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Introduction

Country:   PHILIPPINES

 

Description of the Assignment:  

2025 is a critical transition year for the political and peace process in the Philippines. Dubbed the “super election year”, the nation will hold national and local elections in May 2025 alongside the historic first-ever Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Parliamentary elections. This is a critical milestone in the region’s democratic transition and a direct implementation of the Bangsamoro peace agreement.  However recent political developments, including the collapse of the Marcos-Duterte Uniteam coalition and the Supreme Court decision to remove Sulu province from the BARMM, have taken a toll on political stability, internal security and on the peace processes addressing the Moro and communist insurgencies. Internal divisions - the Dutertes’ opposition to President Marcos’ resumption of peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which is supported by hawkish elements in the military - as well as the challenges in reaching consensus with the communists on even a framework agreement to resume talks has resulted in scant progress on peace talks with the CPP.

In BARMM, the Supreme Court’s ruling to exclude Sulu from the BARMM and subsequent moves in Congress to postpone the inaugural BARMM parliamentary elections to 2026 have resulted in an impasse over the scheduling of the BARMM parliamentary elections since anticipated priority measures from the President and the Senate required for the national law to postpone the BARMM parliamentary elections have not been taken yet. Support in the Senate for a plebiscite in Sulu on BARMM re-admission has also contributed to the uncertainty surrounding the political status of Sulu, BARMM and the Bangsamoro peace agreement.

Uncertainty about the parliamentary election is fueling tensions in BARMM that have been simmering ever since 2022 - the year the BARMM’s first elections were originally scheduled before they were postponed to 2025. Postponing the inaugural BARMM parliamentary elections again would mean another delay to the end of BARMM transition raising questions about its political legitimacy and the sustainability of the peace process. Political uncertainty fuels elections-related violence; whatever the decision on the BARMM regional elections, the national and local government elections will proceed in BARMM in May 2025 and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has already identified that 32 out of 38 areas of “grave concern” in terms of elections-related violence are located in the BARMM.  Meanwhile, election preparations have been disrupted, including the voter education drive which is critical because the parliamentary system is new to BARMM voters.

During this rapidly evolving political and security context, the UN system in the Philippines will also undergo a leadership transition with the arrival of the new Resident Coordinator in February 2025. The Office of the Resident Coordinator used to benefit from the deployment of a Senior Peace and Development Advisor (SPDA) at P5 level by the Joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention due to the particularly complex political, conflict and security settings in the Philippines. However due to a global funding shortfall, support for this crucial RC/UNCT function was discontinued at the end of 2024 although there is urgent demand for politically-informed conflict analysis and peacebuilding recommendations.

The Peace and Development Consultant will provide transitional support to the new RC, RCO and UNCT in the lead up to 2025 through peace-related analytical support and assistance with the peace components of key UNCT corporate deliverables in the first quarter of 2025; s/he may also provide assistance with identifying key stakeholders and development partners to sustain existing UN peacebuilding investments before and after 2025 elections.

Period of assignment/services: 25 working days over the period of 2 months  

 

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Documents :

Negotiation Document(s) (Before Accessing other negotiations Document(s), please click on this link)