Marawi inks deal for community-driven shelter, livelihood project

FILE: The project seeks to build 1,500 shelters for identified “home partners” (Photo: Task Force Bangon Marawi/Facebook)

MARAWI CITY — The local government here has signed an agreement with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) and the government-run Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) for a housing project that includes a livelihood component.

Thursday’s signing of a memorandum of understanding among stakeholders aims to strengthen the housing project’s community-driven approach, UN-Habitat Country Programme Manager Christopher E. Rollo said.

The project seeks to build 1,500 shelters for identified “home partners” organized under SHFC’s Community Mortgaged Program(CMP). SHFC is the lead government agency for social housing programs catering to low-income families.

Rollo said the beneficiaries will play a key role during the whole process, from site selection, home partner selection, even to the house design. They will be trained to inspect the quality of materials of the their own housing units, ensuring that these are completed according to agreed specifications.

Families and community members will also be required to conduct financial monitoring and regular auditing to keep all the recipients updated of the project, he added.

“This project presents a new challenge, especially that we have to consider the complex land issues in post-conflict situation,” Rollo said. “In this area, we rely on our expertise.”

Lawyer Arnolfo Ricardo C. Cabling, president of the SHFC, assured that the rebuilding and rehabilitation of  Marawi will be imbued with “peoples’ process,” where community-driven approach is the norm.

“Various capacity development activities such as projects, financial and estate management will be conducted with communities to empower them to be leaders of the different aspects of the projects,“ Cabling said.

“This will encourage participation from each and every member of the community and from the sectors of Marawi society,” he added.

Complementing the housing project, Rollo said, is the livelihood support in which all recipients  will be trained in construction, small-scale enterprise and similar skills.

Edguardo del Rosario, chairperson of Task Force Bangon Marawi, said each two-level housing unit will feature a minimum of 36 sq. meter floor area enough to hold 12 to 14 family members.

For his part, Marawi City Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra expressed his gratitude to the UN-Habitat and the government agencies working with residents in the shelter and livelihood recovery program.

“This program will help address the needs of the IDP’s (internally displaced persons) and will also help restore the dignity they had lost, including their properties and livelihood, after a year of fear and uncertainly brought by the siege,” Gandamra said.