Manila: The Japanese government has approved eight projects in Mindanao in an effort to push government-rebel peace talks.
The projects for this year, under the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD) programme, will cost 34 million pesos (Dh2.9 million) and include the construction of four school buildings, post harvest facilities with agricultural equipment, a training centre and installation of hospital equipment.
Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe led the signing ceremony for the project at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process in suburban Pasig City last Friday.
The projects will be funded through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects and will be implemented in conflict-affected communities in Lanao del Sur, North Cotabato and Maguindanao.
Urabe, in his message, stressed that advancing human security is key to peace and prosperity. "It is not the money. What is important is for individuals (in Mindanao) to achieve their full potentials," he said.
Urabe also conveyed that promoting peace and development in Mindanao would contribute and benefit the whole Philippines, as well as other countries in Asia.
He added Japan has also been "helping facilitate the substantive and procedural aspects of the peace talks and in keeping the peace on the ground" as a member of both the International Contact Group and the International Monitoring Team, which are part of the security components of the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
J-BIRD was launched in December 2006.
According to Japanese Embassy website, the "J-BIRD is designed to contribute to the peace process and development in the Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao and the surrounding areas in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao). The objective of J-BIRD is to enable the people and the communities in the target areas to enjoy the "dividends of peace" through the Japanese official development assistance on the basis of "Human Security" principles."
For her part, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles lauded Japan's "steadfast accompaniment" to the Philippine peace process, "both on the peace table and on the ground."
Quintos-Deles said since J-BIRD was launched more than five years ago, "the total amount of assistance through the Japanese ODA (official development assistance) mechanism has reached 6 billion pesos (Dh511.85 million)."
"This has touched the lives of Mindanaoans in concrete ways -- access to water, roads, school buildings, health centres, shelter for the displaced, food for the hungry," Quintos-Deles said.
