By Suzanne Jimbul

Firts Posted on 02/11/2009

This is an opportunity to assist in turning policy commitments like UN Security Council Resolution 1325 into reality.

That is the message from the President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), James Tannis in the lead up to commemoration of the 9th anniversary of the historical security council resolution on Women, Peace and Security:

"This is a historical event which the Bougainville women should celebrate and use to their advantage. The UNSCR 1325 policy document comes at the right time for Bougainville, especially when the ABG is drawing down powers and writing up policies. This policy document can be adapted or used as it is for Bougainville".

FemLINKPACIFIC's partners in Bougainville, Buka based Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency is gearing up for the local launch of the regional women's network's 2nd annual policy document "Women, Peace and SecurityPolicy for Peace in Our Pacific Region" and the DVD "The Thirteen 25 report" on Friday 6th November 2009.

Aside from Tannis other members of the ABG will be present alongside civil society partners including the Bougainville Inter-Church Women's Forum, Catholic Family Life, and Bougainville Aids Council as well as development partners NZAID, UNDP and AUSAID. Representatives of the Bougainville Police Department, the Council of Chiefs and churches will also attend.

According to Helen Hakena, the Executive Director of Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency: "We are planning an event to celebrate and remember the historical contribution of the women of Bougainville and our policy document is the platform to negotiate with our government to integrate 1325. We have an enormous work load unfolding before our eyes. We have to monitor what our governments are doing now we have a policy to guide us. We can localize 1325 in Bougainville to realise the benefits it brings to our future generation."

The launching of the UNSCR 1325 policy document and DVD is part of a long term commitment of the critical impetus to localize UNSCR 1325 in Bougainville and the Pacific as a whole, she added

A 1325 radio campaign together wth six meter banner with the words "UNSCR 1325 Policy document and DVD launch ‘Women, Peace and Security' is bringing visibility to the event in Buka town which will include a special "Picture Peace" photographic display and a candle light vigil which will be staged at the start of the event. The popular group the Kontiki Bamboo band will also perform a number of peace songs.

MindaNews

First posted on 7 October 2009, 09:36

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/06 October) - "War is not an option," members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a global civil society-led network of peace workers said in a statement during their meeting here.

"We believe in sharing knowledge, exchanging ideas and promoting indigenous peace mechanisms to achieve lasting peace. We value dialogue among all relevant actors, including local communities, in conflict situations.Peace is possible no matter how old, deep and vague the root causes of conflict appear," the GPPAC-International Steering Group said in its statement.

"As violent conflict persists around the world, civilians, especially women and children, remain vulnerable to violence, abuse and displacement. Mechanisms must be developed and strengthened to ensure that even where we fail to prevent violent conflict the rights and dignity of the civilian population, especially women and children, are protected. While it is in their name that war is waged, the promotion and protection of their rights and dignity is the basis from which any peace should be forged," the groups aid.

The group visited evacuation centers in Datu Piang, Darapanan, Pikit, Cotabato City, Compostela Province, Davao City and Bukidnon "where we interacted with victims of conflict, evacuees, Moro, Lumad and settler communities, peoples organizations, as well as local and national government and military officials. We are inspired by the stories of internally displaced persons and tribal communities, and pledge to do our part to help build peace."

The group offered to be a member of the International Contact Group (ICG) that the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels are setting up to help in the peace process.

"With the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), as the GPPAC Regional Initiator for Southeast Asia, we remain steadfast in our commitment to building and sustaining peace based on justice and in accordance with the people's right to self-determination as formulated in the Charter of the United Nations," the statement read.

The group proceeded to Manila from Davao, to meet with national government officials, the diplomatic and donor community and civil society groups.

The group will also "visit communities affected by the typhoon as an expression of our solidarity. We further extend our solidarity to communities in the Pacific and Indonesia who also experienced the devastation of natural disasters during the week of our meeting."

The GPPAC-ISG is composed of the following regional initiators: Nairobi Peace Initative-Africa, for Central and East Africa; West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) for West Africa; African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) for Southern Africa; Regional Coordination for Economic and Social Research (CRIES) for Latin America and the Caribbean; Peacebuild and Alliance for Peacebuilding for North America; Regional Centre for Strategic Studies for South Asia; Pacific People Building Peace for Pacific; the Davao City-based Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) for Southeast Asia; Peaceboat for Northeast Asia; Foundation for Tolerance International for Central Asia; Regional Secretariat of the Arab Partnership for Conflict Prevention and Human Security ( APCPHS )

for Middle East and North Africa; Nonviolence International - CIS and the West CIS sub-network of the CIS NGO Working Group on Conflict Management and Prevention for Western Commonwealth of Independent States; International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN) for the South Caucasus Nonviolence International for the North Caucasus for The Caucasus;

Nansen Dialogue Centre Serbia for Western Balkans; European Centre for Conflict Prevention for Northern and Western Europe.

