The Alternative Bridge to Community Development (ab2cd, Inc.)

The Alternative Bridge to Community Development (ab2cd, Inc.) is a small independent NGO which works for sustainable peacebuilding and conflict transformation in the Mindanao region of the Philippines.

It is based in the gateway to Mindanao, and occupies a specific place within the overall peace and development framework for Mindanao by virtue of the services it delivers to the people, particularly in the Northern Region which is home to the Indigenous Peoples, the Muslims, and Christian settlers.

The organisation started as the research, development education arm of the Ut Unum Simus's (UTUS) Serve the People Foundation - an NGO that is as the forefront of service delivery to children, especially those caught in very difficult circumstances in the North of Mindanao.

Activities

Activities started in 2009 with activities focused on development-education, peacebuilding, food security, health, economic empowerment for women, community summits, street children, and community-based disaster risk management.

ab2cd has maintained its research and education focus and further developed its wide track record of intiaitives in the areas of sustainable peacebuilding and conflict transformation, disaster-risk management in communities, capacity-building and community organising, health, water and sanitation, environment, women and children, livelihoods and food security, and human rights. It has outreach programmes in areas where even the government fail to be present. In undertaking these various initiatives, ab2cd has entered into partnerships and cooperation with various local, regional and global stakeholders. It seeks to provide services that will contribute to the enhancement of the efficiency of initiatives assisting people in their communities and helping them to improve the quality of their lives in the areas of peacebuilding and conflict transformation.