PH secures funding to empower BARMM’s women and children

FILE

The Philippines collaborated with development partners to secure assistance and investments aimed at promoting gender mainstreaming and empowering women and children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

In a press briefing, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. announced that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) pulled in a P275-million investment to reduce the infant mortality birth rate and ramp up birth registration in the region.

“We know from BARMM that most people in [the region] do not have a birth certificate, so they lose social protection in the packages. So without identities, they will have difficulty with social protections like Philhealth,” Galvez said during the International Conference on Women, Peace, and Security 2024 on Wednesday.

READ: Women on the rise in BARMM: More seats in parliament ahead

In addition, JICA also committed to fund the production of food for 10,000 farmers in the region amounting to P189 million.

The food program will be facilitated and cooked by the women in BARMM as it aims to feed 15,000 students.

‘It is a full cycle, very purposive, and very high-level and high-impact projects tha our partners call like JICA, Australia, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and also Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), United Kingdom, and Canada” he added.

Earlier, development agencies including JICA, KOICA, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) pledged approximately P1.6 billion to enhance healthcare programs and promote Universal Health Care in the Bangsamoro region.

4Ps revamp

Meanwhile, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said that it will revamp the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

“In the national government, I can just say that our 4Ps program which is being implemented nationally… We will be adding a new component to this next year. The budget is almost P800 million for the first 1,000 days. This is for the mothers and the children,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said.

Pangandaman also emphasized that the development partners provided financial assistance for election-related capacity building and awareness in preparation for BARMM’s first election, scheduled for next year.

Moreover, Philippine government officials highlighted the importance of the adoption of the Pasay Declaration, a document that captures the collective commitment of participating nations to further the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.

“The declaration aims to solidify global consensus on addressing challenges to women’s full participation in peace processes, including structural barriers and the need for stronger financing mechanisms to support women-led initiatives,” DBM said in a statement.