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Zen Hernandez

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MANILA — Almost 700 delegates from 84 countries have gathered in Manila for the 3-day International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (ICWPS) at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).THe delegates include United Nations Deputy-Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, several high-level ministers, vice ministers and parliamentarians, Philippine national government officials and members of both international and local civil society organizations (CSOs).First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos delivered the welcome remarks.“Since this summit is about women, my husband Ferdinand Marcos asked me to personally convey our welcome and to let you know that the Philippines is honored to hold a conference of this significance and stature. This is the first international conference to be held in Southeast Asia. It is specifically intended to take stock of how far we have all come in our countries’ implementation of women, peace and security agenda,” the First Lady said.With the theme “Forging Collaboration and Convergence for Advancing Women, Peace and Security,” the first ministerial level conference on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) has the important objective of implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 adopted in October 2000.Resolution 1325 recognizes the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls, requiring parties in a conflict to prevent violations of women’s rights, support women’s participation in peace negotiations and post conflict reconstruction, and protect women and girls from wartime sexual violence.“Peace and security decision-making is overwhelmingly dominated by men. And ending impunity for atrocities against women and girls is still but a distant goal. The past year has been especially difficult. From Gaza to Sudan, from Lebanon to Ukraine, the toll on women and girls in conflict zones is devastating,” said UN Deputy-Secretary-General Mohammed.According to Mohammed, 612 million women and girls have been impacted by 170 conflicts recorded last year, which is a 50% rise from a decade ago.The conference meanwhile, is expected to adopt the Pasay Declaration on Women, Peace and Security.“In this declaration, there will be a number of measures, which will be outlined, really more of a guiding framework for future activities around the world. So this will stress the importance of national, regional, international efforts to implement the WPS agenda. Also, for countries to adopt, implement, or improve, or enhance if needed their own national, regional action plans. And we have to also take into account the developments which have been taking place, especially in the past decade. And we also recognize the valuable contribution of women peacekeepers, the role of women in peacemaking, the role of women nationally in peace negotiations and to see how to increase their participation,“ Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said.UN Deputy Secretary General Mohammed lauded the Philippines for being the first Asian nation to adopt a National Action Plan on WPS, along with the country’s rich history of women leadership, after having elected two female Presidents.Philippine Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman also highlighted the country’s policy directing all government agencies to allocate a minimum of 5 percent of their total annual budgets for gender programs, projects and activities. She also noted the country’s efforts to achieve sustainable peace through the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law that established the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).“It is important to note that BARMM, which will have its very first elections this coming May, has its own Bangsamoro Women Commission which promotes, and advocates, and mainstreams Gender and Development by integrating gender initiatives in the region,” Pangandaman said.For the United Kingdom’s (UK) Minister for the Indo-Pacific, the ICWPS comes on an extremely crucial time.“We are living in a very uncertain world and so its doubly important that women play their role in bringing peace to all of our conflict areas, also to our areas where there is tension…we have remained a key donor in areas such as Columbia, such as some parts of the Philippines in the South,” said UK Minister Catherine West.The UK has provided over £13 million or almost 1 billion Php to the Bangsamoro region for projects involved in empowering women in the peace process and support for localization through the development of the Bangsamoro Regional Action Plan for WPS.“I think the fact that we are represented at the ministerial level here at the conference speaks volumes about our commitment to the Indo-Pacific, whether that’s on maritime security, or that it’s on some of the issues at home around some of the upcoming devolution elections and we want to support women to take their position around the table at all levels,” West said.

Almost 700 delegates from 84 countries have gathered in Manila for the 3-day International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (ICWPS) at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

Almost 700 delegates from 84 countries have gathered in Manila for the 3-day International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (ICWPS) at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

Philippines hosts International Conference on Women, Peace and Security

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Philippines hosts International Conference on Women, Peace and Security

Zen Hernandez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 28, 2024 08:07 PM PHT

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International Conference on Women

Peace and Security

United Nations

UN

ICWPS

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