This operation has been modified and extended in time until June 2010 as per Budget revision 7 (see below).

Conflict in Mindanao has undermined the lives and livelihoods of the population, generating an acute food and livelihood crisis. This is characterized by high levels of hunger and poor food access,recurring displacement due to conflict, depleted assets and malnutrition.

Addressing the needs of the population while supporting the Government’s peace process requires a combination of immediate and short-term interventions that meet humanitarian needs and household and community priorities, and medium to longer-term measures that support rehabilitation, recovery and the development of the region.

2008 will be a decisive year for WFP’s programme in Mindanao. Since launching a new, humanitarian and peace building operation in mid-2006, WFP has built partnerships with the Government and shown that it can pilot and bring to scale, within the Philippines’ most difficult operating environment, food-supported programmes that address the priorities of poor, conflict affected communities.

These programmes have been successful in addressing the urgent needs of IDPs, retaining children in school, increasing participation in health services and improving community infrastructure and capacities.

They have also strengthened local government capacity for programme delivery, built confidence between local authorities and local constituencies and facilitated peaceful, community dialogue. However, moving to the next level of operations – targeted and sustained, food-supported safety nets implemented in support of national programmes and a strong peace process – will require a greater involvement and commitment from Government, in terms of both staff and resources and the further integration of WFP activities within government hunger mitigation schemes.

WFP’s EMOP is consistent with the findings of a November 2007 food security assessment which recommended the continuation of food assistance to targeted, vulnerable groups and further integration of activities within strengthened government plans and processes.

WFP estimates that 30 percent of the population in the conflict-affected areas are food insecure and are skipping meals,reducing portion size and otherwise resorting to coping mechanisms that pose risks to their lives,while an additional 40 percent put their livelihoods at risk by borrowing money at prohibitive rates or selling assets in order to meet household food needs. Further, despite a concentration of donor resources to the Philippines in Mindanao, Mindanao falls far short of national averages in  education,health and virtually all social indicators.

The EMOP’s objectives are to increase food access and consumption by vulnerable conflict-affected households, while also restoring infrastructure and livelihoods damaged or neglected due to the conflict, supporting the improved nutrition and health status of children, mothers and other vulnerable people, and increasing primary school attendance and retention. Activities include: food support for internally displaced people, food for education, food for work, food for training and mother and child health and nutrition.

The EMOP directly addresses Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), while also supporting MDG 2 (achieve universal primary education) and MDG 5 (improve maternal health). It is in line with WFP Strategic Objectives 1 (save lives in crisis situations), 2 (preserve livelihoods in crisis situations and enhance resilience to shocks), 3 (improved nutrition and health status of children, mothers and other vulnerable people) and 4 (support access to education and reduce gender disparity).

Countries

Philippines

After closing in 1996, WFP is re-establishing a presence in the Philippines with programmes designed to support the ongoing peace process in Mindanao, the southern Muslim-populated region. The agency will focus on providing assistance to areas affected by the conflict between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), where there are lar...