MindaNews

By Laure Raniel

Mindanao Times

First posted on 22 September 2009

Around 55 international peace workers will visit conflict affected areas starting next week to assess for themselves the real situation and possibly be ambassadors of goodwill for Mindanao when they go back to their respective countries.

Carmen Lawzon-Gatmaytan, project coordinator of Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict-Southeast Asia , said the delegates will be brought to Datu Piang, Pikit, Maguindanao and Compostela Valley to see for themselves the situation in those areas.

"We hope that when they go back to their point of origin, they would convey to their respective communities that Mindanao is not all about war as well," Gatmaytan said.

Since the delegates come from different parts of the globe, she also expects the international advocates would also convey to the foreign media their first hand experience in Mindanao and that the island is more than the war stories they are reporting in the international community.

Gatmaytan is hopeful that foreign peace workers would convey to their homeland the situation in some parts in Mindanao. She said 15 delegates would come from Southeast Asia while the rest would come from Europe, Africa and the Americas.

"Everybody is looking forward to be there and speak directly since a lot of benefit will be gained in learning what people are experiencing in those areas," Heloise Heyer, network building manager of the European Center for Conflict Prevention said.
The first batch of delegates will arrive on September 30 and will be deployed to the different areas on October 2. They would convene on October 3 at the Waterfront Hotel to exchange insights and leave for Manila on the October 5.

The group conducted its annual assembly last year in Latin America and in the Caribbean region. It was established in 2003 in response to the call made by the United Nations for an international conference of civil society organizations working in the field of conflict prevention.

Meanwhile, bloggers in the local community are urged to project a positive image for Mindanao, as well as to take their stance on peace building.

The Intitiatives for International Dialogue (IID) launched Global iBlog for Peace in time for the International Day of Peace. The online platform (iblogforpeace.org ) aims to gather ideas from ordinary individuals who may have an extraordinary take on peace and war.

Victor Sapar, ICT officer of IID, said bloggers can contribute stories, pictures, or podcasts which shows their take on peace.
"The discourse on peace will no longer be limited to peace workers," Sapar said, adding iBlog for Peace seeks to broaden the discourse on peace by providing an online platform for civil society.

Sapar also welcomes practitioners of the mainstream media to contribute unpublished stories on peace.

The site, however, is not limited to topics that relate to Mindanao.
"The urgency of developing and sustaining a culture of peace should be in the consciousness of everyone," Sapar said in a statement.

 By Jeffrey M. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:46:00 22 September 2009

DAVAO CITY-A team of peace advocates from various parts of the world will visit war-torn areas in Mindanao, including Maguindanao, next week in a bid to press the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to respond to the plight of civilians displaced by fighting.

Nearly 500,000 people fled their homes in Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao and North Cotabato when fighting broke out between the military and Moro guerrillas in August last year.

Although many of the evacuees had returned home, thousands are still living in squalid conditions in camps in Maguindanao.

Most of those who refuse to go home fear the resumption of violence as the government continues with its manhunt operations for guerrilla leaders who had attacked civilian communities.

Ma. Carmen Lauzon-Gatmaytan, program coordinator of the Initiatives for International Dialogue and member of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) for Southeast Asia , said the visiting team would be composed of about 40 members from Africa and Latin America.

"Something can still be done to resolve the armed conflict in Mindanao and [prevent] the armed conflict from happening again. We want the international community to give attention to what is happening in Mindanao. With this, we want to engage the United Nations and the Asean," she said.

Gatmaytan said the peace advocates, who will be arriving on Sept. 30, will go to Bukidnon to look into the condition of indigenous communities facing problems over their ancestral domain claims.

Some members of the team are experts in early warning and early responses to conflict, which are needed in the prevention of war, she said.

"The team will also be showing their solidarity to the victims of the conflict, as they themselves, in their own countries, are living in an environment where there is conflict. Because of this, it is expected that there would be a very healthy and helpful exchanges between the internally displaced persons in Mindanao and the peace advocates," Gatmaytan said.

The peace mission, Gatmaytan said, would also allow the members of the GPPAC, a worldwide network of peace builders, to dialogue with parties involved in the conflict.

Inquirer.net

Sun.Star Davao

First posted on 21 September 2009

 A PEACE advocate leader said Monday that the National Government is "dilly-dallying" in solving the government and communist rebels' armed conflict.

Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) project coordinator Carmen Lauzon-Gatmaytan said the IID is hoping for progress between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF). The GRP, however, has been less than cooperative.

 "Maybe GMA (President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) is so scared. Maybe she is not aware of everything. We don't know because the military is the one providing her with information," Gatyaman said in an interview after Kapehan sa SM.

