The establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019 signaled the end of more than 40-years of struggle by the Bangsamoro people in one of the longest-running insurgencies in Asia. The Bangsamoro interim leadership faced enormous challenges due to the Covid-19pandemic in its first year. Their elections were postponed to 2025, giving theTransition Authority Parliament time to strengthen their plans to meet their development goals.

Media coverage on BARMM primarily focuses on the Bangsamoro Law, conflict, peace, and security matters. There is a need to heighten awareness of multifaceted, underreported concerns, such as the Bangsamoro identity and perceptions, gender responsiveness, women and youth participation, and volunteerism.

The “Telling the BARMM Story: Media Training and Fellowship” project by the Probe Media Foundation, Inc. (Aug 2022 to Feb 2023) addresses this need by enhancing capacities and providing opportunities to BARMM storytellers to cover issues using an intersectional gender lens and a culturally sensitive approach. Their stories amplify the points of view of women, girls, indigenous communities, and other relevant stakeholders. Their voices must be included in the dialogue and decisions to help shift narratives on negative perceptions of Muslim Filipinos and foster solidarity and cohesion that has been fractured by years of armed conflict. ‍

‍The project has two components: a media training and a media fellowship/story grants program. Filipino journalists, reporters, online content creators, campus journalists, artists, etc. are invited to attend the training sessions and apply for support to create informed, impactful, and thought-provoking stories about the BARMM with an intersectional gender lens and culturally sensitive approach.

The media training webinar can be accessed through this link: https://www.probefound.com/news-posts/webinar-tellingthebarmmstory

Stories supported under the Fellowship program may cover a wide range of topics such as the Bangsamoro parliament, BARMM identity & perceptions, gender responsiveness, women & youth participation, volunteerism, active citizenry, transitioning of former combatants, empowerment of women, girls, and youth through innovative programs, tourism, and other themes that challenge negative stereotypes and perceptions of Muslim Filipinos.

The media fellowship outputs and stories can be accessed through this link: https://www.probefound.com/resource-categories/stories-and-output-from-our-training-and-fellowships

This project conducted by the Probe Media Foundation Inc. (PMFI) in partnership with The Asia Foundation (TAF) under the Activate Bangsamoro Phase II.