Women Mediation Summit for Women Mediators Community of Practice in the BARMM

The engagement with women mediators has led to the creation of an informal network of Bangsamoro women mediators solidifying the efforts to establish a community of practice in the region. Under the commitment to support the said community of practice, UN Women has worked to document and formalize the issues, interests, and recommendations on mediation as articulated by women mediators themselves through the development of a Bangsamoro Mediation Agenda.

The Bangsamoro Mediation Agenda was drafted from the articulated insights of women mediators expressed during the series of capacity-building workshops and training from 2023, which was then relayed and validated with all engaged women mediators throughout the region during the succeeding activities. The Agenda also aligns with UN Women’s policy work to lobby for and formalize the acknowledgement of women’s role in mediation by formal structures in the Bangsamoro.

Upon its finalization, the Agenda is intended to be launched on 21 August followed by the conduct of a Women Mediation Summit on 22 August which both seek to convene Bangsamoro women mediators, BARMM government agencies, and all critical partners to generate public support for the participation of women in the practice of mediation.

Further, to deepen the knowledge of community practitioners on mediation and the broader conflict resolution process, the Mediation Summit offers a professorial lecture and workshop from Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, Government Chief Negotiator on the GPH-MILF Peace Agreement.

The activity is jointly supported by the Programme “Empowering women for sustainable peace: preventing violence and promoting social cohesion in ASEAN” and the Joint Programme “Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace in the BARMM”.