ZABIDA Plans How to Tackle Another Busy Year This 2015

The year 2015 is coming up as a super-busy one for the Zamnboanga-Basilan Integrated Development alliance, Inc. (ZABIDA) and its four NGO partner-members. This outlook surfaced during the consortium’s management and staff year-planning conference-workshop held this week (January 6-8) at its resource and development center office here in Zamboanga City.

Its main agenda was the need to fine-tune current programs and projects, most of which were started earlier, for a more efficient and effective continued implementation during the year. Thus, the managers and staff tackled timetables, budgets, staffing, results and impacts, target communities and other stakeholders, and like areas.

Most projects are to be implemented jointly by the consortium partners, such as peace and governance targeting selected barangays, housing, out of school youth alternative and literacy training, interreligious relations and peace-building, delivery of basic social services, sustainable farming and environmental preservation, livelihood financing and economic enterprise, and some special projects initiated by a partner.

As many as 50 villages, up to 500 out school youths, over a hundred loan borrowers, sundry farmers and families in Zamboanga and Basilan will benefit from these efforts this year. A new housing site will likely be started this year by the Katilingban para sa Kalambuan, Inc., which has already built 600 low-cost houses for the urban poor in the city in the past few years.

Marshaling these efforts is Fr. Angel Calvo, CMF, who is ZABIDA president and also heads 3 of the 4 NGOs. In addition to KKI, the others are Nagdilaab Foundation in Basilan, Reach Out to Others Foundation (for rural farmers and initiatives) and Peace Advocates Zamboanga.

From the reports, especially noteworthy is the success of NFI to organize small groups of women in several towns in Basilan to pool financial resources for livelihood activities, alternative learning for youths and their linking up with other agencies and organizations to hold continuing feeding projects for school children – all of which will continue this year.

The conference also discussed challenges such as in resource mobilization, new institutional requirements, human resource limitation, and so forth. New upcoming projects yet to be formalized with national and international agencies were also considered.

Special concern is the plight of families displaced by the September 2013 war, which an affiliated interreligious group has as its priority for humanitarian-recovery assistance and social healing.

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