WB, USAID to finance Mindanao Peace Fund

The World Bank and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have agreed to provide the initial funding for the so-called Peace Fund, a $50-million grant facility intended for development projects in the war-torn areas of Mindanao.

This developed as the Islamic Development Bank made a commitment to revive a $16-million grant facility that had been available but untapped since 1996.

Finance officials said the initial response to the proposed Peace Fund had been encouraging enough to usher its inclusion in the agenda of the annual donors‚ consultative meeting in Cebu this November.

According to Finance Undersecretary Juanita Amatong, the IDF had informed Philippine officials that such a fund was available and only needed to be revived in order to be released.

"We didn’t know about it, we had no idea such a facility was open," Amatong said. "We were told that we can still tap it, the IDF just has to find out how the facility could be reopened."

There was a $200,000 drawdown but Amatong said it was not the National Government that availed of the fund since it was previously unknown. She said it was possible that the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) availed of the facility but this would have to be verified.

Amatong said the WB had agreed to administer the fund on behalf of the government and multilateral as well as bilateral donors would be asked to contribute.

According to Amatong, finance officials led by Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho have met with finance officials from Bahrain, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the OPIC.

"They all agreed that the Peace Fund would be critical in the effort to rebuild Mindanao after the war," Amatong said. However, the availability and accessibility of the fund would depend on whether the government and the MILF could reach a peace accord.