"They're very aware na eleksyon na, may mga infomercials na, so they're really much under time-constraint. The NDF does want to pursue the peace talks," said Gatmaytan, referring to the rebel front.

"It's still better to keep on talking and really talking. We really hope that the government listens to what the other side is saying instead of releasing press statements," said Gatmaytan, who is also project coordinator of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict in South East Asia.

Gatmaytan said the GRP should answer NDF's accusation of not complying with what they have agreed on together with the Norwegian Third Party Facilitator in June 2009.

"There are issues that the government is not complying: regarding the dropping of charges, yung warrant of arrests, hindi daw na follow napag-usapan before, and ang GRP is not following the sequence or the order of demands they have agreed with the NDF," Gatyaman said.

"There has to be a mutual good will from both sides. Kung sinasabi ng NDF that the GRP is not complying (to the conditions of the talks) the GRP should show goodwill so that it's really clear they want to solve the armed conflict. But the NDF also should show goodwill to the GRP. It has to be mutual," Gatmaytan said.

As to the possibility of not having GRP-NDF talks, Gatmaytan said the IID hopes the matter will receive more attention in the next administration.

"Kung hindi man matuloy ang peace talks before the elections, I hope that whatever's been agreed on will be forwarded. Hindi yang mawawala na after this administration," Gatmaytan said.

On the case of GRP and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) conflict, Gatmaytan said a ceasefire is very welcome. "A ceasefire period is good. What's important is to ensure the safety of the civilians."

Gatmaytan said she hopes for the best on the outcome of the GRP-MILF peace talk, which is set next month.

Sun.star Davao 

Pinoy World

First Posted 9:07:00 20 September 2009

Civil society groups play an important role in conflict prevention and peace management. This was demonstrated by the establishment of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a global civil society led network which seeks to build an international consensus on peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict.

In Mindanao, as in elsewhere, civil society groups have worked together with communities in strengthening local base response as well as in ensuring the protection of civilians in situations of armed conflict.

The Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) welcomes the signing between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of a framework of agreement on the formation of the International Contact Group (ICG), in recognition of the role of international non government organizations and interested countries in the peace process.

According to the agreement, the ICG will consist of "interested countries accompanying the peace process preferably drawn from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the European Union (EU) as well as accredited international non government organization (s) to be invited by the parties in consultation with a third party facilitator."

GPPAC would be an ideal INGO to be considered as one of the International Contact Group given its track-record in conflict prevention and in fostering dialogue and solidarity among peoples. Another is the World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA) , an organization of Asian democrats committed to support democratic initiatives and protect democracy activists and processes in the region which is currently having its 3rd biennial conference in Seoul, Korea this week. It has offered to become a member of the ICG if invited even as it will continue to help in the Mindanao peace process.

As the GPPAC initiator for Southeast Asia, and a founding steering committee member of WFDA, the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) along with its partner Mindanao organizations, like the Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW) will continue to engage in the process of dialogue among grassroots communities and with stakeholders and decision makers in the region. It will also dialogue with presidential aspirants and other candidates for the 2010 elections to ensure the Mindanao Peoples Peace Agenda (MPPA) that it is currently evolving be considered in their platforms.

GPPAC was established in 2003 in response to the call made by the United Nations for an international conference of civil society organizations working in the field of conflict prevention. Since holding its Global Conference in 2005, GPPAC has worked to strengthen civil society networks for peace and security by linking local, national, regional, and global levels of action.

It has also endeavored to establish effective engagement with governments, the UN system and regional organizations; and to carry out projects on awareness raising, network building to strengthen and increase capacity for prevention of violent conflict, knowledge generation and sharing on approaches and methods for conflict prevention and peacebuilding and early warning and response.

We remain committed in our effort to mobilize international and local support for the peace process in Mindanao. As we offer our partners in the GPPAC and WFDA networks to sit as an accredited INGO in the ICG, we also call for the creation of a National Contact Group (NCG) in order to allow active participation from local stakeholders and peace advocates as well. We believe MPW along with its member networks will be ideal for this role.

As we look forward to the eventual resumption of the peace process, IID calls on both the government and the MILF to sustain its Suspension of Military Offensives (SOMO) and Suspension of Military Actions (SOMA) respectively; and to work not only for a framework of agreement but a concrete plan of action on the establishment of a mechanism on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. They can build on existing civil society mechanisms already on the ground such as the Bantay Ceasefire.

While we laud the GRP and the MILF for recognizing the role of civil society in the peace process, we continue to challenge both panels to remain true to their word and ensure greater participation from the people throughout the process. We call on both panels to continually forge venues wherein all stakeholders may engage the parties for a more meaningful dialogue towards peace. Moreover, we reiterate our call for both sides to uphold the primacy of the peace process. The ICG - and an NCG- can only be as effective as the commitment of the government and MILF to genuinely dialogue for peace. The public deserves no less.

Pinoy World