NEW YORK, Oct. 15 — Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles showcased gender and security milestones the Philippines has reached during the United Nations’ (UN) High-Level Review on UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, last October 13.
The High-Level Review, which involves an open debate chaired by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, was organized to provide an opportunity to reflect on the current status of the implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda among UN member-nations and to advance UN members’ commitments to UNSCR 1325, which marks its 15th anniversary this year.
Deles, who heads the OPAPP and is co-chair of the country’s National Steering Committee on Women, Peace, and Security, was invited to represent the Philippines in the summit, as the country is a key actor on the global issue of gender and security.
Deles said the Philippines is striving to ensure that “women are given a greater role in preventing armed conflict or, once it has broken out, in resolving it and ensuring its enduring and inclusive peace dividends.” She also noted that milestones in women, peace, and security are most evident in the Bangsamoro peace process that the government is conducting with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
For instance, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro was “the first agreement of its kind in the world to bear the signature of a total of three women, which accounts for one-half of the negotiating panel of the Government and about one-fourth of the total number of its signatories.”
“It is the first such agreement to bear the signature of a woman as Chief Negotiator,” Deles said, adding that 69% of the secretariat of the government panel, including its head, and 60% of the legal team, including its head, are women.
Furthermore, the Bangsamoro peace process committed to enforce the “Right of women to meaningful political participation, and protection from all forms of violence in its source document—the Framework Agreement.” According to Deles, this led to gender-sensitive provisions in the four annexes of the agreement, as well as in the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law which is now pending in Congress.
Civil society, government working to make a difference in women’s lives
In her statement, Deles recounted the Philippines’ experience in drafting a National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace, and Security, pursuant to UNSCRs 1325 and 1820, and commended civil society’s role in the crafting of the Philippine NAP in 2010, which was the first in Asia.
Deles similarly noted the efforts of the government in implementing the NAP, primarily through the efforts of a National Steering Committee, which was initially composed of the heads of nine government agencies. In addition to this, Deles recounted, eight agencies were later included, primarily as they are involved in the government’s Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program, which aims to deliver development and good governance programs in conflict-affected areas, and which operates in 46 (or more than half) of the country’s provinces.
Deles also noted that the NAP is also now anchored on Philippine law, led by the Magna Carta for Women and recent national legislation adopting human rights and international humanitarian standards in addition to earlier legislation which requires all government agencies and local government units to allocate at least 5% of their budgets as a gender and development (GAD) fund, thus ensuring available funds for immediate start-up and mobilization needs.
While the implementation of the Philippine NAP is a ‘painstaking process,’ especially as government wants to cover all bases: policy, planning, implementation and monitoring mechanisms, and budget, modest gains are now being reported, including the strengthened presence of women in peace negotiations and the implementation of peace accords; the establishment of ‘women-friendly spaces’ to ensure the needed measure of private and safe spaces for internally displaced women and children in evacuation centers; the adoption of explicit gender equality policies and mechanisms as an integral part of the governance of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; culture-sensitive trauma healing programs for Muslim women; the inclusion of Women, Peace, and Security concerns in training programs for foreign service officers, among others.
Local government units in conflict-affected areas have also been capacitated to launch their local versions of the NAP.
“From the start, we did not want the NAP to end up as another document which may be good to read and display on the bookshelf but nowhere used and practiced. We intend the NAP to be a felt presence—making a difference—in women’s lives,” Deles said.
“The NAP should be useful, it should be durable, it should make a difference you can feel on your skin,” she added, issuing a call to UN member-states to adopt a National Action Plan and weave it tightly and strongly to truly make a felt difference in the lives of women and children caught in the middle of today’s most violent conflicts.” (OPAPP)