CBCS hastens legwork to support passage of the IDP Protection Bill in the BARMM

by | Jul 11, 2022 | Editorial, Feature, News, Success stories | 0 comments

As part of its main advocacy to protect the rights and welfare of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Bangsamoro Region,  Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) and its partner agencies continue the implementation of the project coined “Support to Advocacy Activities leading to the Passage of BARMM IDP Protection Law” to bolster and expedite the passage of the BARMM IDP Protection Law. On the second phase of the said project which kicked off last January 2022, CBCS has conducted various activities geared towards the finalization of the IDP Protection Bill. These include several Inter-Agency meetings, Legislative and Executive consultations at the Local Government Unit (LGU) level, Capacity-Building trainings, Workshops in Ordinance Writing, and the Production of Tri-media Educational Information dissemination campaign pertaining to the IDP protection bill.

This bill seeks to provide long-term solution to the needs of more than 80,000 IDPs across all the municipalities and cities within BARMM. As of date, the bill as drafted has already gone through legal review with the Project’s Legal Consultants headed by the Majority of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) members to align and anchor the bill with the provisions of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and the Constitution of the Philippines.

The project is headed by CBCS in partnership with United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ministry of Social Services(MSSD) and various BARMM CSOs which focus is on Human Rights and IDP Protection. Series of community awareness consultations were conducted in the different areas of BARMM. The second and final phase of the project is set to end on September 2022.

Accomplishments for January-May 2022

  1. Profiling of LGUs through Consultation and Coordination Meeting (14 municipalities in Maguindanao, 4 municipalities in Lanao del Sur and 1 municipality each Island Province(BASULTA)
  2. Community awareness and FGD on the Advocacy of the Bill
  3. Drafted IEC Advocacy Materials (Poster and Booklet)
  4. Created the Audio Visual Presentation on the IDPBill Advocacy and
  5. Community Awareness Activities: 13 Municipalities across theBARMM