Foreign agencies, BARMM expand humanitarian project in Maguindanao del Sur

COTABATO CITY — Representatives of three international agencies, ethnic Tedurays and local officials in South Upi, Maguindanao del Sur on Monday launched the expansion of a poverty alleviation livelihood project as part of the commemoration of the World Humanitarian Day in the municipality.

Two members of the Bangsamoro parliament, Suharto Mastura Ambolodto, and Froilyn Tenorio Mendoza, separately told reporters on Tuesday that the World Humanitarian Day activity in South Upi was capped off with the launching in the area of the second phase of the Resilient Livelihoods Development Project for Women and Youth Internally Displaced Persons, which is most known as the RLD Project.

South Upi is a remote highland town in Maguindanao del Sur, home to mixed ethnic Teduray, Moro and non-Moro Christian communities relying mainly on propagation of upland rice varieties and hybrid corn as sources of income. 

The RLD Project, a joint initiative of the Bangsamoro regional government, the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Population Fund aims to improve the productivity of families made poor by calamities and armed conflicts.

FAO’s project team leader, Helen Rojas, and Melindi Malang, who oversees the Cotabato City sub-office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, participated in Monday’s event in South Upi.

"The World Humanitarian Day is more than a celebration. It is a call to action. It reminds us that each of us has a role to play in addressing human suffering," Malang said.

Among the RLD Project’s objectives is to provide community-based groups food processing equipment and other essential provisions that can be used for income-generating projects.

The mayor of Upi, Reynalbert Insular, said he is thankful to the Bangsamoro regional government, the Australian government, the FAO and the UNFPA of the United Nations, for involving his constituents in the RLD project.