COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) led on March 23-24, the refinement workshop on the proposed priority agenda to be pursued by the Bangsamoro Government for the next three (3) years. This was participated by the members of the BARMM Cabinet along with their technical staff in Al-Nor Convention Center, this city.
In his message, BARMM Cabinet Secretary Mohd Asnin K. Pendatun said that this workshop was part of the agreement during the 57th Cabinet meeting last March 14, 2022.
โWe all agreed to enhance further the proposed agenda to give consideration for the inclusion of other important priorities of the Bangsamoro Government,โ he stressed.
This two-day workshop aimed to present the 1st Bangsamoro Development Planโs (BDP) assessment report focusing on the BARMM 12-Point Priority Agenda, and to enhance and refine the proposed priority agenda for the next 3 years.
Moreover, BPDA Director General Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali underscored that with the 3-year extension of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the 12-Point Priority Agenda and the 1st BDP should be revisited, assessed, and updated based on relevance, alignment, effectiveness, and efficiency.
โThis is to ensure that the strategic directions remain relevant and responsive to the longstanding and emerging development gaps and challenges of the Bangsamoro region,โ he said.
Ali also added that based on the summary of findings on alignment, there was heavy emphasis on governance in the 12-Point Priority Agenda at the time of transition.
โIn the updated priority agenda, a more purposive agenda can be set for other sectors or sub-sectors in the BDP such as education, climate resiliency, and health, particularly on emerging and reemerging infectious diseases,โ he emphasized.
Melanie Indar, Director of Planning and Policies Bureau, said that as the lead agency for the overall assessment of the 1st BDP, the BPDA already revisited the workshop outputs on the assessment of the said plan and prepared its narrative assessment report during the in-house workshop conducted last March 20-22, 2022.
โThis is our general stroke in planning for the next 3 years,โ Indar stressed on target setting and strategy formulation while discussing the workshopโs activity flow.
During the Cabinetโs refinement workshop, BPDA technical staff facilitated fourteen (14) โKnowledge Cafรฉsโ that represents the proposed priority agenda. The members of the Cabinet and its representatives visited each Knowledge Cafรฉ, wherein they listened to the facilitatorโs presentation on each agenda item and casted their inputs for additional information and recommendation.
Meanwhile, an agency or ministryโs sponsorship for each agenda item was proposed during the plenary. (BPDA-BARMM)