Wednesday, March 07, 2007 3 key policy agenda up for discussion in Cebu
THE Mindanao Working Group agreed here last week to push three key policy agenda for Mindanao when the Philippines Development Forum 2007 opens in Cebu City this weekend.
These include the push for the provision of performance-based incentives for local government units (LGUs) in Mindanao, provision of peace and development fund for Mindanao LGUs with vulnerable communities and the adoption of the community-driven approach for peace and development projects.
These three policy agenda were agreed by members of the Mindanao Working Group during the 5th MWG Meeting in Davao City last week as key issues that need top-level approval and concurrence by the Philippine cabinet and Consultative Group-Philippines during the breakout sessions of the PDF 2007.
This year's PDF, which is an interactive and participatory forum among members of the international donor community, national government agencies, legislative branch, civil society, academe and business groups on strengthening ODA collaboration in the country, has four break-out sessions such as on achieving broad-based growth, sustaining fiscal progress, enhancing competitiveness and nurturing regional and local growth wherein MWG is among the key participants.
"There's no change in the development roadmap for Mindanao except that there will be up scaling of interventions on the ground. The MWG will push up front three issues as policy recommendations to accelerate socio-economic development in Mindanao," Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza, co-chair of the MWG, said in a press conference last week.
According to Dureza, the MWG will be pushing for the adoption of a community-driven development approach in peace-building efforts, having recognized the importance of civil society participation in all aspects of the project cycle.
The MWG sees the merits of employing CDD approach as it ensures the ownership of the projects, strengthens social cohesion among community members, and allows for greater interaction among the project stakeholders.
Another agenda that will be raised is the provision of a performance-based incentive for good performing LGUs as a strategy by which LGUs can leverage good performance with donor support.
These incentives, either government or donor funds, can be provided to promote improved performance key areas such as social services.
In relation to providing incentives, setting up a peace and development fund in the General Appropriations Act or GAA will also be pushed. This fund shall contain fixed and significant amount of resources allotted for peace and development interventions in vulnerable communities of Mindanao.
"It is a good start for government, with the help of the donor community, to allot specific allocation for Mindanao LGUs with vulnerable communities so as to ensure the delivery of development interventions to these areas," Dureza added.
World Bank Country Director Joachim von Amsberg, who co-chairs the MWG, said that the donor community has been always driven to help Mindanao address its peace and development imperatives, especially this time when the national government is achieving major breakthroughs in its fiscal reform program.
"The international business environment has been recently favorable, but how can the Philippines be part of that rapid growth to reduce poverty. That is why are very supportive in addressing key peace and development issues in Mindanao," said Amsberg, adding that the country needs to improve its investment climate further to encourage more investors.
Some 70 donor agencies, government line agencies and non-government organizations attended the 5th MWG, which was co-organized by Medco and World Bank. MWG is a mechanism under the Consultative Group-Philippines to discuss and update issues on donor-government coordination.
