Since 2001, the Cotabato City-based Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG) has been at the forefront of capacity building, research, forums, roundtable discussions and conferences on regional and local autonomy, good governance, and peace processes between the Philippine government and Moro revolutionary fronts--- Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). It has published numerous policy papers and journals on political, economic, and security issues that define the needed measures to be undertaken for meaningful self-governance in the southern Philippines.

As a homegrown public policy center with strong national and international linkages, IAG is able to help raise the bar of regional and local public policymaking to international standards even as it maintains sensitivity to the complexities and peculiarities of local settings earning the trust and respect of a broad range of stakeholders. It has convened and facilitated roundtable meetings involving diverse groups toward building consensus on political, economic and security issues.  It maintains a pool of national and local consultants with specialization on a broad range of governance and security issues.

With its institutional partner Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), IAG has regularly provided capacity-building programs to the ARMM Regional Legislative Assembly and its constituent Local Government Units (LGUs).  It has provided technical assistance in the crafting of regional laws in the ARMM. With funding from AusAid, IAG provided technical assistance in the establishment of the Iranun Development Council, an economic and development aggrupation of local government units in Maguindanao. With AusAID, IAG helped raised capacities of LGUs, military and police in peace-building and security sector reforms. With EU funding, IAG, KAS and Development Consultants, Inc.  are currently implementing a 3-year program promoting the rights of the indigenous peoples in the ARMM.

IAG has provided technical assistance in the drafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law particularly in the areas of transitory mechanisms and processes, decentralized and ministerial system of government, elections and political party systems. It has conducted consultations with LGUs in the proposed Bangsamoro core areas for submission to the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC).  It was recently given the mandate to help develop the MILF political party by the MILF Interim Committee on the Development of the MILF Political Party.