Mindanaotoday.com | Transitional justice summit links Marawi IDPs to gov’t, partners
By: Claire Gigje
MARAWI CITY – As part of the commitment to aid needy citizens in the city, some government executives and private stakeholders were brought together to directly connect with the internally displaced persons (IDPs) here who were forced to vacate their homes due to the warfare in 2017 and support their safe and dignified return to the most affected area (MAA).
In collaboration with the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) organized the Marawi Transitional Justice Summit.
Its purpose was to give residents a place to talk about their needs and help the government and civil society organizations (CSOs) come up with a plan to find long-term solutions.
“This is part of the continuing process with our local partners and IDP leaders. We want to relay their [IDPs] concerns and issues to other stakeholders, especially those policymakers in BARMM and the national government,” said Gus Miclat, IID executive director.
Miclat said that even though both the national and local governments have tried to help, Marawi and post-siege issues are still a transitional justice issue for them because most of them have not yet returned to their homes in ground zero.
He said that there are still a lot of problems that need to be solved and that his organization plans to include the IDPs in the process of solving the problems that have been brought up.
“Part of the way forward is to get the IDPs more involved in the processes, planning, and actual implementation of the solutions to the problems,” said Miclat.
The IID executive director conveyed that they are willing to be the bridge between the IDPs, the stakeholders, and the government, but his organization still believes that it would be best if the concerned citizens could link themselves personally.
Miclat also encouraged the IDPs to not lose hope while also encouraging the stakeholders and the government to not get tired of supporting initiatives addressing transitional justice issues and help in creating an environment for the displaced residents to not lose hope. (CRG | PIA-10 | Lanao del Sur)
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