![Refugees gather at a makeshift camp near Kibati, 12 km north of the provincial capital of Goma, October 29, 2008 [REUTERS/Stringer, courtesy www.alertnet.org]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/dr-congo/images/refugees-who-fled-fighting/934156-2-eng-GB/refugees-who-fled-fighting_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)
![More than 700 campaigners rallied before delivering anti-poverty messages to every EU embassy in London [CAFOD]](/var/storage/images/media_folder/cafod/images/campaign_images/trade_justice_campaign_images/embassy_bus/199633-2-eng-GB/embassy_bus_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)
![Fatna (right) brings home wood that she and some neighbours have harvested from outside the camp in Kubum, south Darfur [Paul Jeffery/ACT/Caritas]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/sudan/images/fatna-right-brings-home-wood/247664-2-eng-GB/fatna-right-brings-home-wood_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)
![Niccollette and Shrirvanie film the aftermath of the Guyanan floods, with support from CAFOD partner Guyana Human Rights Association [CAFOD]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/what-we-do/communications/images/after-guyana-floods/679742-1-eng-GB/after-guyana-floods_0column50_04space_landscape.jpg)
Philippines
![CAFOD is promoting a chemical-free form of rice farming in the Philippines called "Masipag" [Annie Bungeroth]](/var/storage/images/where_we_work/asia/philippines/images/hands_tying_rice_sack/3016-2-eng-GB/hands_tying_rice_sack_medium.jpg)
In the particularly poor central, north and western parts of the island of Mindanao, where CAFOD works, povety is exacerbated by conflict
Key Challenges
Conflict and peace: Ongoing conflicts in the Mindanao region resulted in 300,000 people being displaced in 2000.
CAFOD spent £297,000 in the Philippines in 2006-07
Economic exploitation: Recent economic activities in Central Western Mindanao have seen prime agricultural lands being reclassified for commercial, residential or industrial use – mining in particular.
The mining industry has a poor record of environmental and human rights abuses.
CAFOD supports a number of partner organisations working on these issues.
![Community leader Onsino Mato who is campaigning to stop large-scale mining on his people’s land [PIPLinks]](/var/storage/images/media/cafod/images/asia/philippines/portrait_of_communit_leader/3023-1-eng-GB/portrait_of_communit_leader_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg)
Defending communities from mining
CAFOD partners DIOPIM Committee on Mining Issues and Philippines Indigenous Links are working to protect communities and the environment from foreign mining interests.
Sharing peace-building experience
The Mindanao Peace-building Institute brings together people with experience in peace-building to share their knowledge.
Running water, three meals a day and going to school seemed impossible for many families in the Philippines five years ago - but not any more
 The Philippines: Sacred land destroyed Mining for gold and other minerals in the Philippines has caused people to lose homes, lands and livelihoods. But they are standing up for their rights |
 Call for peace in the Philippines CAFOD partners are at the forefront of a relief effort to help those caught up in escalating violence in the Philippines |
![A vendor wades through knee-deep floodwaters as a bus passes after Typhoon Fengshen pelted Metro Manila with torrential rain and high winds June 22, 2008 [REUTERS/Cheryl Ravelo, courtesy www.alertnet.org]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/philippines/images/floodwaters-after-typhoon-fengshen-/771596-1-eng-GB/floodwaters-after-typhoon-fengshen-_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) Typhoon Fengshen: CAFOD partners assisting CAFOD partners in the Philippines are helping those affected by the devastating typhoon which swept across the country on Saturday, June 21 |
 Trying to save their way of life
The close-knit community of Macambol in the Philippines is under threat from a large mining development |
CAFOD Advent Appeal: Please send a message of support to kids this Advent at a special school run by a CAFOD partner |
Please sign our petition calling on the world's largest mining company to listen to communities in the Philippines worried about the effect mining will have on their land - plus send a personal message of solidarity to the people of Macambol |
Browse our new range of alternative gifts that act as two presents in one – something for you to give to friends or a relative, while the real gift changes the life of someone living in poverty |
