, which will facilitate credit arrangements. Activities that promote conservation, regeneration and protection of natural resources will be included. The concept of sustainable livelihood carries with it the participatory approach and community-based implementation. MIRD will facilitate linkage of the organized People organizations (PO) to other funding institution to be able to sustain the initiatives at the grassroots.

Project Component 3:  PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION

The MIRD will ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of project, enabling its objectives to be achieved effectively and efficiently with the active participation of local stakeholders. This will include establishing functional project coordination and supervision-management system. Wherein a system of interagency coordination and monitoring are established as one of the project major outcome and it will form part of the sustainability mechanism. Strengthened partnership among stakeholders, and established sustainability support mechanism through the established interagency support system, trained CO volunteers, and the MOA with partner agency and LGUs.

 

IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

The Mindanao Integrated Resource Development, Inc. (MIRD) involving the Peace and Development Advocates Leagues, acting as one body, shall serve as implementing partner NGO of the GOP-UNDP-IDP programme through Memorandum of Agreement to guarantee both parties what are expected to be performed in the partnership contract.  Such areas for consideration are the terms of reference for MIRD, work program, and funding schedule in a manner acceptable to both parties. 

Deployment and Management of Project Staff shall be the counterpart of the organization (MIRD).  However, provisions of financial support to project staff are limited to the monthly salary only.  Transportation and other necessary/project related expenses are chargeable to project fund.

Use of office facility, equipment and office supplies for regular project activities will be another counterpart of MIRD.  Except for training activities, training supplies and reproduction will be charged against the approved training budget.

On the actual implementation, MIRD shall be directly responsible to disburse the intended fund for the project, which shall be in accordance with the project procurement procedures and processes as stipulated in the signed Memorandum of Agreement.

The MIRD will facilitate project delivery & implementation at the ground through the designated project staff, which is being frontline by the Provincial Coordinator (direct staff of MIRD), Municipal Coordinators and Barangay Facilitator-Community Organizer, coming from the trained and professional Peace and Development Advocates throughout the three provinces.

Joint project assessment and monitoring using prescribed M & E framework of GOP-UNDP-IDP programme shall be conducted on a monthly basis to monitor the progress of project delivery, and generate recommendations.

GOP-UNDP programme for IDP shall do the project assessment and monitoring both community-based and area level as part of its program monitoring, impact assessment and supervision management of the implementer (MIRD).

In case of unexpected circumstances requiring necessary changes or any revision in scope or in the actual implementation of a certain project activity; the MIRD is accountable to make formal requisition and get approval from the GOP-UNDP-IDP.

MIRD shall be accountable to submit 4 types of project reports for the entire project life. These are project monthly accomplishment report, quarterly progress report, liquidation and financial report, and the project terminal report.  Either of these reports shall be prepared in accordance to the project M & E.  Liquidation and audited financial reports shall be supported with descriptive accomplishment report of a particular project activity conducted.

 

MIRD's Initial List of Identified IDP Communities in Basilan and Sulu

Province

Municipality

Barangay

MIRD’s Target Number of IDPs To Be Assisted

 

 Remarks

 

  

 

 

SULU

 1,337 IDP Families

 

Patikul

661 IDP Families

Kaunayan

101

 

Danag

120

 

Latih

200

 

Taglibi

120

 

Bangkal

120

 

 

Indanan

256 IDP Families

Jatih Tunggal

50

 

Poblacion

50

 

Bato-Bato

50

 

Kasambuhan Village

50

 

Sitio Bakud Datan, Timbangan

56

 

 

Maimbung

300 IDP Families

Tandoh Patoh

100

 

Gulangan

50

 

Duhol Kabbon

50

 

Lapa

50

 

Matatal

50

 

 

Talipao

120 IDP Families

Kabatuhan Tiis

20

 

Pantao

25

 

Samak

25

 

Mabahay

25

 

Kuhaw

25

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

BASILAN 

267 IDP Families

 

Sumisip

28 IDP Families

 

Ittub-Ittub

0

 

Langaray

0

 

Sitio Limbotulan, Matahallang

0

 

Babag, Bubuan Island

28

 

Maluso

140 IDP Families

 

Calang Canas

140

 

 

 

 

Mindanao Integrated Resource Development, Incorporated.  2nd Floor San Luis Building, San Jose Road, Zamboanga City.

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