Philippines conflict monitoring project

Start & End Date: 2021-2022

Country/Countries: Philippines

Multilateral Institution(s) Involved: World Bank

Case Study: Available

The development gap between the BARMM and the rest of the country is measurable across all sectors despite the region’s extensive land area and agri-aqua resources, notably in terms of education, health, water, sanitation, electricity, and telecommunications. The main conflict in Mindanao occurred between the Central Government of the Philippines (GPH) and two Muslim separatist groups, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The World Bank has provided support for the BARMM (and its precursor, the defunct ARMM) and the Bangsamoro peace process for several decades, going through multiple phases of development assistance that shifted from the original intention of helping the GPH and MILF prepare for a peace agreement to helping them implement it. The project was therefore meant to address the need for quality evidence and analysis to support inclusive and conflict-sensitive decisionmaking during peace process implementation, at multiple scale. The Project Development Objective is to provide useful, timely, and reliable conflict data and analysis, briefing key stakeholders to inform their programming and actions.

Given this shifting context, access to solid data and analysis on conflict patterns in the BARMM are critical to ensure that the World Bank, the GPH, the BTA, and other stakeholders on the ground can respond appropriately, mitigate risks, and support the transition from conflict to sustainable peace.