EU, Australia, UN fund projects to support transformation of 6 MILF camps
MANILA, Philippines — The European Union, along with Australia and the United Nations, is launching two projects aimed to support former combatants, families, and communities in their transition.
In a statement from the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines on Wednesday, one project focuses on providing legal identities while the other will promote economic and community resilience and security in partnership with the Office of Presidential Adviser of Peace, Reconciliation and Unity and the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.
“We are happy to be partnering with Australia and the UN on normalisation, since enhancing the normalisation track -allowing for all the people engaged in the conflict to lead peaceful and productive lives without leaving anyone behind–is crucial to build lasting peace,” EU Ambassador Luc Véron said.
The projects will support Camp Bilal in the Lanao provinces, Camp Bushra from Lanao del Sur, Camp Rajamuda in North Cotabato/Maguindanao as well as Camp Abubakar, Camp Badre, and Camp Omar in Maguindanao.
Named the “Access to Legal Identity and Social Services for Decommissioned Combatants” (ALIAS-DC), the project will help provide birth certificates to 31,000 individuals, including communities surrounding the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camps and the Bangsamoro Islamic Women’s Brigade (BIWAB).
The EU will be providing P62.41 million and Australia has donated P18.1 million for ALIAS-DC. Rights non-governmental organization IDEALS, Inc. will be leading the project, which will be imposed until 2023.
Meanwhile, the other project named “ Programme on Assistance for Camp Transformation through Inclusion, Violence Prevention and Economic Empowerment” (PROACTIVE) will focus on promoting the economic aspects of the communities in transition.
PROACTIVE is implemented by the UN Development Programme, while co-funder EU will provide P221 million. The program will be focusing on creating livelihoods through social enterprises as well as provide agricultural and non-agricultural livelihood programs, among others.
The EU said it has so far invested over 105 million euros to support development and capacity building for the peace efforts in Mindanao since 2020.
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