ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 5, 2013) – International donors have identified several plans aimed at helping in rehabilitation efforts in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines following three weeks of street battles between security and rebel forces.
The local business sector has taken an active role by meeting with various organizations which have pledged to help in efforts to restore economic normalcy and other humanitarian programs.
Pedro Rufo Soliven, president of the Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc., has recently met with representatives of different international donors and government agencies in Manila and briefed them about the current situation in Zamboanga.
Soliven, in his briefing, underscored the urgency for government action to stimulate the local economy.
The top-level meeting was attended by representatives from the United Nations, International Labor Organization, World Food Program, Australian Aid, Japan, the United States and foreign embassies in the country, and the Philippines Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, among others.
The meeting was aimed at drafting a memorandum of understanding for the Zamboanga economic recovery plan that will be relevant and sustainable that will also focus on livelihood and enterprise building.
“A sustainable livelihood intervention is imperative so that the victims of the September attack will not have to depend on dole outs but rather learn to fend for themselves in the long run. We need support in terms of livelihood projects that will help Zamboanguenos help themselves with dignity. The projects need to be sustainable as well as contribute to the local economy not only in the here and now, but also the medium- and long term, focused on the overall macroeconomic fundamentals of the city,” Soliven said.
He said donors and partners have identified several short-term responses that would transition into medium-term plans and among these are livelihood assessment and employment skills; an initial $50,000 for cash-for-work program from International Labor Organization to carry out emergency work to prepare the affected community assets and infrastructure for reconstruction; and convergence and coordination with established partnership during and after work to ensure sustainability of the interventions and skills level of beneficiaries.
A team of representatives from international donor organizations is expected to arrive in Zamboanga City to assess the plan for its immediate implementation.
Soliven, the private sector representative in the Crisis Management Committee of Zamboanga City, has been tasked to head the economic cluster which will draw up a Marshall Plan-like intervention for the city to get its economy back to its level prior to the crisis. (Mindanao Examiner)
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