AMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will grant financial aid to at least 140 barangays (villages) to boost its development assistance to conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. JICA Chief Representative Norio Matsuda said that 140 villages will receive financial aid to implement small-scale infrastructure projects through the Community Development in Conflict Areas in Mindanao (CD-CAAM). Matsuda made the disclosure of the aid to Mindanao people during a recent visit at the office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles in Manila. Matsuda explained that the financial grant is now on its final two phases - the technical cooperation and preparatory phase, and the grant aid and technical cooperation project. Beneficiaries to the CD-CAAM are those villages that were identified through in-depth analysis under the Study for Socio-Economic Reconstruction and Development of Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao (SERD-CAAM), which was conceptualized in 2007 and completed in 2009 by JICA in support of the Mindanao peace process. SERD-CAAM aims to formulate a socio-economic plan for the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and development of conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. The study encompasses 3,847 villages in 151 cities and municipalities in 14 provinces of Regions 9, 10, 11, 12, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Japan is one of the top three bilateral grant aid donors along with the United States and Australia. It has been actively involved in alleviating poverty and consolidating peace in Mindanao, especially in the autonomous region.
Four years ago, JICA launched the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD) to enable conflict-affected families in Mindanao enjoy the dividends of peace through official development assistance.
