PHILIPPINES: Ex-Nuns Lead Peace Corps Monitoring Govt-MILF Ceasefire

Two former Catholic nuns will lead a 15-woman peace corps that will monitor a ceasefire between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“I believe that we can surmount any problem through organization and coalition work," one of the ex-nuns, Adel Nayal, said in an article posted on the Union of Catholic Asian News website.

Nayala, a former member of the Oblates of Notre Dame Sisters, and Analiza Ugay, deputy executive director of Balay Rehabilitation Center, lead the 15-woman peace corps.

The corps was launched in Aleosan town in North Cotabato on Monday, 10 years after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which called for women to be represented in peacemaking.

They will be part of the Civilian Protection Component (CPC) of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) monitoring the government-MILF ceasefire.

The CPC was created through an agreement by the warring parties during talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in October 2009.

It is mandated to provide “a functional system and effective mechanisms for monitoring, verifying, and reporting" on the implementation of the commitments.

Ugay, a former Carmelite missionary nun, said the all-women corps will employ practical strategies to overcome the challenges involved in humanitarian work and the peace talks.

Nayal, a native of Pikit, North Cotabato, said she expects challenges when the team is deployed in the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and Davao.

She said women in Mindanao are still largely excluded from peace negotiations.

In 2009, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, found that women comprised only 2.4 percent of signatories to peace agreements around the world since 1992.

However, Ugay said the launching of CPC was an “opportunity for Mindanao women to share their experiences as well as successes in conflict mediation strategies."