Fostering Community Reintegration and Peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao
?????Women Peace Facilitators under the joint programme Supporting Conflict Transformation Toward Effective Peace-building in the Bangsamoro Region (STEP-BARMM)?meet with women from communities in Lanao del Sur to understand how their lives are affected by conflict, to gain insights on how to address the unique challenges they face and to develop effective and inclusive solutions.?Photo courtesy of STEP-BARMM implementing partner Nonviolent Peaceforce.?Photo credit: UNFPA Philippines.
The military campaign aimed to quickly defeat the Moro Islamic Liberation Front but resulted in a prolonged conflict and a humanitarian crisis involving the loss of lives, widespread violence, and displacement of civilians.
Now a mother of four, Myrna works as a peace advocate and community leader in Pikit, North Cotabato, witnessing firsthand the lingering devastation of that violence. Since the 2014 peace agreement between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019, Myrna hopes for lasting peace.
Since 2015, investments from the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) implemented through various UN agencies and local partners, have accompanied the implementation of the peace agreement and provided support to communities and individuals like Myrna.
While conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government has ceased, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao¡¯s early steps towards stability are still hampered by ongoing armed clashes in certain areas between the security sector and armed groups that did not sign up to the peace agreement. The uneven implementation of the peace agreement¡¯s Normalization track, which includes the disarmament, decommissioning and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants, as well as localized conflicts among various identity groups, clans and factions competing for political power further complicate the situation. This is particularly relevant as the inaugural regional elections in 2025 will end the transition under the Moro Islamic Liberation Front-led Bangsamoro Transitional Authority (BTA). The COVID-19 pandemic also constrained both the national government and BTA¡¯s capacities to implement the peace agreement and deliver services to the conflict-affected communities in need of peace dividends.
In this fragile context, the UN Philippines¡¯ joint programme, ¡°Supporting Conflict Transformation Toward Effective Peacebuilding in the Bangsamoro Region¡± (STEP-BARMM), funded by the PBF and implemented by IOM, UNFPA and UN Women with a total budget of $3 million from 2020 to 2022, and building on two previous PBF investments in Bangsamoro, bolstered the peace process. The programme addressed key implementation gaps in protecting and empowering marginalized groups, especially women, in peacebuilding and livelihoods initiatives.
Supporting women¡¯s reintegration and leadership
The project supported the development of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and the localization of Women, Peace and Security action plans in 17 municipalities. It also helped with the establishment of Gender and Development focal points across all Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ministries to ensure budget allocations for implementation of WPS plans. These efforts would help sustain women¡¯s active engagement in peacebuilding after the joint programme concludes.
As part of the Peacebuilding Fund-supported Joint Programme,?IOM provided livelihood and social cohesion activities for members of the BIWAB Scrap Marketing Cooperative.?Photo credit: IOM Philippines
The project helped with the reintegration of members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade (BIWAB), an all-female group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It offered sustainable livelihoods opportunities and conflict transformation capacity building to BIWAB members not included in the Normalization programme, enabling them to participate in socioeconomic affairs and expand their role in community protection and peacebuilding.?
Over 100 Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade members, including Myrna, trained as Women Peace Facilitators, raising awareness on peacebuilding and gender-based violence. Recognized as women mediators by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao¡¯s Ministry of Peace and Order, they have been deployed to mediate in community disputes, preventing escalation into violent community confrontations. Several BIWAB members have also been recruited as community social workers by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Ministry of Social Services and Development, reinforcing their roles as community leaders.
Due to the success of the pioneering batch, the Ministry has expanded the recruitment of women community social workers from Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade, supporting their transition to civilian life.
