Education paramount in enabling women's participation in peace process

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 12): Education paramount in enabling women's participation in peace process
 

Representatives of various women's rights organizations have underscored the core task of educating and training women to enable their meaningful participation in conflict resolution and peace building activities in Muslim Mindanao during a roundtable discussion held on Monday in Ortigas.

To mark the 15th year of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on women, peace and security, Oxfam, Women Engaged in Action on 1325 (WE Act 1325), and Australian Aid organized a roundtable discussion and press conference entitled "Ready to Break the Glass Ceiling: Responding to UNSCR 1325's Call for Women's Participation” to highlight how armed conflicts affect women, and why there is a need to increase women participation in political processes essential for peace and security.

"We need competence to make a difference," said Anak Mindanao Party List Representative Djalia Turabin-Hataman to encapsulate the common clamor for education laid out during the roundtable discussion.

Hataman stressed the importance of capacitating women by increasing their level of consciousness even in the ground level as a means of "bridging the gap."

Women's participation in conflict resolution and peace building is often impeded and rendered less meaningful due to a key constraint which is the lack of access to education.

This in turn further entrenches the root causes of conflict which makes women vulnerable to its impacts such as gender-based violence, child marriages, and the struggles of displacement, among others.

The lack of knowledge makes them unwilling or uninterested in engaging in conflict prevention activities.

A holistic approach must then be used to enable women to engage in local peace building efforts by providing adequate access to education, training, and capacity building thereby making their participation credible, productive, and meaningful.

Furthermore, Executive Director of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy Atty. Salma Rasul stressed the need to "teach and educate what women's rights are."

Rasul said women should become more aware of their rights to enhance their opportunities for empowerment and participation in the peace processes.

"It is when women are able to take on leadership roles, in formal or informal structures that they are truly empowered," said Representative Hataman.

This event, held at the Marco Polo Hotel, was attended by partner organizations including Al Mujadillah Foundation, Kutawato Council for Justice and Peace, Nisa Ul-haqq fi Bangsamoro, Pinay Kilos, Tarbilang Foundation, and United Youth of the Philippines Women.

Through this event, women from Basilan, Sulu, Maguindanao, and Lanao provinces shared how armed conflicts affected their lives and how they, in turn, became active agents of peacebuilding in their communities.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=814222