Welcome to the website of MuCAARD-UK

MuCAARD is a unique organisation, jointly set up by Muslims and Christians to co-operate to work together for peace and development on the island of Mindanao in the Philippine Republic. The key to the work of MuCAARD is peace and sustainability. It aims towards building sustainable communities by increasing skills and capacity and by encouraging self help.

MuCAARD-UK is a Registered Charity was established in 2007 to raise money to support the work of MuCAARD in the Philippines. In five years it has raised over £77,500, mainly from individuals and small groups, 99% of this money has been sent to provide assistance to MuCAARD and its partner organisations in the Philippines by funding various projects. The largest single project supported by MuCAARD-UK has been the Kahoy (Tree) Project which has seen 90 hectares of derelict land in Bukidnon Province replanted with trees.

MuCAARD in the Philippines has been in existence since 1984.   It is a registered NGO with an official address of 11^th-15thStreets, Nazareth Subdivision, Cagayan de Oro City Misamis Oriental, Philippines. It has a fine track record in co-coordinating projects carried out by its partner Member Teams:-

• BISAP – Bukidnon Integrated Services Assistance Program Inc. situated in Damulog, Bukidnon.
• CoSEED – Community Services for Education and Economic Development Inc. in Vincenzo  Sagun,  Zamboanga del Sur
• POM - Panginam O Masa Inc. situated in Balindong, Lanao del Sur
• RIAP – Ranao Integrated Assistance Programme Inc. in Marawi City but serving Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte

Since its foundation MuCAARD, and its Member Teams, have worked with, and improved the lives of many thousands of, some of the poorest people on the island of Mindanao. During this time it has been supported by grants from sources in Australia, the Philippines, Europe and the U.K. MuCAARD is experienced in providing the regular financial and project monitoring, reviews and evaluations which such grant making bodies require.

For many years, the core program funding had been supplied by Christian Aid but this has now come to an end. This has caused MuCAARD in the Philippines to review the way it operates; to become a project based organisation and to seek help from other funding agencies which share the same objectives as MuCAARD itself and these are :

• Peace Building between communities which have been divided through their cultural traditions and mutual suspicions and to bring harmony where discord has previously developed into conflict.
• Sustainable Livelihoods enabling rural communities to implement projects to protect conserve and rehabilitate the environment together with providing economic growth.
• Environmental Protection with projects such as the Kahoy Project, which not only provides environmental protection for the local area in countering soil erosion and land degradation but also contributes to the global fight against Climate Change.
• Good Governance and NGO-GO cooperation to encourage genuine partnership between community and local government,which is also a key to peace building
• Disaster Risk Management – to reduce the toll of disasters through community participation in pre disaster risk reduction planning and strategies, emergency response and post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction.

MuCAARD has shown that impoverished people are resilient and resourceful, and with support, can work their way out of poverty and conflict. MuCAARD-UK is committed to supporting them in any way that they can with the limited, but generous gifts we receive. However to maintain this impact we need new avenues of support, either for one off projects or for more regular funding.

If you would like to become a regular giver, click here to download our Regular Givers Form.

 This short video shows the growth progress of mahogany trees since they were planted at the start of the Kahoy Project in  2008.