Zamboanga City — Community and Family Services International (CFSI) and Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely led the handover of the Zamboanga Recovery Project (ZRP) outputs on 02 March 2018 to the Zamboanga City government and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by the Zamboanga Siege in September 2013.
The Australian Government provided AUD 3 million (PHP 102 million) for the implementation of the three-year ZRP, which aimed to support vulnerable families displaced by the crisis on 09 September 2013. The project was implemented by CFSI from 2015 through 2017, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other stakeholders. Australia’s assistance provided beneficiaries with permanent shelters; psychosocial and protection services; support to host communities; and health and disease surveillance. The project benefitted a total of 54,000 individuals.
Of the total number of beneficiaries, 400 families (1,886 persons) were provided with permanent shelters through collaboration with CRS while 1,049 families (5324 individuals) benefitted from the livelihood assistance provided by CFSI, with 1,486 individuals trained in financial management and 1,017 in disaster risk reduction. In addition, 40,924 students and 588 pre-school children attending 16 schools and six Child Development Centres, respectively, benefitted from the support to host communities component. A total of 1,017 individuals with specific psychosocial and protection needs were also assisted. CFSI enabled 2,072 individuals to acquire their birth registration, and 583 to obtain their marriage certificates. 106 vulnerable persons were also able to participate in a literacy training. All of these efforts led to the achievement of the project’s objective which was to promote human security for at least 1,000 families (5,500 persons) from amongst the “untagged” category of the IDPs.
On behalf of the Zamboangueños, Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco expressed her gratitude to the Australian Government and its partners in the ZRP for the support. “The Zamboanga Recovery Project has truly changed the future of so many families who have been deeply affected by the crisis” she said. The Zamboanga City Government worked closely with the Australian Government, CFSI, and its partners in ensuring that aid investments and the implementation of rehabilitation projects were aligned with the Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction so as to create a more sustainable development plan for the city.
The Zamboanga Recovery Project was implemented from 01 January 2015 to 31 December 2017. The gains and lessons learned from the project inform the Marawi Recovery Project, a new initiative also funded by the Australian Government, and implemented by CFSI in response to the humanitarian crisis brought about by the siege of Marawi City.