CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--Regional consultations for enhancing the Mindanao Peace and Development Agenda 2022-2028 open this week in Cagayan de Oro City, gathering development partners and stakeholders from Regions 9 and 10.

The Mindanao Development Authority, in collaboration with EU-GIZ and with assistance from Orient Integrated Development Consultants Inc. (OIDCI), is leading the series of consultations, which will take place in significant Mindanao cities from September to November this year.

The Mindanao Agenda 2022–2028 is a working document derived from the Mindanao Peace and Development Framework Plan 2011–2030, or Mindanao 2020, which MinDA launched in 2011.

"Mindanao is significantly different from what it was a decade ago. This is why we are conducting these consultations, to ensure that this updated Mindanao Development Plan is fully owned and responsive to the new priorities of our regions and the national government," said MinDA Director Joey Recimilla.

According to Recimilla, MinDA initially initiated a review and updating of M2020, which aimed to capture the achievements and milestones in the last 10 years of its implementation. But the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 brought the consultative review process to a halt.

A COVID-19 Socio-Economic Impact Assessment was instead conducted during the pandemic with funding assistance from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The same partnership likewise facilitated the resumption of the M2020 review and assessment two years ago.

This series of consultations forms part of the partnership agreement between MinDA and the EU-GIZ for Achieving Aid and Development Effectiveness for Poverty Reduction in Mindanao, where one of its project components is the development of the M2020/Mindanao Agenda Results-Based Matrices Framework and MinDA Digital Monitoring and Evaluation System.

Mindanao State University-Iligan Public Affairs Office co-facilitates consultations for Regions 9 and 10. (MinDA/PIA-10)