|
 |
 |
 |
|
Where we do it > Philippines
| Population: |
81.6 million |
| Capital city: |
Manila |
| GDP per capita: |
$4,614 |
| HDI ranking: |
84 out of 177 countries * |
| Life expectancy: |
70 |
|
|
|
* The UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) measures a country's achievements
in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income.
Country backgroundVolunteers are working in the areas of peace building, secure livelihoods and disability.
Continuing armed conflict between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has left around 400,000 people without homes since January 2003 and over 120,000 people have lost their lives over the past 30 years. Around 10% of the affected communities come from the Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte provinces in the west of Mindanao. Key factors that fuel violence include disputes over access to and control over land and other natural resources; biases and mistrust between Muslims and Christians and a culture of violence, including the presence of individuals and groups that profit economically from it and have a stake in ensuring that conflict continues.
VSO Philippines has been involved in peace building activities since 2001. It began with volunteers linking Muslim and Christian communities in Mindanao in activities such as business enterprises which as well as securing an income for poor communities encourages greater cultural understanding and respect between individuals and groups who are working together. This enterprise activity continues, but work has also developed in other areas and volunteers are also working with organisations that support the emotional and health recovery of those affected by the conflict. A national volunteering programme is encouraging young people to become involved in local volunteering, which increases their understanding and acceptance of other young people from different backgrounds.
Many rural and coastal communities in the Philippines rely heavily on natural resources as a way to earn a living but overuse of these resources and poor farming and fishing techniques mean they are rapidly being depleted. As well as having an impact on their long-term ability to earn a living there are immediate repercussions for local people, such as personal injury caused by dynamite fishing and floods caused by deforestation.
Volunteers with a range of different backgrounds are working in this area. Those with marine, forestry and agricultural skills are working with communities and organisations to encourage more sustainable and safe farming and fishing methods, to train local people in alternative ways to earn a living and to encourage groups of individuals to work together on business enterprises.
Volunteers with experience in areas such as strategic planning, business management, human resource development and financial systems are working with local community organisations to ensure they are operating as efficiently as possible. These organisations are then in a stronger position to fulfill their objectives, which include educating and training local communities in skills such as marketing, money management and advocating for policy changes that protect the environment.
Both hearing and deaf volunteers are working with organisations working for the deaf and VSO is currently the only international volunteering organisation to be working in this area in the Philippines. The work of these volunteers has addressed a number of issues, including the denial of abuse in deaf society, the lack of educational resources for the deaf, lack of basic primary health care and poor understanding of basic ‘life’ skills amongst the deaf. VSO Philippines is currently developing a strategy on how it will continue to support disabled people.
VSO also recruits volunteers from the Philippines through VSO Bahaginan to undertake volunteer placements in other countries around the world.
| |
Philippines: Programme Summaries |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
