Pro-women advocates attend Global Summit Against Sexual Violence in Conflict

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles and other pro-women advocates are attending the Global Summit Against Sexual Violence in Conflict in London being held from June 10 to 13.

In a brief address during a recent cocktail reception co-organized by the embassies in the Philippines of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Australia in honor of the Philippine contingent to the Summit, Deles said that the involvement of women in the peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guaranteed women’s protection in the Bangsamoro region.

“We are ready to share our experiences in the hopes of inspiring similar stories of success for our sisters — our peers — involved in peace tables around the world,” Deles said.

Deles said that over the decades, the Philippines has been taking progressive steps in acknowledging women’s rights and roles in nation-building.

She cited that in 2010, the country became the first in Asia to adopt a National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace, and Security to operationalize its commitment to the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1325, 1820, and 1888.

“The signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is a major victory for women. We expect its effects and benefits — both symbolic and real — to be far-reaching and, we hope, will benefit not just the Philippine peace process but peace processes worldwide,” Deles said.

She said the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro signed by the government with the MILF is a landmark model and is the first in the world to bear the signature of three women—representing one-fourth the total number of signatories—and also the first such agreement to bear the signature of a woman in the role of chief negotiator.

Spearheading the Philippine delegation, Deles and an official delegation assembled by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), as well as a Peace Process Delegation co-organized by the British and Australian Government are representing the Philippines to the summit.

Rounding out the roster for the Peace Process delegation are government peace panel chairman Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, Bangsamoro Transition Commissioners (BTC) Raissa Jajurie and Froilyn Mendoza, former BTC commissioner and now principal assistant of the Office of the Undersecretary for Special and Ocean Concerns of the DFA Johaira Wahab, journalist, president and CEO of Rappler.com Maria Ressa, Nisa Ul-haqq Fi Bangsamoro Director Fatima Pir Allian, working group member of Women Engaged in Action on UNSCR 1325 (WE Act 1325) Carmen Lauzon-Gatmaytan, CEO and chair-emerita of the Mindanao Commission on Women Irene Santiago, and executive director of the United Youth of the PhilippinesWomen (UnYPhil-Women) Noraida Abo.