Talking peace and gender

As I write this, people are waiting for the ceremonies marking the signing of the final comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to get underway.

But already, signs of discord, if not hostility, have broken out. TV news footage shows a clash between followers of the MILF and supporters and members of leftist groups at the foot of Mendiola Bridge. Chased away by police, the leftists had gathered at Mendiola hoping to grab a share of the limelight to air their grievance over the arrest of the Tiamzon couple, who are widely believed to have taken over the leadership of the local communist movement. The MILF supporters had gathered to express support for the peace process, and perhaps to raise the profile of Bangsamoro groups or individuals in preparation for the elections of 2016.

But even in the Muslim-dominated areas of Mindanao, agreement has not been readily forthcoming. Residents of a town in Lanao del Sur, said to be the only Christian majority town in the province, staged a rally to air their protest against being included within the foreseen Bangsamoro territory. This, even as a plebiscite has yet to be held to determine which areas will fall under the Bangsamoro authority. Perhaps the town leaders feel a preemptive strike is necessary to air their grievances and raise their profile.

And yet, despite the many kinks encountered, here we are, about to end decades of violence and tension, marginalization and exclusion, with the signing of an agreement that has been the fruit of decades of talks, negotiations, back-door and front-door deals, and the goodwill of all parties involved.

Most commentators have chosen to focus on the weaknesses of the main document and its annexes, anxious perhaps not to sound naïve or foolish, or gullible to government or MILF propaganda. Well, let me take a different tack. I believe the next steps forward will bring the country to a better future. The peace process has opened the eyes of so many Filipinos to the “other side.” We have learned to see past the stereotypes Christians and Muslims had built around each other, and discovered the legitimacy and authenticity of each other’s concerns, not to mention, our historical grievances.

If we have learned—not to let go but rather to simply set aside—generational legacies of prejudice and myths, then perhaps we can learn not just to live together and cooperate, but also to plan and dream together, and create the future that everyone says they desire.

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AFTER two weeks of negotiations, the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) released an outcome document that pushes forward even more strongly the rights of women and girls. The document also promises to put women and girls front and center in the next global development agenda, after the world finishes appraising the success (or failure) of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which will come up for review next year.

While setting out remarkable targets to eradicate poverty, and improve access to education, health and development priorities, it had been pointed out that “gender” was the missing ingredient in an otherwise admirable list of priorities.

But as the world has learned, by turning a “gender blind” eye to development issues, the MDGs were perhaps doomed to fail. Without addressing the issue of gender fairness, gender justice and prioritization of resources, and without the participation or even recognition of the role of women and girls, the MDGs were left with a huge gaping hole at the heart.

One of the MDGs, for instance, called for the reduction of maternal mortality rates, as well as of infant and child mortality rates. But women die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth due to a number of reasons, among them their lack of access to safe assisted births, health facilities and even a lack of contraceptive choices. Without addressing the uneven status of men and women in society, goals aimed at reducing maternal mortality are merely addressing the tail-end of a problem that begins almost from the moment a girl is born into an unfair world.

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GOING into the negotiations, the biggest fear of many participants was that the gains achieved in previous years would be undermined by the “usual suspects” and their newly-found allies among conservative governments.

But overall, says a report in the British broadsheet The Guardian, much of the resulting agreement is calling for the acceleration of progress toward achieving the MDGs and “confirming the need for a stand-alone goal on gender equality and women’s empowerment.”

Certainly, there were attempts to water down or soften language on gender equality and rep roductive rights, with some delegations seemingly allergic to such terms as “diversity” or “forms of families.”

But as The Guardian observes: “There is general agreement that this year’s CSW did produce a strong outcome,” with the document making specific references to uphold women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights; an agreement to eliminate all harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation. “There were also explicit references made to a woman’s right to access abortion services and the development of sex education programs for young people,” the report said. “And the there was strong language around violence against women and girls.”

Stretching to the early hours of the morning, the negotiations were neither easy nor conflict-free. Now it’s up to governments—and women—to make sure these words, fought over line by line, thought by thought, are made flesh and real and truly transformative.