Japanese Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa and Ms. Yukiyo Nomura, Country Director of ICAN Philippines signed the grant contract for the project on “Capacity Building Project on Peace Education and Conflict Resolution in Bangsamoro Communities of Mindanao” at the Embassy of Japan on February 25, 2015. The project, amounting to US$ 575,692 (approximately 2.5 million pesos) is funded through the Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects, a small-grant funding program of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Mindanao has experienced 40 years of conflict between the national government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), causing 120,000 deaths in the last 20 years. The Municipality of Pikit where the MILF military camp exists has produced a lot of Internally Displaced People (IDP) as a result of the conflict. Many children who experienced the conflict in Mindanao suffer psychological wounds. In addition, a lot of them have no access to schools due to the conflict and insufficient number of schools in the area. The lack of education in the area creates a drag on building peace.
This project aims to introduce peace education through the construction of two “Schools of Peace”, “Datu bitol Mangansakan Memorial High School” and “Mapagkaya Primary School.” It is expected that this project will contribute to the peace and stability in the area.
The Japanese NGO, ICAN, has been working to improve the livelihoods of children in crisis situations since 1994 mainly in the Philippines. In Mindanao, ICAN has been working to improve the livelihoods of indigenous people in southern Mindanao and children in General Santos City by building schools, providing trainings and workshops in areas such as education and health.
The Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects started in the Philippines in 2002. Since then, the Japanese Government has made contracts for 38 projects in the Philippines under the scheme, amounting to approximately 600 million yen in total. Japan believes that this project will strengthen not only friendship between the peoples of Japan and the Philippines but also the existing strategic partnership between Japan and the Philippines.
