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DAVAO
CITY—After 15 years of implementing peace and
development projects in Mindanao, Oxfam Great Britain (OGB),
Oxfam Hong Kong (OHK) and Oxfam-Novib (ON) have pooled
their resources to implement a “one-Oxfam” project in
three most depressed regions in Mindanao.
To be
implemented in10 years, the project, to be launched on
July 16 in this city, will focus on “coastal-resource
management, access to basic education, peace-building,
indigenous peoples’ rights and rural livelihoods.”
“In the
next five to 10 years, the Joint Oxfam Mindanao program
will work with others to achieve sustainable livelihoods
and greater protection for the lumad, Bangsamoro, small
asset-holders and internally displaced men, women and
children in Caraga, Central Mindanao and the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Most especially,
women will be free from conflict, violence and
discrimination and will realize their right to a secure
livelihood,” the Joint Oxfam Mindanao Program goal
reads.
The
decision to merge the three groups in a one Oxfam
project was made in 2005 following a “series of research
activities that produced an analysis of the poverty and
conflict in Mindanao and, eventually, a comprehensive
document recommending strategic directions for a joint
Oxfam program,” which was adopted by OGB, OHK and ON in
October 2006.
The
Joint Oxfam Mindanao Program set the following as its
five- to 10-year objectives: 1) To secure access of men
and women to productive assets, markets and economic
resources for food security and improved income; 2) To
increase resilience of men, women and children to
conflict and disasters and restore interethnic trust and
confidence; 3) To make duty-bearers, especially state
actors, accountable in conflict and disaster prevention
and protection; and 4) To increase the participation and
capacity of women in leadership and decision-making and
be free from discrimination and violence.
Felipe
“Ipe” Ramiro Jr., Joint Oxfam Mindanao Program
coordinator, could not, however, present a figure on how
much the entire project would cost, saying the financial
requirement is “variable, depending on the strategic
fit, the needs of the poor regions, the capacity of the
partners and the strategic goal of each of the three
Oxfams.”
“This
program will advance the right to sustainable
livelihoods of rural men and women in the two poorest
regions in Mindanao—Central Mindanao and Caraga. This
shall be achieved by providing the poor with wider
options to participate in various supply chains, thereby
raising incomes, by increasing their resilience to
conflicts and disasters and by holding the state
accountable for the promotion of propoor economic
growth, read a document that Oxfam prepared for the
launch at the Apo View Hotel here.
“Women
will be especially targeted under the program, ensuring
their rights to livelihood and to be free from
discrimination, violence and conflict,” it added.
Ramiro,
in an interview, said that the Joint Oxfam Program
believes “that in working together, greater impact may
be achieved when addressing the causes of poverty and
powerlessness in the region.”
While
the project will be implemented in Caraga, Central
Mindanao and the ARMM, its Program Management Unit will
be based in this city where “policy engagements with
government, the private sector, donors and Mindanao-wide
civil-society organizations” would be done. |
