The State of the Women of Mindanao

Mindanao is a region that is poor: four of every ten families fall below the poverty threshold, and in self-rated hunger surveys, an average 20 percent of households report experiencing hunger in the quarter prior to being asked. Overall, the island contributes nearly 31 percent of the total poverty incidence in the entire country.

Mindanao fails in various measures of human development, including in the areas of health and education:

• Life expectancy is shortest in the region.
• Overall, Mindanao performed poorest in simple and functional literacy and participation rates compared with Luzon and Visayas.
• Mindanao had the highest dropout rates.

According to the recent State of the Women of Mindanao Report, the situation is likely to persist for a long time. Mindanao's population is growing faster than the national average and is projected to double to some 32.4 million in 28.5 years if the pattern does not change. The lack of significant economic growth will not be able to support such ballooning population. Already, increasing numbers of Mindanaoans are leaving to find work outside the region or overseas.

Yet, says the Report, it is the women of Mindanao who are experiencing even more difficulties. With poverty growing more severe and choices getting narrower, the women bear the brunt of making their families cope. Women become "minorities within minorities."

Southeast Asia’s Uneven Information Landscape