Hundreds of ARMM villages to benefit from new World Bank fund

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 4, 2010) – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is pursuing to bankroll a $30-million World Bank-funded three-year extension of the ARMM Social Fund Projects in at least 596 villages affected by previous fighting between rebel and military forces.

Regional officials made this announcement Thursday as they corrected an earlier report, which claimed the World Bank has already approved the fund.

“It was actually the National Economic Development Authority Board chaired by President Gloria Arroyo that recently approved the fund request from the World Bank, which is yet to decide on the request, although we anticipate its positive action,” ASFP information specialist Irene Fernandez Gonzales said.

In a press briefing in Cotabato City last month, ASFP Project Manager Nasser Sinarimbo urged for public cooperation in the implemantation of the project and stressed that the national government and World Bank have earmarked the loan for ARMM alone this time.

“The fund is a loan and all Filipinos are supposed to pay it back. We have to see to it that every penny of it is spent religiously in response to the trust the national government endows us,” Sinarimbo said.

The additional financing from the World Bank which is about P1.41-billion will help boost the parallel efforts of the regional and national government to develop the ARMM communities affected by conflict, Gonzales said.

It will run for three years with two components: The community development assistance and the institutional strengthening and governance, she said.

"The ASFP is adopting the community demand-driven approach in its implementation of World Bank-funded projects in ARMM areas such as the 596 villages identified as beneficiaries," Gonzales added.

Foreign institutions including the World Bank have been assisting the ASFP, and as of December 2009, the CDA component completed 1,661 community-based infrastructure sub-projects out of 1,723 target units.

The CDA component turned over 1,370 sub-projects to proponent local government units (barangay and municipal levels) and line agencies ARMM.

The ASFP, under its strategic regional infrastructure component, completed 13 sub-projects which included information and communication technology community research centers for district hospitals and ports in the five ARMM component provinces, Gonzales added.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency is also assisting the ASFP, through which it has completed three of seven SRI projects that are slated for turnover to recipient hospitals in ARMM, she said.

ASFP projects are also assisted by the Australian Agency for International Development, which has already served more than 3,000 children under various components of the Basic Education Assistance in Mindanao, Gonzales said. (Ali Macabalang)

Six years on, ARMM Social Fund Project works to sustain gains

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 13, 2009) – Some 250 stakeholders and project key players from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have gathered here Monday in an effort to share knowledge and experiences in the implementation and sustaining priority projects implemented in their respective areas.

Members of people organizations (POs) in communities with ASFP-supported projects, representatives from local government units and regional line agencies will be exchanging stories on project implementation in a two-day convention and workshop organized by the ARMM Social Fund Project (ASFP) starting today.

The activity is aimed at culling out the best methods and practices in project implementation, said Project Manager Mustapha Sambolawan.

A total of 1,535 community-based projects have been implemented by POs throughout the region since the start of its operation in 2003.

“LGUs are indispensable in the proper implementation of projects and their help would be crucial in ensuring its sustainability,” Sambolawan said in a statement.

The ASFP is a multi-component, community focused assistance funded through a loan package from the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It is now on its sixth year of working to empower ARMM communities.

“The ARMM Social Fund Project has been the champion of the regional government in introducing and supporting programs and projects that are intended to alleviate poverty, improve health and education, and fast-track the economy,” said ARMM Regional Governor Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan.

Ampatuan said they are working to avail of a fresh loan package from the World Bank to support the second phase of the ASFP.

The World Bank has graded the ASFP management and project implementation as very satisfactory in its latest assessment.

The ASFP, which is under the ministerial control of Ampatuan, has dozens of projects funded by the World Bank and the Japan Bank on International Cooperation. The ASFP is aimed at reducing poverty and build peace in the Muslim communities. (ARMM-Bureau of Public Information)