Internal displacement has confronted Mindanao populations of the Philippines for more than five decades, dating back to the height of the so-called “Muslim-Christian conflict” in the early to mid-1970s. Displaced communities encounter a range of vulnerabilities as they face a whole new milieu in which their familiar systems of social protection, including livelihoods, are gone or fragmented due to forced evacuation.

This study on gender and livelihoods among internally displaced persons (IDPs) is based on fieldwork conducted from October to December 2012, in three areas in Central and Southern Mindanao (Notre Dame Village, Cotabato City; Datu Piang, Maguindanao Province; and Sitio Pananag, Barangay Lumasal, Maasim, Sarangani Province). Fieldwork data gathering techniques included key informant interviews with government officials and civil society leaders, as well as focus group discussions with “protracted” IDPs in the three areas.