Community and Family Services International (CFSI) signed the First Programme Partnership Agreement (PPA #1) for Operational Support for the Sajahatra Project Management Team of the Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) – the development arm of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) – in Davao City, Mindanao, in the southern Philippines on 19 September.
The Sajahatra Bangsamoro (“Blessings, Prosperity and Peace upon the Bangsamoro”) is an important step in the quest for a just and lasting peace in the conflict-affected areas of Mindanao.
The signing of this initial one-year agreement followed many months of preparation for operations and negotiations on the funding mechanism.
Signing the agreement on behalf of CFSI were Director for Philippine Programme Vladimir Hernandez and Deputy Executive Director Neil Sison. Witnesses for the signing included the Philippine Government’s Task Force on Bangsamoro Development, the MILF Task Force Sajahatra, and the World Bank – the Administrator of the Mindanao Trust Fund for Reconstruction and Development Programme (MTF-RDP), through which the first grant for the Sajahatra Bangsamoro coursed.
Others involved in and present at the ceremony included representatives from the Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH), the Malaysian Government (the facilitator of the GPH/MILF peace talks), the International Monitoring Team, and other stakeholders.
