The Ministry of Human Settlements and Development hosted the Forum on Human Settlements Management and Transitional Justice (In the Case of Marawi Resettlement) held at the Bajau Hall, Office of the Chief Minister, Bangsamoro Government Center, Cotabato City on April 8, 2021.

The activity was one of the highlights of the MHSD Week Celebration and was attended by representatives from different ministries of the BARMM, local and international development partners, and from national agencies like Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (DHSUD) and Department of Agriculture (DA) who participated via Google Meet.

Director General Esmael W. Ebrahim, on behalf of Minister Hamid Aminoddin D. Barra, provided an overview of the weeklong events of MHSD, with the forum as one of the highlights. He then explained the importance of the forum and said, “The issue of transitional justice is very crucial in the case of the Bangsamoro and it is important to learn its definition to understand better the injustices done to the people and move forward to creating a better government”.

Extending his support to the ministry, BARMM Chief Minister (CM) Ahod B. Ebrahim, Al-Hadj delivered a video message and emphasized that despite being two distinct topics, Human Settlements and Transitional Justice are intertwined under the context of the Bangsamoro.”

“By providing accessible housing to the Bangsamoro, we can restore the dignity once lost through injustices”, the BARMM CM added.

Atty. Ishak V. Mastura, Chairman of the Regional Board of Investment (RBOI) of the BARMM, served as the resource speaker of the forum. He initially provided an overview of the initiatives done for the Bangsamoro as part of the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).

“We should go back first to the history where Transitional Justice is in terms with the Bangsamoro to understand better the context and relationhip of Transitional Justice to Human Settlements”, Atty. Mastura accented.

As an output of the forum, Atty. Mastura recommended the ministry to explore on creating a law in the case of Marawi Resettlement using the framework of Transitional Justice.