Sema lauds GEM program in ARMM, Cotabato City

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 9): Sema lauds GEM program in ARMM, Cotabato City

Cotabato City vice mayor Muslimin Sema lauded the successful implementation of the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that ends this year. In an interview at the Marco Polo Hotel here, Sema, who is also the concurrent chair of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), said GEM program 3, an expansion from GEM program 1 and 2 since 1995, had been a partner of the national government to implement various projects and programs that benefited Mindanaoans, especially those living in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. “I hope this healthy working relationship will continue even as the assistance has to end this month,” Sema said.

 Sema said GEM Programs played a major role in the development of Mindanao since the early 1990s, adding with the 1996 signing of a peace agreement between the government of the Philippines and the MNLF, USAID’s efforts were intensified. “The signing of a peace agreement between the government of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996 resulted in improved peace and order,” he said. He said although overall security in most of Mindanao had improved significantly over the past several years, the threat of armed conflict, intermittent outbreaks of fighting, the perceptions of risk on the part of potential investors, and the general impression of political instability had posed constraints and challenges to sustainable economic growth in Mindanao.

 GEM Program activities were divided into five components: infrastructure development, business growth, education, governance and former combatant reintegration. It also provides a range of support services to USAID and the U.S. Embassy, including communications/information services and event preparation. Sema said he was more thankful for the GEM Program which gave due importance to former MNLF combatants especially in the provision of Livelihood Enhancement and Peace (LEAP) Project.

In October 2003, USAID made the LEAP 2 Project, a component of the GEM 2 Program. Since LEAP’s inception in 1997, more than 28,000 former MNLF combatants received the training, technical and marketing assistance, and production inputs they needed to become small-scale commercial growers of corn, rice, or seaweed. Over 7,000 of these former combatants were assisted to produce and market higher-value commodities. In addition, LEAP 2 provided 50 MNLF communities (co-ops and organizations) with 111 assorted items of pre-production and post-harvest equipment, concrete or bamboo solar dryers, and outrigger boats.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=478482