Rule of Law Project Inception Workshop gathers GIZ partners in Mindanao for ways forward

The GIZ Project “Promotion of the Rule of Law in Mindanao (ROLMIN)” held its Inception Workshop, 15-16 February in Davao City, Philippines to discuss the mapping of conflicts arising from administration of overlapping land laws, policies, mandates and jurisdictions including issues on gender; measures and approaches adapted for securing land rights and resolution of land conflicts; and cooperation landscape and institutional mechanisms and arrangements in implementing ROLMIN.

The event gathered more than 25 GIZ government partner agencies and stakeholders from the national and regional offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Department of Justice-Regional Prosecutor's Office Davao Region, Commission on Human Rights, and the Davao Public Attorney's Office.

As a way forward, the participants agreed to integrate and adapt the outputs of the workshop in the refinement of the ROLMIN Logical Framework; and to create the organizational set-up of and hold a joint operational planning workshop for the interim Project Management Structure, to be led by DENR.

The Project primarily focuses on promoting conflict management measures through legally secure titling of land rights, strengthening dispute resolution and local mediation, and promoting governmental complaints bodies to document violations of land rights.