ObjectivesFund scope
Although peacebuilding, security, and socio-economic progress was made in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) of the Philippines, processes are at risk of faltering in the face of political upheaval, lack of community cohesion and social discontent, complex transition processes, COVID-19 delays, and stagnated levels of poverty (61.3% live below the poverty line). Countering these trends require accelerated efforts to implement localized conflict transformation initiatives, which stakeholders believe are critical for sustaining conviction in peace dividends, bring about an end to recurring episodes of local conflict, and prevent election-related violence in 2022.
Stakeholders of the Conflict Transformation in BARMM joint programme contribute to peaceful and inclusive societies, drawing from sustainable development actions laid out in the Philippine Development Plan, the Bangsamoro Regional Development Plan, UN Socio-economic and Peacebuilding Framework for COVID-19 Recovery 2020-2023 (SEPF), and current UN reform agenda. Anchored to the UN Secretary General’s vision on conflict prevention, the joint programme strategy is built around activities that raise community resilience in high-risk areas, as well as improving basic service and resource delivery, and implementing initiatives that build individual and community livelihood capacities.
To leverage humanitarian and development gains, programme stakeholders have applied conflict-sensitive programme and monitoring components to identify drivers of conflict and areas of intervention. Conflict and needs analyses, along with monitoring operations in communities at the most risk, are combined with area-based development approaches, conflict-sensitive principles, and contextually relevant community methods that improve inclusion, and drive-up engagement, local ownership, and governance accountability and transparency.
Theory of change
The coming years are critical for securing the Bangsamaro peace process, given conflict/violence trends and political dynamics. To increase much-needed peace dividends and community support, BARMM stakeholders address conflict prevention and community resilience throughout the election period to lay the foundation for conflict transformation outcomes that reverberate beyond the 2022 elections and support a successful transition in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
If community driven socioeconomic and peacebuilding investments can leverage tangible peace dividends—positively affecting the welling and livelihoods of conflict-affected communities in BARMM, including women, non-Moro indigenous peoples, youth, former-combatants and soon to be decommissioned combatants—then immediate challenges to building and sustaining peace amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and 2022 elections can be mitigated.
Doing so will lay the groundwork for conflict transformation outcomes that help drive the regional transition process, as well as assist BARMM communities in implementing locally developed and owned resilience strategies that strengthen social cohesion.