Strategic Goals: Jump-starting the Economy

Addressing the high unemployment and underemployment and low labor participation rates among the youth and women in the Bangsamoro will be a key priority during the transition years. Stability and normalization cannot be guaranteed for as long as large pool of productive workers remain unemployed. Reducing poverty will remain an elusive goal without providing productive employment that will earn decent incomes for the workers. In, turn additional incomes in the hands of poor households will cause a multiplier effect in the form of generating greater demands for local goods and services. Other demand rises, it can the effect of jump-starting the local economy to reach higher and sustained levels of growth.

To attain the goal, the BDP recommends the implementation of cash for work programs, particularly among the youth, in the maintenance of public facilities, such as roads, canals, irrigation facilities, school buildings and premises, health centers and premises, etc. Besides promoting transparency and accountability among local officials, adoption of the community-driven development (COD) approach in delivering basic infrastructure facilities to the community will provide hundreds of not thousands of immediate jobs to highly qualified Bangsamoro youth. For women, training programs on food processing, cottage industry and farming/fishing. skills which are demanded by the market, will provide employment opportunities for them. Such activities become viable if the training program is accompanied by a small amount of loan to start the business venture