Philippines gets $3-M counterterrorism grant

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has received a $3-million grant from an international foundation to help fight violent extremism in the country.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año announced yesterday that the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), a non-profit Swiss foundation has partnered with the administration to provide funding for community-level initiatives to stop extremist movements.

Año said the funding will focus on areas in Mindanao, mainland Luzon and Metro Manila that are vulnerable to violent extremism. 

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is now calling on civil society organizations (CSOs) to express their interest to become principal recipients of the GCERF. 

“One of the priorities of DILG is the protection of peace and safety of Filipino communities through the prevention of violent extremism. Now having GCERF as a partner towards the achievement of this goal further empowers our locals in addressing this issue,” Año said in a statement. 

CSO-grantees are expected to propose activities that will build tolerance, community agency and positive social and economic alternatives that target the youth and youth support networks that are vulnerable to radicalization. 

The grant is in line with the administration’s initiative of creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict that adopts a whole-of-nation approach in addressing the communist terrorism problem in the country. 

The Philippines became a new partner country of GCERF in August 2018.

The deadline for application for GCERF funding is on Sunday and applications must be submitted to the [email protected] with the subject line ‘EOI-PHILIPPINES.’