Economic Resource Center for Overseas Filipinos

Project for the Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) of the European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme

Partners:
COS Utrecht (The Netherlands)
Damayang Pilipino sa Nederland (The Netherlands)
Stichting Habagat (The Netherlands)
Habagat Philippine Network of Initiatives for Development (Davao City)

Brief description of the initiative
The project focuses on mobilizing rural women towards running their own collective economic facility and on enabling individual women entrepreneurs' access to local markets. The M4M project has the ability to achieve a rapid impact on livelihoods and on the position of women, by involving counterpart local institutions from Europe and by up-scaling diaspora women's engagement in rural investments.

Main objectives
The Project will contribute to the achievement of MDGs 1, 2, 3 and 8 in rural areas of the southern Philippines, by mobilizing local government units, local women's associations, rural banks and diaspora community organizations in multi-stakeholder partnerships for the realization of women-run social enterprises in 6 municipalities of 4 provinces.

MDGs targeted
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Focus areas

• Creating sustainable networks amongst migrant communities for development
• Promoting the involvement of women, refugees, asylum seekers in migrant/diaspora organizations for development
• Leveraging the human and social development impact of remittances
• Reinforcing capacities of senders and recipients to further the impact of remittances on development

Main activities

• Social preparation of sites, the training and mobilization of rural women for social enterprise
• the mobilization of diaspora women and European counter-parts
• the establishment of co-development platforms for rural development and the mobilization of rural banks will be ensured through M4M.

This project will use participatory processes that ensure synergy and equal say between rural women beneficiaries, diaspora, government and rural banks in achieving rural development.

Main beneficiaries

• 1,200 women and 6,000 household members.
• Implementation will indirectly benefit 261,240 inhabitants of the 6 rural municipalities targeted.