In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Over the past decade, community-based development (CBD) programs have become among the most common and widely accepted methods for providing assistance to conflict-affected regions. To help inform future programs and stimulate new thinking and dialogue on how CBD programs can most effectively address the problems of prolonged armed conflicts, The Asia Foundation just launched a new study, with support from the World Bank’s State and Peacebuilding Fund and additional support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), that draws on evidence from a wide set of programs and community experiences in the Philippines. The research team conducted in-depth reviews of 15 community-based development projects (supported by nine international development agencies) in conflict-affected areas of the Philippines. The team conducted interviews in more than 100 locations throughout the country, primarily in Mindanao but also in Luzon and the Visayas. The research team also conducted in-depth case studies of 19 barangays in seven provinces to analyze how CBD projects interacted with varying local conditions. Download full study.