Research commissioned by the World Bank and World Food
Programme notes persistent challenges after displaced households return to
their homes.
MANILA, APRIL 26, 2012 — Cycles of violent conflict in Central Mindanao have
resulted in the mass displacement of nearly a million people from their homes
over the past 12 years. In 2003, tens of thousands were displaced by armed
conflict and, more recently, thousands of families had to leave their homes yet
again when fighting escalated in parts of Zamboanga Sibugay and Basilan in
October 2011. Currently, several thousand people across Mindanao remain
displaced, particularly in Maguindanao.
Disrupting livelihoods are presenting major challenges to both affected
families and the government, these concerns do not necessarily end with the
return of displaced individuals to their places of origin, a study by the World
Bank (WB) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) during a launch at
the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster revealed.
The survey, conducted in the last quarter of 2010, interviewed 2,759 randomly
selected households from a total of 231 barangays across five provinces – Lanao
del Sur and Maguindanao in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), as
well as Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
The study – ”Violent Conflicts and Displacement in Central Mindanao: Challenges
for Recovery and Development” – reveals that four in every ten households in
the surveyed areas experienced displacement from 2000 to 2010, with one in five
displaced two or more times, and one in ten forced to leave their homes up to
five times during this period.
Displacement is detrimental to livelihoods, welfare and social cohesion across
virtually every key indicator: food security, access to basic services, income
poverty and housing, the study found.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Dinky Soliman
welcomes the report’s “important insights on the inter-related dimensions of
conflict, displacement and economic growth” in Central Mindanao. “The data
provides a basis that will allow the relevant departments of government and
other development partners to offer targeted recovery and render extensive
development support in affected areas, especially in the most vulnerable
households,” she said.
Secretary Teresita “Ging” Quintos-Deles of the Office of the Presidential
Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) also lauds the study, finding the report a
“very relevant guide” in government efforts to address the needs of
conflict-affected communities under the current Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan
(Peaceful and Resilient Communities or PAMANA) program.
“It is also important that interventions under PAMANA be based on detailed
knowledge of livelihood opportunities and access to land, credit availability
and food supply. These indicators vary from place to place,” Secretary Deles
noted.
For his part, World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi observed that the
report sheds considerable light on the nature and extent of vulnerability
across provinces, population categories, and livelihood groups in affected
areas. “It can shape the operational choices of humanitarian, recovery and
development agencies and improve outcomes for the population on the ground,” he
said.
WFP Representative and Country Director Stephen Anderson meanwhile said that
the study would help agencies like WFP “better target food assistance as well
as help communities strengthen their resilience to conflict and natural
disasters.”
Mr. Anderson noted that “the two ARMM provinces in Central Mindanao –
Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur – suffer the highest levels of food insecurity.
This is exacerbated by high levels of exposure to shocks, such as recurrent
flooding and crop disease that make people poorer and more food insecure.”
Looking at the vulnerability of communities in Central Mindanao, the study
found that households experiencing displacement have been “frequently exposed
to violence.” Movements of armed military and rebel groups were cited by
29 percent of the surveyed households as one primary cause of their
displacement, while 9 percent blamed it on clan conflict or rido.
The report said that host families also feel the pressures of displacement from
additional financial costs. Some host families, usually relatives, “had to
resort to selling goods or assets to provide food and support” for the
displaced people they were hosting.
Of the areas surveyed, Maguindanao province accounted for the highest degree of
vulnerability, with about 82 percent of all households in the area affected by
displacement due not only to violent conflict but also to weather-related
disasters. These displacements represented the two poorest wealth quintiles,
where households suffered the highest levels of food insecurity and the lowest
incomes.
When asked to identify their top priorities, surveyed households ranked money,
employment, food, health and education, in that order. Respondents called for
government attention to these basic needs, as well as the construction of roads
and the need of electricity.
Respondents also identified economic development, the signing of a peace
agreement and ending impunity as critical interventions
The DSWD and OPAPP, in partnership with the World Bank and WFP, plan to
disseminate the results of this study through a series of presentations in
various fora in Manila and Mindanao.
