DAVAO CITY (October 5) — CHILDREN in the Bangsamoro are being positioned to have a stronger voice in local government decisions as provincial teams strengthen systems for child protection, nutrition, juvenile justice and disaster preparedness.
The effort is aimed at making child-friendly governance more than a policy commitment, with local governments being equipped to turn child-focused plans into services and interventions that respond to children’s actual needs.
The Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG), through its Local Government Development Division (LGDD) and Local Government Supervision Division (LGSD), held the Training of Trainers on Child-Friendly Local Governance (TOT on CFLG) Part III: Sectoral Plans and Child Participation from September 29 to October 2, 2026.
The four-day training brought together provincial representatives from the five BARMM provinces, including members of the Provincial Councils for the Protection of Children (PCPCs) and MILG provincial field offices.
Implemented with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the program focused on helping provincial teams guide local government units in integrating children’s needs into development and disaster plans.
The training covered the Comprehensive Local Juvenile Intervention Program (CLJIP), Local Nutrition Action Plan (LNAP), Comprehensive Emergency Program for Children (CEPC), and mechanisms for meaningful child participation.
These areas address some of the most immediate risks facing children—from malnutrition and involvement in the justice system to heightened vulnerability during disasters and emergencies.
The CEPC was linked to the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (LDRRMP) to ensure that children’s specific needs are considered in preparedness and response. Newly engaged Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officers (PDRRMOs) were also included in PCPC Core Teams to strengthen this connection.
Fausiah K. Romancap-Abdula, Director II of the Office of the Ministerial Secretariat, said children should be treated not simply as beneficiaries of government programs but as rights holders, stakeholders and partners in governance.
She stressed that their views must be heard, considered and reflected in decisions affecting their welfare and development.
For BARMM’s local governments, that means shifting from simply preparing child-focused plans to ensuring those plans result in better services, stronger protection and meaningful participation.
Jennifer D. Ampatuan, chief of the LGDD, urged participants to translate the training into actual implementation in their respective provinces and sustain technical support for component cities and municipalities.
The initiative, implemented in partnership with UNICEF and supported by KOICA, seeks to strengthen the provincial systems that help local governments deliver child-responsive programs.
Ultimately, the measure of child-friendly governance will not be the number of plans produced but whether children are safer, healthier and heard when local governments make decisions that affect their lives.