The PBF-funded joint programme also helped transform 15 BIWAB cooperatives, comprising 2,000 members, into viable income-generating businesses. These businesses include small-scale grocery shops, dressmaking, bread and pastry stalls, agricultural product marketing, printing services, and scrap metal crafting, providing sustainable livelihoods for their members and other marginalized groups. As a result, around 80 percent of Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade cooperative members engaged in the programme reported an improvement in their reintegration into society, according to the project¡¯s endline assessment.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade cooperatives continue to thrive more than a year after the end of the project. The Linandangan Bangsamoro Women¡¯s Agriculture Cooperative has expanded its operations by setting up a new branch to market agricultural products. The Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade Scrap Iron Marketing Cooperative based in Cotabato city has expanded into the catering business and increased its membership.
IOM conducted product development training for the members of BIWAB dressmaking cooperatives in Cotabato City to support the sustainability of their current economic activities.?Photo credit: IOM Philippines
Empowering minority indigenous groups
The programme¡¯s inclusive peacebuilding approach also engaged minority non-Moro indigenous peoples communities in conflict hotspots in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Aileen, founder of the Women Organization of Rajah Mamalu Descendants (WORMD), speaks at the?Quick Response Team Training of Women¡¯s Organization of Rajah Mamalu Descendants (WORMD) in South Upi, Maguindanao, organized by UN Women.?Photo credit: UN Women Philippines.
WORMD, formed by the indigenous Teduray people, represents members across 11 villages in Maguindanao province ¨C four of which are affected by conflict, while the other seven are classified as geographically isolated areas. The Teduray, like many other minority non-Moro indigenous groups, have struggled to voice concerns about their rights, access to services, ancestral domain delineation, and land dispute violence during the peace process and the Bangsamoro transition.
Non-Moro indigenous peoples participated in regional consultations supported by the project, providing input on a new Indigenous People Code now under debate in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Parliament.
Participants in UN Women¡¯s?Quick Response Team Training of Women¡¯s Organization of Rajah Mamalu Descendants (WORMD) in South Upi, Maguindanao province take part in a conflict mapping exercise.?Photo credit: UN Women Philippines.
Strengthening Local Infrastructures for Peace
In its effort to improve security and strengthen trust between communities and authorities, the project helped to strengthen Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams (BPATs) and Barangay Peace and Order Committees in their roles of providing security and mediating conflict in the community through training and necessary equipment. The Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team is a community-based organization in the Philippines that maintains peace and order at village level, working closely with the security sector. The Barangay Peace and Order Committee ¨C comprising elected government officials as well as community representatives - is the government institution that prevents criminality and maintains public order and safety at the community level.
A total of 387 Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team members and 253 community leaders trained in community safeguarding, enhancing their conflict prevention skills. This has continued post-project. For instance, the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team in Barangay Kabinge, Datu Saudi Ampatuan municipality, continues to use the toolkit provided by the project, including the handheld radio and megaphones to alert authorities and communities to potential danger, aiding in conflict prevention. Due to the project¡¯s WPS advocacy, this Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team has added two new women members and champions gender inclusion in other BPATs in the municipality.
Although the project formally concluded in December 2022, its impact endures through the Peace, Security and Reconciliation Office, a new civilian institution established by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao government based on the joint programme¡¯s policy recommendation, with technical support provided by the project. The Peace, Security and Reconciliation Office, funded by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao regional budget, oversees the transition of former combatants and refocuses the peace agreement¡¯s security mechanisms to address horizontal conflicts. Launched in January 2023, the Peace, Security and Reconciliation Office focuses on addressing conflict involving Moro Islamic Liberation Front members or factions, collaborating with Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ministries, local government units and community-based mediators, including women mediators trained by the joint programme. It also supports ex-combatants in reintegration processes and amnesty applications.
Ten years after the Bangsamoro peace agreement, peace advocates like Myrna, Aileen and members of Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxiliary Brigade and non-Moro indigenous peoples organizations, in collaboration with Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao¡¯s strengthened institutions, are leading efforts to foster lasting peace in Mindanao. Despite ongoing challenges, the PBF project has helped to empower key advocates in their peacebuilding journey.