The Peace Accords Matrix-Mindanao (Pam-M) and Civil Society Normalization Update Report (April-August 2025)

<p dir="ltr">After initial exploratory dialogues between the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs, Catholic Relief Services - Philippines (CRS), and Bangsamoro-based civil society organizations (CSOs) in 2019, the value and potential of CSOs working in proximity to communities to strengthen the normalization implementation process became increasingly evident. As programs and policies implemented under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)'s Normalization Annex directly impact the broader Bangsamoro communities, PAM and CRS envisioned to monitor and validate the implementation of the normalization process by bringing the broader Bangsamoro perspective through civil society groups. This led to a series of meetings, consultations and workshops over the following four years, through which they jointly developed a civil society-led monitoring platform: Peace Accords Matrix - Mindanao (PAM-M). In 2024, ten1 representative CSOs working in Mindanao created a monitoring methodology with the technical assistance of PAM, and launched the platform to monitor the status of Normalization commitments as outlined in the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro (CAB). CSOs identified a subset of 40 commitments in the Annex on Normalization that held the most urgency and salience for the communities they serve, which are monitored for the state of implementation following PAM methodology. The first baseline assessment report utilizing this methodology was completed in December 2024 and published in January 2025.2 The 2nd assessment workshop was held on 8-9 April 2025. In the workshop, CSO partners collectively shared and discussed information specific to normalization implementation advancements and challenges. The update report reflecting the results of this meeting was published in June 2025.3</p>