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Philippines

In the particularly poor central, north and western parts of the island of Mindanao, where CAFOD works, povety is exacerbated by conflict.

Challenges include:

– Conflict and peace: Ongoing conflicts in the Mindanao region resulted in 300,000 people being displaced in 2000.
– Economic exploitation: Recent economic activities in Central Western Mindanao have seen prime agricultural lands being reclassified for commercial, residential or industrial use – mining in particular. The mining industry has a poor record of environmental and human rights abuses.

CAFOD supports a number of partner organisations working on these issues.

Asia

CAFOD works with a diverse range of local organisations in Asia – working in areas from post-conflict reconstruction in East Timor to preventing waterborne diseases in Bangladesh.

key challenges

– Poor access to health care
– Limited access to education
– Economic exploitation
– Landlessness
– HIV and AIDS

In Asia, CAFOD’s priorities are:

– helping people provide for their basic needs: clean water, reliable food stocks and adequate health care and education
– ensuring human rights are respected, and that men and women have equal rights
– allowing the voices of local communities to be heard
– for example, groups calling for fairer working conditions or the right to stay on their land
– increasing awareness of, and commitment to, tackling HIV and AIDS
– promoting conflict prevention and peace building
– responding to disasters and emergencies wherever possible.