The Special Zone of Peace and Development Social Fund (SZOPAD Social Fund), or SSF for short, came into being as an offshoot of the Peace Agreement forged between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The SSF was created by virtue of Executive Order No. 445 dated October 1, 1997 and mandated to accelerate peace and development in Mindanao Special Zone of Peace and Development (SZOPAD) which spans 14 provinces and 10 cities.

Its primary purpose is to provide basic infrastructure projects to MNLF ex-combatants and marginalized members of the community. It is rebuilding and regaining trust from the community, as well as giving hope to people, who have either been in an armed struggle for decades or just plainly neglected by the government in the past.

The project, funded by 810M loan from the Worldbank and 810M OPEC, is drawing to a close.