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Local government leaders from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) met in a summit in Pasig City on Tuesday, with Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), The Asia Foundation (TAF), Galing Pook Foundation (GPF) with support from the Australian Government in the Philippines, to showcase initiatives on sustaining development and long-lasting peace in their region.
The summit is a part of the LGU Fellowship Program on Social Cohesion and Resilience under Project CIRCLE (Communities of Inclusion and Resilience through Collaborative Local Engagements).
It is the official launch of the Fellowship with the pioneering batch of participants from Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao del Sur. The fellowship program seeks to foster a community of practice among local government leaders to advocate for the sustainability and scaling up of policies, programs, and best practices on social cohesion and resilience.
“We believe that stronger local governance is a foundation to pursuing sustainable peace and preventing violent extremism. LGUs are at the forefront of ensuring public safety, order and security, and that requires building cohesive and resilient communities. We are hopeful that this Fellowship will enable our local government leaders to support one another through constant sharing of successes and challenges. We have seen the power of creating spaces for inter-LGU collaboration and peer-to-peer learning among mayors and their teams, and we will constantly support the LGUs in constantly learning from one another,” said Mel Sarmiento, Galing Pook Foundation Chairperson.
During the summit, the LGU leaders showcased their social cohesion and resilience measures including their innovative programs, policies, and plans. These include how they are taking the lead in sustaining peace, building social cohesion and resilience in BARMM, and their local solutions in preventing violent extremism.
Usec. Isidro Purisima from Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, graced the event, along with Simon Christopher Hayter, First Secretary Political, Australian Embassy in the Philippines, in support of the program.
Through the said program the BARMM representatives have also agreed to shift the needle from securitized responses to good governance initiatives, and how government agencies and development partners can better support LGUs achieve development outcomes.
Project CIRCLE supports locally-led efforts toward building community cohesion and resilience to address communities’ vulnerabilities to violent extremism and conflict.
The program features a two-track design composed of technical assistance to the Provincial LGUs (Provincial Track) and learning activities for Municipalities and Cities, which includes the Local Policy Development Workshop and Benchmarking Visit to Indonesia.
The approach is built around the understanding that LGUs and local stakeholders are best placed to address context-specific challenges faced by their communities and reduce the vulnerabilities of communities to violent extremism and conflict.
The fellows include the following:
Provincial Track
Municipal and City Track
During the event, the previous website LGUsvsCovidPh, which provided LGUs with the most up-to-date information, innovations, and best practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19, was relaunched as ResilientLGUs.PH.
The ResilientLGUs.PH is an information portal that provides LGUs and local actors with information on best practices, local policy templates, and tools to build resilience and inclusion through democratic governance and engagements in their communities.
The website is designed to encourage benchmarking across local governments in effectively and efficiently delivering services and addressing context-specific challenges faced by their constituents, thereby enabling resilient and inclusive communities.
The pioneering batch of LGU Fellowship Program on Social Cohesion and Resilience is featured on the website.