The Partnership for Peace and Development in Mindanao (PPDM) Programme, known as EU4BARMM, is a European Union-funded initiative supporting peacebuilding, institutional strengthening, and inclusive governance in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The programme operates across multiple thematic work packages addressing the tri-justice system — encompassing formal, Shari’ah, and customary justice systems — reflecting the region’s socio-cultural, historical, and constitutional identity under the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
Gender equality and social inclusion are not peripheral concerns within this programme context — they are central to the legitimacy, effectiveness, and sustainability of justice sector reform in BARMM. Women, girls, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized groups face compounded barriers to accessing justice within each of the three justice systems. The intersection of plural legal frameworks with deeply embedded patriarchal norms, socio-economic inequality, and post-conflict vulnerabilities creates specific and acute risks of rights violations, exclusion, and harm if gender and inclusion considerations are not systematically integrated from the outset of programme design.
At the same time, gender and inclusion initiatives must be carefully contextualized within the local socio-cultural, economic, and political realities of the Bangsamoro, including the specific legal and normative frameworks of the Shari’ah system and customary practices of Indigenous Peoples’ communities. Approaches that are not grounded in this context risk being inappropriate, ineffective, or counterproductive. Accordingly, the programme requires a Gender and Inclusion Specialist who can navigate this complexity with cultural competence, technical rigor, and a deep commitment to rights-based approaches.
The Gender and Inclusion Specialist will serve as the programme’s crosscutting technical resource on gender mainstreaming, social inclusion, and safeguards, ensuring coherent and consistent integration of gender-responsive approaches across all work packages and at all levels of programme intervention.