Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines – The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) in partnership with National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) – Region X and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) successfully launched the Capacity Building on Mainstreaming Migration and Development in Local Plans and Investment Programs and Orientation on theBaLinkBayanProject on 15-17 December 2015 at the VIP Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City.

The three-day capacity building was attended by representatives from different Migrant Organizations namely: UNIMAD – Sentro Davao City, Mindanao Migrants Center for Empowering Actions, and Migrants Coordinating Group of Western Visayas. The Overseas Welfare Administration (OWWA), Mindanao Development Authority (MINDA), and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) were also present as well as representatives from the Invest Office, Civil Registrar, Planning and Development Office, Social Welfare and Development Office, Public Employment Service Office, and Gender and Development Office from three (3) provinces (Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon), four (4) cities (Tangub City, Ozamis City, Cagayan de Oro, and Malaybalay), and one (1) municipality (Jimenez). The event was supported by Ms. Eileen Escobar San Juan, CDO’s Local Economic and Investment Promotions Officer who set the tone for the regional forum through the opening remarks. She expressed their interest to learn more about Migration and Development (M&D) and recognized the need to incorporate M&D in local plans and investment programs of Local Government Units (LGU) in the region.

The capacity building aims to mainstream migration and development in Region 10 through incorporating gender-responsive strategies in pursuit of M&D policies, programs, and services at the local level. In addition, it also aims to institutionalize the use of BaLinkBayan: the Overseas Filipinos’ One-Stop Online Portal for Diaspora Engagement as the virtual Migration Resource Center in the targeted LGUs. The activity also presented the best practices, innovations and findings from the implementation of the Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) as well as the Migration and Development Initiatives (MDI) in Regions I, IV-A, V and VI and provided participants with potential strategies and mechanisms to replicate the same in Northern Mindanao Region.

The plenary sessions were graced with sharing the knowledge and expertise of the three speakers; Ms. Andrea Anolin, Engr. Romeo M. Rosas II and Ms. Sharmaine de Ocampo of CFO, Ms. Leonila Taojo of UNIMAD – Sentro, Mr. Rex Varona of the Migrants Forum Asia, and Atty. Golda Roma of UNDP. They discussed tips and detailed procedures on how to be successful in mainstreaming M&D. Each session was concluded with a valuable exchange of experiences and insights among the participants.
The workshops served as an initial guide for the LGUs to design the basic framework of their M&D programs which will be implemented in their respective localities. On the other hand, the workshop outputs and presentations served as mechanism for participants to share their best practices, set their vision, and build and strengthen their plans, programs, and multi-stakeholder M&D structures.
The capacity building on Migration and Development was the first of its kind in Northern Mindanao. With the success of the regional training, the CFO is planning to organize a regional capacity building in Northern Mindanao in lieu of the second phase of the BaLinkBayan localization project.