CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 the communist guerillas in other parts of the country.2 Since the Aquino administration in the late 1980s, the national government has engaged in a series of peace talks with various rebel groups. Following the 1996 peace accord between the Ramos government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the national government pursued the successful establishment of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), complete with its regional structures of governance and budget. The creation of the Special Zone for Peace and Development (SZOPAD) as a result of the Mindanao peace process attracted development aid and investment resources to the island. Building the capacity for governance, nurturing a culture of peace, and providing sustainable livelihood for the men and women of ARMM have been among the priorities of the support programs to the region. Peace, however, did not last long. 53. The 1996 peace accord and anti-crime campaigns of the government brought a few years of peace. Crime incidence fell from 1995 (112.8) through 1998 (97.8; NSCB 2003a). The secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayaf, however, continued their armed struggle, with the latter engaging in highly publicized kidnap-for-ransom activities. These resulted in an escalation of conflict between the government and the MILF in the central Mindanao provinces, and with Abu Sayaf and other lawless groups in ARMM and other parts of Mindanao. A peace agreement was reached between the Arroyo government and the MILF. However, sporadic violence continued unabated in Central Mindanao where 12,500-strong MILF force is located. The situation worsened in February 2003 when the Philippine military, accusing the MILF of harboring members of the Pentagon kidnap gang, launched a new offensive. Impact of Armed Conflict 54. Military clashes with the MILF and Abu Sayaf have inflicted hardships on civilians, particularly women and children who are unable to protect and defend themselves. The conflict in Mindanao resulted in the displacement of civilians from 7,224 in 1998 to 304,908 individuals (about 51,000 families) in 1999 (Ferrer, 2003). In 2000, the World Bank found that a total 456 barangays (almost 5 percent of the total barangays in Mindanao) and more than a million people were affected by the hostilities. Of these, half a million, many of them women and children, were displaced. Subsequently, the number of displaced persons decreased to at least 135,000 in 2001 and roughly 100,000 in 2002. Yet many are unwilling to return to their communities of origin because peace remains elusive. 55. Uncertainties with regard to the peace and order in many areas are leading to long and protracted evacuation. There have been many cases of families returning to their residences, only to reevacuate with fresh encounters between government forces and the MILF. Damaged houses and lost livelihood are also forcing evacuees to stay in evacuation centers, where problems abound, 2The Philippines has been engaged in armed conflict since the 1960s with the Community Party of the Philippines-New Peoples’ Army (CPP-NPA), and since the 1970s with the secessionist movements in the South, primarily the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MNLF first entered into peace talks with the government in 1976 and finally won autonomy for Muslim-dominated provinces in 1996. The MILF, which split from the MNLF in 1977, continues with its armed struggle for the long-term aim of creating an independent Islamic state. The Abu Sayaf (which means “Sword of God” in Arabic) is another armed separatist group that is being pursued by the government for its spate of criminal activities, mainly kidnap-for-ransom (Ferrer 2003). 27