AltDev–UNESCO report on COVID-19 and marginalized societies featured in media outlets
FEATURE
Findings from a report by the Program on Alternative Development (AltDev) of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the conditions and responses of marginalized communities in the time of the COVID-19 were featured on major news websites after these were disseminated in an online forum organized by the same Program.
Philippine news outlets ABS-CBN News, GMA News Online, and Business Mirror featured the findings of the research project “Marginalized Societies and the State in the Time of Pandemic: The Philippine Case,” a collaboration between the UP CIDS AltDev and UNESCO Office in Jakarta, Indonesia. The project examined five case studies from grassroots communities in the Philippines to view how they confronted and addressed the multifaceted challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the case studies, the study, in turn, aims to support the Philippine government in its decision-making process in mitigating the impact of the pandemic to marginalized communities.
An online forum was subsequently organized by the AltDev last December 9, where speakers representing the project’s case studies shared the experiences of grassroots communities and formations in facing the pandemic. The online reports from the major news outlets highlighted the cases of the Ayta Mag-indi community in Porac, Pampanga; the Alyansa ng mga Samahan sa Sitio Mendez, Baesa Homeowners Association, Inc. (ASAMBA), urban poor homeowners association; the Maigting na Samahan ng mga Panlipunang Negosyante ng Towerville, Inc. (Igting), a women’s micro-social enterprise; Bantay Kalusugan Pampamayanan (BKP), an urban poor community-based health watch program; and the Lumad and Bakwit schools.
The full report of the research project will be published by the UP CIDS and UNESCO and will be made available soon. Read the full reports of ABS-CBN News, GMA News Online, and Business Mirror by clicking the links.